Skipper 20
{{Short description|Sailboat class}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox sailboat specifications
|name = Skipper 20
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|location = United States
|year = 1978
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|builder = Southern Sails
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|trapeze =
|draft = {{convert|2.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|air draft =
|displacement = {{convert|2000|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}
|hulls =
|hull type = monohull
|construction = fiberglass
|loa = {{convert|20.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|loh =
|lwl = {{convert|15.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|beam = {{convert|6.67|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|engine = outboard motor
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|keel type = shoal draft fin keel
|ballast = {{convert|800|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}
|rudder type = transom-mounted rudder
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|rig type = Bermuda rig
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|sails =
|sailplan = fractional rigged sloop
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|sailarea total = {{convert|143.00|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}
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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.{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/skipper-20|title= Skipper 20 sailboat |access-date= 8 February 2022|last= McArthur| first= Bruce |work= sailboatdata.com|year= 2021|archive-url= https://archive.today/20220208160334/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/skipper-20|archive-date= 8 February 2022|url-status= live}}Henkel, Steve: The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats, page 57. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-07-163652-0}}
Production
The design was built by Southern Sails in the United States, from 1978 until 1981, but it is now out of production.
Design
The 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.
The boat has a draft of {{convert|2.00|ft|m|abbr=on}} with the standard shoal draft keel.
The boat is normally fitted with a small {{convert|3|to|6|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} well-mounted outboard motor for docking and maneuvering.
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 {{convert|54|in|cm|0|abbr=on}}.
The design has a hull speed of {{convert|5.2|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}.
Variants
;Skipper 20
:This cabin model displaces {{convert|2000|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} and carries {{convert|800|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} of ballast. With its bowsprit it has a length overall of {{convert|20.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}.
;Skipper 20 Cuddy
:This model displaces {{convert|1900|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} and carries {{convert|800|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} of ballast. Lacking a bowsprit, it has a length overall of {{convert|18.75|ft|m|abbr=on}}.
Operational history
In 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 ..."
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://archive.today/20220208160726/https://www.sailingtexas.com/Pics/picskipper20102e.jpg Photo of a Skipper 20]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLoGSgcUCWI Skipper 20 video]
{{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide}}