Design and Construction
The 23 K shares the D model's essential geometry: 23.33 feet overall, 20.62 feet on the waterline, and a beam of 8.83 feet. Displacement is listed at 2,450 pounds with 1,100 pounds of ballast in the spec record, and the builder's background notes identify that ballast as lead, though the comparable D model carried 1,130 pounds with 170 of it in the board. The hull is solid fiberglass with a solid fiberglass deck, built light — period testers found the D's hull weight under 1,500 pounds excluding ballast, and the K follows the same lightweight approach. The 23 K carries a raked stem, a semi-cut-down vertical transom, and a spade rudder on a fin-keel hull.
Rig and Handling
Turner gave the 23 K a masthead sloop rig on a deck-stepped mast with double spreaders, a 272-square-foot sail plan, and a cockpit-mounted mainsheet traveler. The boat's sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 23.94 and a displacement-length ratio near 125 mark her as a light, responsive coastal design. The D model, which shares the hull form, was built to plane downwind with the board up and carried a PHRF of 171 — 63 seconds per mile quicker than a San Juan 23 in period testing. The fixed keel of the K removes the D's planing-with-keel-up trick but gives steadier righting moment through the 4.5-foot draft. Around hull number 85 of the D series, the builder shifted the keel truck aft by 4 inches to cut weather helm felt at the tiller; the same mid-production change would have applied to the K hulls sharing the tooling.
Accommodations
Below, the 23 K follows the D's layout: sleeping for four, with a double V-berth forward and two 7-foot settee berths in the main cabin. Cabin headroom is 52 inches, the walls are lined with a thin carpet, and the galley is a simple affair with a sink, a drawer, and a counter. The outboard well aft takes a 3 to 6 horsepower motor for docking. This is a weekender's interior, not a cruiser's, and the low headroom reflects the boat's racing-derived hull.
Known Issues
The principal documented production change concerns the keel-truck relocation at hull 85 of the D line, made to reduce transmitted weather helm. On a used K, a hull built before that point — if the change was carried across — may show different helm balance than later boats. The light build and solid fiberglass construction of the K demand careful grounding and trailering to avoid stress on the lightweight hull structure.
The Verdict
The Santana 23 K is a small, light, fixed-keel Turner design that trades the D model's retractable board for simplicity and steadier ballast. She is quick for her length and easy to trailer, with a spartan but functional interior for coastal weekends.
Pros
- Light, responsive hull with a 23.94 sail-area-to-displacement ratio
- Fixed fin keel gives 4.5-foot draft and steady righting moment
- Simple outboard power and trailerable 23-foot footprint
Cons
- 52-inch cabin headroom limits liveaboard comfort
- Only about 50 fixed-keel hulls built, limiting parts interchange
- Light construction demands careful trailering and grounding
