Ultimate 20

{{Infobox sailboat specifications

|name = Ultimate 20

|insignia = File:Ultimate 20 sailboat class badge.png

|insignia size = 89px

|insignia alt =

|insignia caption =

|line drawing =

|line size =

|line alt =

|line caption =

|image boat = File:Ultimate 20 sailboat.png

|image size =

|image alt =

|image caption =

|designer = Jim Antrim
Jeff Canepa

|architect =

|location = United States

|year = 1994

|no built =

|design =

|class =

|brand =

|builder = Abbott Boats
Columbia Yachts
Moore Sailboats
Santa Cruz Yachts
W. D. Schock Corp
Ultimate Sailboats

|role = One design racer

|boats =

|crew =

|trapeze =

|draft = {{convert|5.00|ft|m|abbr=on}} with keel down

|air draft =

|displacement = {{convert|1100|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}

|hulls =

|hull type = monohull

|construction = fiberglass

|loa = {{convert|20.83|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|loh =

|lwl = {{convert|18.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|beam = {{convert|8.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|hull draft =

|hull weight =

|engine = outboard motor

|appendages =

|keel type = lifting keel

|ballast = {{convert|450|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}

|rudder type = transom-mounted rudder

|rigs =

|rig type = Bermuda rig

|I = {{convert|26.08|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|J = {{convert|6.96|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|P = {{convert|27.32|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|E = {{convert|10.25|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|mast length =

|rig other =

|sails =

|sailplan = fractional rigged sloop

|sailarea main = {{convert|140.02|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}

|sailarea headsail = {{convert|90.76|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}

|sailarea spin =

|sailarea gen =

|sails other =

|sailarea upwind =

|sailarea downwind =

|sailarea total = {{convert|230.77|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}

|rating =

|d-pn =

|rya-pn =

|phrf = 138-159

|status =

|previous = Hotfoot 20

|successor =

}}

The Ultimate 20 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Jim Antrim and Jeff Canepa as a one design racer and first built in 1994.{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/ultimate-20|title= Ultimate 20 sailboat |access-date= 16 March 2023|last= McArthur|first= Bruce|work= sailboatdata.com|year= 2023|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142331/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/ultimate-20|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboat.guide/ultimate/20|title= Ultimate 20|access-date= 16 March 2023|author= Sea Time Tech, LLC|work= sailboat.guide|year= 2023|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142447/https://sailboat.guide/ultimate/20|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= http://www.sailingjoy.com/sailboat_specs/sailboat_specs/view/2674/ultimate-20|title= Sailboat Specifications for ULTIMATE 20|access-date= 16 March 2023|author= InterVisionSoft LLC|work= sailingjoy.com|year= 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232354/http://www.sailingjoy.com/sailboat_specs/sailboat_specs/view/2674/ultimate-20|archive-date= 13 January 2019|url-status= dead}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/designer/antrim-jim|title= Jim Antrim|access-date = 16 March 2023|last= McArthur| first = Bruce |work = sailboatdata.com|year = 2022|archive-url= https://archive.today/20210104181837/https://sailboatdata.com/designer/antrim-jim|archive-date= 4 January 2021|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboat.guide/jim-antrim|title= Jim Antrim|access-date= 16 March 2023|author= Sea Time Tech, LLC|work= sailboat.guide|year= 2023|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142642/https://sailboat.guide/jim-antrim|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}

The design was named Sailing World's 1995 Boat of the Year in the PHRF/Sportboat category.{{cite web|url= https://www.sailingworld.com/sailboats/boat-year-winners-1985-2008/|title= Boat of the Year Winners (1985-2008)|access-date= 16 March 2023|work= Sailing World|year= 2008|archive-url= https://archive.today/20220306163546/https://www.sailingworld.com/sailboats/boat-year-winners-1985-2008/|archive-date= 6 March 2022|url-status= live}}

