Design and Construction
The Flicka’s hull is traditional in profile, with slack bilges, a full keel, a sweeping shear accented by a cove stripe and scrollwork, and a bowsprit over a bobbed stem. The hull itself is a solid fiberglass laminate laid to a schedule adequate for most 30-footers of moderate displacement, while the deck uses a plywood core rather than the balsa core more common in production boats. A molded hull liner is tab-bonded inside, and a fiberglass/wood composite beam runs under the cabin house roof to transfer mast loads through the house sides to underdeck bulkheads that are bonded only to the liner, not the hull. The builder defended this arrangement, claiming it will support over 8,000 lb, more than the boat’s displacement. External chainplates eliminate a common source of through-deck leaks, though they leave the plates exposed to damage, and all through-hull fittings are fitted with seacocks.
Rig and Handling
The Flicka offers a standard masthead marconi sloop or an optional gaff-rigged cutter, though most left the builder as sloops. The sloop carries 249 sq ft of sail area — a 125 sq ft mainsail and 124 sq ft working jib, with a 150% genoa at 186 sq ft — on a 23 ft 6 in foretriangle. With a displacement/length ratio of 447 and a sail area/displacement ratio of 15.0, she is a heavy, moderate-sailed boat. In drifting conditions she simply has too much weight and wetted surface to accelerate, but when the wind reaches about 10 knots she perks up if seas stay moderate, and above 10 or 12 knots becomes an increasingly able sailer. She is initially tender, quick to a 15-degree heel, yet in winds over 15 knots feels like much more boat than her length suggests.
Accommodations
Pre-1983 models had no enclosed head and no sleeping privacy, a limitation corrected when a new deck mold was tooled in 1983 to replace the worn original and a bridgedeck was added at the cockpit end. The interior is uncommonly airy for a 20-footer, and a turned oak handhold post added in 1983 between the mast beam and cabin sole further stiffened the structure. A removable section of cockpit sole gives superb access to the engine compartment for servicing.
Known Issues
The pre-1983 omission of a cockpit-forward splash barrier and raised threshold was judged decidedly un-seamanlike by Practical Sailor, a fault addressed in the 1983 deck redesign anchor. The encapsulated lead ballast of 1,750 lb risks more structural damage in a hard grounding than exposed ballast would. Otherwise, the principal structural and seacock provisions are sound.
The Verdict
The Flicka 20 is a genuinely offshore-capable pocket cruiser whose heavy displacement and full keel make her sluggish in drifters but reassuringly steady once the wind builds. Her construction is robust for her size, and the 1983 revisions cured the worst cockpit flooding risk. She rewards a buyer who sails in breezy conditions and values seaworthiness over speed.
Pros
- 30% ballast ratio and capsize screening of 1.66 mark true bluewater capability
- Solid fiberglass hull laminate built to a 30-foot boat’s schedule
- External chainplates and seated seacocks reduce leak paths
- Removable cockpit sole gives excellent engine access
Cons
- Tender and slow to accelerate in light air with high wetted surface
- Pre-1983 boats lack bridgedeck and enclosed head
- Encapsulated ballast vulnerable in hard groundings
