This photo of a Wyliecat rig on this classic Van De Stadt-designed yacht is very convincing, until you notice the real rig reflected in the water. Photo courtesy Sailing Anarchy.

Sailing Anarchy's offbeat sense of humor has struck again. On July 21st, 2003 they put the photo to the right and the following caption on the front page of their web site;

The classic and very cool Black Soo 31 Starbuck was planning on doing the TransPac double handed but ran into some problems and didn't go. But on the way back from Long Beach they stopped in Watsonville and grabbed a WylieCat 30 rig. Pretty cool, don't you think?

A lot of people who should have known better fell for the gag (including this writer). Not only is it a very aesthetically pleasing rig and hull combination, but it also makes sense from a historical perspective. The Van De Stadt-designed Black Soo was in a sense a European precursor to the early Santa Cruz ULDB school of yacht design, of which the Wyliecat is the latest evolution.

In fact, we here at Wyliecat are so taken with the striking appearance of the retro hull and the high-tech rig that we have decided to begin production on a limited run of BlackCat 31s. We will begin taking orders on April 1st.