Santana 2023 A Buyer's Guide
The Santana 2023 A is the standard-cabin cruiser variant of Steve Schock’s trailerable sailboat family, built by W. D. Schock Corp in the United States from 1993 until 2001. On the brokerage market it appears as a 23-foot-4-inch fiberglass sloop with water ballast and a retractable centerboard, aimed at lakes and protected coastal waters rather than offshore passage-making.
Layouts on the Used Market
Every 2023 A carries the same essential layout lineage: a hull shared with the 1978 Santana 23 D but with a distinct deck, mast, and interior from the later Schock design. The boat is a fractional-sloop cruiser with a transom-mounted rudder, tiller steering, and an outboard motor. Because the A was the standard-cabin model without a mast backstay and with mainsail boom roller furling, used buyers will find a simpler rig than the sportier siblings in the range. The water ballast — drained for road transport — defines the interior footprint around the tank structure, and the open reverse transom reflects the family’s launch-and-recover orientation.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Given the A’s outboard power and furling main, the most consequential buyer considerations are energy and trailering gear rather than factory-fitted luxuries. A used 2023 A should be assessed for a reliable outboard and a serviceable roller-furling mainsail system, since both are central to the boat’s stated easy-launch character. Any added canvas for the open cockpit, a trailer sized to the 2,880-pound displacement, and basic navigation equipment for protected waters are the practical clusters a shopper will encounter.
What to Inspect
Early Santana 2023 boats used plywood on the interior of the water ballast tanks, a practice Schock replaced with fiberglass starting in 1996, so pre-1996 hulls deserve a close look at tank structure plywood tank interiors on early boats. Regardless of year, owners report that the brittle caulking at the top joints of the water ballast tank has often led to leaks, making the tank-top seal a primary inspection point leak-prone tank-top caulking joints. Early models also suffered gear failures, so rigging hardware and furling gear on the first-production boats should be checked carefully early-production gear failures.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The 2023 A rewards a buyer who wants an undemanding, trailerable sheltered-water cruiser with a proven hull underneath. For a shopper, the takeaway is straightforward: confirm the build year relative to the 1996 tank-material change, pressure-test or visually verify the water ballast tank top seals, and exercise the furling main and outboard before purchase.
- Verify tank interior material against 1996 fiberglass changeover
- Inspect tank-top caulking for leak history
- Exercise furling gear and outboard on early hulls