Production

The design was built in the United States starting in 1994 in California by Moore Sailboats, which built the first 35 boats. Santa Cruz Yachts then built about 20 more, before production was assumed by Ultimate Sailboats until it went bankrupt. The class association then bought the molds and had the design built by Abbott Boats in Canada. After Abbott's plant was destroyed by fire in 2006, production was passed to Columbia Yachts, but few boats were completed. It was last constructed by W. D. Schock Corp, starting in the 2010s, but it is now out of production.{{cite web|url= https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/ultimate-20-ultimately-alive/|title= Ultimate 20: Ultimately Alive|last=Reed|first=Dave|access-date= 16 March 2023|work= Sailing World|date= 25 May 2013|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142717/https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/ultimate-20-ultimately-alive/|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url = https://sailboatdata.com/builder/schock-wd|title = Schock W.D.|access-date = 16 March 2023|last= McArthur| first = Bruce |work = sailboatdata.com|year = 2022|archive-url= https://archive.today/20200718211515/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/schock-wd|archive-date= 18 July 2020|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboat.guide/schock|title= Schock W.D.|access-date= 16 March 2023|author= Sea Time Tech, LLC|work= sailboat.guide|year= 2023|archive-url= https://archive.today/20211223180511/https://sailboat.guide/schock|archive-date= 23 December 2021|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/builder/abbott-boats-inc|title= Abbott Boats Inc.|access-date = 16 March 2023|last= McArthur| first = Bruce |work = sailboatdata.com|year = 2022|archive-url= https://archive.today/20200607135123/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/abbott-boats-inc|archive-date= 7 June 2020 |url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboat.guide/abbott|title= Abbott Boats Inc.|access-date= 16 March 2023|author= Sea Time Tech, LLC|work= sailboat.guide|year= 2023|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142834/https://sailboat.guide/abbott|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/builder/ultimate-sailboats|title= Ultimate Sailboats|access-date = 16 March 2023|last= McArthur| first = Bruce |work = sailboatdata.com|year = 2022|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142357/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/ultimate-sailboats|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboat.guide/ultimate|title= Ultimate Sailboats|access-date= 16 March 2023|author= Sea Time Tech, LLC|work= sailboat.guide|year= 2023|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142846/https://sailboat.guide/ultimate|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/builder/moore-sailboats|title= Moore Sailboats|access-date = 16 March 2023|last= McArthur| first = Bruce |work = sailboatdata.com|year = 2022|archive-url= https://archive.today/20201014182415/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/moore-sailboats|archive-date= 14 October 2020|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboat.guide/moore|title= Moore Sailboats|access-date= 16 March 2023|author= Sea Time Tech, LLC|work= sailboat.guide|year= 2023|archive-url= https://archive.today/20220725131102/https://sailboat.guide/moore|archive-date= 25 July 2022|url-status= live}}

Design

The boat was conceived by Hobie Cat champion sailor Jeff Canepa in the late 1980s. He was interested in the work done by Doug Hemphill, the designer of the Hotfoot 20 and Hotfoot 27 sailboats and especially his desire to add a bowsprit and asymmetrical spinnaker to the Hotfoot 20. Canepa ended up buying the Hotfoot 20 molds at a sheriff's auction. In 1993 he formed Ultimate Sailboats and started to work on an evolved design. Ron Moore of Moore Sailboats built a prototype from the Hotfoot molds and it was taken on a racing tour by John McWaid, where he gathered feedback. Next naval architect Jim Antrim was enlisted to do an overhaul of the original Hotfoot 20 design. The boat was lengthened and the freeboard, mast height and beam increased. Swept spreaders and a jib roller furler were incorporated, the sail area increased, along with a redesigned keel. The coach house and deck were also redesigned.{{cite web|url= https://www.practical-sailor.com/sailboat-reviews/ultimate-20|title= Ultimate 20|access-date= 16 March 2023|last= Nicholson|first= Darrell|work= Practical Sailor|date= 15 October 1995|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142519/https://www.practical-sailor.com/sailboat-reviews/ultimate-20|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}

The Ultimate 20 is a racing keelboat, built predominantly of vinylester and polyester fiberglass with a {{convert|0.375|in|mm|abbr=on}} core of Baltek balsa. It has a fractional sloop rig with a deck-mounted retractable bowsprit, a raked stem, an open reverse transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a lifting keel with a weighted bulb. The rudder is made from carbon fiber and fiberglass, with wooden reinforcement. The keel is raised and lowered by a winch. It displaces {{convert|1100|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} and carries {{convert|450|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} of ballast.

The boat has a draft of {{convert|5.00|ft|m|abbr=on}} with the keel extended and {{convert|0.67|ft|m|abbr=on}} with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water or ground transportation on a trailer.

The boat is normally fitted with a small outboard motor for docking and maneuvering.

The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin and a two straight settees in the main cabin.

For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with an asymmetrical spinnaker flown from the bowsprit.

The design has a hull speed of {{convert|5.69|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} and a PHRF handicap of 138 to 159.{{cite web|url= https://www.ussailing.org/competition/offshore/phrf/phrf-handicaps/|title= PHRF Handicaps|access-date= 16 March 2023|author= US Sailing|author-link= US Sailing|work= ussailing.org|year= 2023}}

Operational history

The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the U20 Class Association.{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/association/ultimate-20|title= U20 Class Association|access-date = 16 March 2023|last= McArthur| first = Bruce |work = sailboatdata.com|year = 2022|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142400/https://sailboatdata.com/association/ultimate-20|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboat.guide/ultimate-20-class-association|title= Ultimate 20 Class Association|access-date= 16 March 2023|author= Sea Time Tech, LLC|work= sailboat.guide|year= 2023|archive-url= https://archive.today/20230316142953/https://sailboat.guide/ultimate-20-class-association|archive-date= 16 March 2023|url-status= live}}

In a 1995 review for Practical Sailor, Darrell Nicholson wrote, "the boat is fairly forgiving but you have to think fast. While attempting to see how close we could sail to the wind, we nearly broached. Canepa yelled, 'We’re going over,' eased the sheet as we rounded up, then trimmed the chute as it filled on a downwind course. Total time to crash, burn, and recover was less than 15 seconds. The key to jibing, we learned, is the release of large amounts of sheet before the main comes across; this way the chute fills in front of the headstay before being blanketed by the main."

In a 2013 Sailing World review Dave Reed wrote, "the Ultimate 20's fans say it was cool way before sportboats were hip, and that even today, as the Jim Antrim design approaches its second decade, it offers one thing flashier new boats don't have: simplicity."