Many Flickas have crossed oceans, including passages from California to Hawaii and beyond. The design’s capsize screening formula is 1.66, below the 2.0 bluewater threshold.
Design and Construction
The Flicka has a traditional profile, with slack bilges, a full keel, sweeping sheer accented by a cove stripe and scrollwork, and a bowsprit extending over a bobbed stem. She displaces a heavy 6,000 lb. A 1,800 lb ballast casting gives her a 30% ballast ratio, contributing to her stiff, sea-kindly feel.
The hull is a solid fiberglass laminate laid to a schedule adequate for most moderately displaced 30-footers. The deck has a plywood core rather than the balsa core more common in production boats.
Inside, a molded hull liner is tab-bonded in place. A fiberglass-and-wood composite beam beneath the cabin-house roof transfers mast loads through the house sides to underdeck bulkheads. Those bulkheads are bonded only to the liner, not to the hull. The builder defended the arrangement, claiming it would support more than 8,000 lb—more than the boat’s displacement.
External chainplates eliminate a common source of through-deck leaks, though their exposed position leaves them vulnerable to damage. All through-hull fittings have seacocks.
Rig and Sailing Characteristics
The Flicka was offered with a standard masthead Marconi sloop rig or an optional gaff-rigged cutter, although most left the builder as sloops. The sloop has a 23 ft 6 in foretriangle and carries 249 sq ft of sail: a 125 sq ft mainsail and a 124 sq ft working jib. The 150% genoa measures 186 sq ft.
With a displacement/length ratio of 447 and a sail area/displacement ratio of 15.0, the Flicka is a heavy boat with a moderate sail plan. In drifting conditions, she has too much weight and wetted surface to accelerate readily. When the wind reaches about 10 knots, however, she perks up if the seas remain moderate. Above 10 or 12 knots, she becomes an increasingly able sailer.
She is initially tender and heels quickly to 15 degrees. In winds over 15 knots, though, she feels like a much larger boat than her length suggests.
Cockpit and Accommodations
Pre-1983 models had no enclosed head and offered no privacy for sleeping. In 1983, Pacific Seacraft replaced the worn original deck mold with a new one and added a bridgedeck at the forward end of the cockpit, correcting those limitations.
The interior is unusually airy for a 20-footer. Also in 1983, a turned oak handhold post was added between the mast beam and the cabin sole, further stiffening the structure.
A removable section of the cockpit sole provides superb access to the engine compartment for servicing.
Known Issues
Practical Sailor judged the pre-1983 omission of a cockpit-forward splash barrier and raised threshold decidedly un-seamanlike. The 1983 deck redesign addressed that fault.
The encapsulated lead ballast of 1,750 lb risks more structural damage in a hard grounding than exposed ballast would. Otherwise, the principal structural arrangements and seacock provisions are sound.
Verdict
The Flicka 20 is a genuinely offshore-capable pocket cruiser. Her heavy displacement and full keel make her sluggish in drifting conditions, but reassuringly steady once the wind builds. Construction is robust for a boat of this size, and the 1983 revisions corrected the worst cockpit-flooding risk.
She best suits a buyer who sails in breezy conditions and values seaworthiness over speed.
Pros
- 30% ballast ratio and a capsize screening formula of 1.66 indicate true bluewater capability
- Solid fiberglass hull laminate laid to a schedule adequate for a 30-foot boat
- External chainplates reduce through-deck leak paths
- Seacocks fitted to all through-hull fittings
- Removable cockpit sole provides excellent engine access
Cons
- Initially tender and slow to accelerate in light air because of her weight and high wetted surface
- Pre-1983 boats lack a bridgedeck and enclosed head
- Encapsulated ballast is vulnerable to structural damage in a hard grounding
