Olson 30

The Olson 30 is a sailboat designed by George Olson of Santa Cruz, CA around 1978. Olson was a surfer and surfboard shaper who decided to design a 30' ultra light displacement boat while on a delivery from Honolulu to Santa Cruz on Merlin, a 68' Bill Lee designed and built ultralight sailboat which had competed in the biennial Transpac race in 1977. During this delivery, Olson came up with the idea while sailing with Denis Bassano and Don Snyder, who lent their initials to the prototype's name, SOB 30. The resulting boat was christened Pacific High, and it was launched in 1978.

As a result of what Olson learned about the sailing characteristics of Pacific High, he constructed a plug for a production boat. The draft was reduced somewhat, the freeboard was increased, and the teak decks of the prototype were replaced with fiberglass and rolled-on non-skid. Olson and partners Lyn Neale and Alan Wirtanen started Pacific Boats in an industrial area of Live Oak, CA, an unincorporated area between Santa Cruz and Capitola.