Santana 20 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used Santana 20 means looking at a 20-foot sport boat that W. D. Schock Corp. has built since 1976, with over 900 hulls from Shad Turner's design still threading inland lakes and coastal trailer yards. It is a light 1,350-pound daysailer racer carrying 550 pounds of lead ballast and 204 square feet of fractional sloop sail, known affectionately as the Tuna 20. The class has stayed healthy through a 1996 deck update and refits of older hulls, so buyers meet two deck generations that share the same original hull shape through the deck redesign.
Layouts on the Used Market
Used Santana 20s center on a small bullet-shaped cuddy cabin and a cockpit that defines the boat. The earlier deck closes the cockpit sides; the redesigned version opens the cockpit to the transom and adds a rolled edge like a 505 dinghy that is easy on the legs. Both keep the 4-foot lead fin keel and the narrow stern of the original, so a buyer choosing between them is mostly weighing cockpit working space and deck comfort rather than performance class. Many older boats have been refitted with the newer deck, preserving one-design racing compatibility.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The one commonly fitted racing asset on these boats is a spinnaker, which matters for anyone stepping into class racing or simply wanting the boat's full downwind personality. Beyond that, the Santana 20 stays simple: there is no factory cruising kit to chase, and buyers should treat anything else as an owner addition rather than standard. The real decision is deck generation and condition, not gadget count.
What to Inspect
The Santana 20's shoe-box hull-to-deck joint and hand-laid hull are straightforward, but the keel deserves attention: Schock poured molten lead directly into a pre-molded fiberglass shell holding the keel bolts, so check for any separation or cracking at that shell and around the bolts. The balsa-cored deck should be tested for softness, especially near hardware and the cockpit edge, since a saturated core is the classic failure point. Confirm the appendages are the original 4-foot lead fin and low-aspect rudder and that the hull remains fair and bumpless rather than repaired from impact.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Santana 20s are typically found in the United States. For a buyer, the short list is: confirm deck core soundness and keel-shell integrity, verify which cockpit deck generation you are getting and whether an older hull has the newer refit, and expect a spinnaker as the usual racing extra. It remains a good boat that owners and crews love — a benign, sparkling day racer that needs no harnesses or dry suits to enjoy.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Santana 20. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 4 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 25 | 2 | $4,250 | — |
| Sep 25 | 2 | $2,800 | -34.1% |
| Dec 25 | 1 | $7,000 | +150.0% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $1,000 | -85.7% |
Where they're listed
Santana 20 listings appear across 1 country. United States has the most listings with 4.
Country view
4 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $2,800 | 4 | 1 | 100.0% |