Skipper 20
The Skipper 20 is an American trailerable, "character" sailboat that was designed as a daysailer and pocket cruiser and first built in 1978. The designer is not known.[1][2] ProductionThe design was built by Southern Sails in the United States, from 1978 until 1981, but it is now out of production.[1][2] DesignThe Skipper 20 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with wood trim and simulated lapstrake construction. It has a fractional sloop rig, canoe hull with a raked stem, a rounded transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed fin keel. It was produced in two versions, one with a standard cabin and the other with a cuddy cabin.[1][2] The boat has a draft of 2.00 ft (0.61 m) with the standard shoal draft keel.[1][2] The boat is normally fitted with a small 3 to 6 hp (2 to 4 kW) well-mounted outboard motor for docking and maneuvering.[1][2] The design has sleeping accommodation for two people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow. The portable-type head is located under the "V"-berth. Cabin headroom is 54 in (137 cm).[1][2] The design has a hull speed of 5.2 kn (9.6 km/h).[2] Variants
Operational historyIn a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "this is a character boat of a type attractive to people who think that a sailboat hull shaped like a lifeboat is safer than a hull with a normal transom, In reality, it isn't, at least in a vessel this small. Best features: Compared with her comp[etitor]s, the Skipper 20 has a larger cockpit, with a convenient outboard engine in a well under a hatch just ahead of the rudder, and her simulated lapstrake topsides give her a jaunty antique look. Worst features: Perhaps the designer (who is unidentified in the literature we've seen) expected all skippers to spend most of their time under power. That seems a likely possibility considering the boat's pitifully short mast and tiny sails—exacerbated by a main boom which is needlessly high on the mast. Moreover, the stubby keel is too shallow to keep the boat from side-slipping under sail, and for reasons we can't fathom, the rudder is much too small for effective steering while sailing ..."[2] See alsoReferences
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