Jeff Canepa conceived the boat with naval architect Jim Antrim. It was named the 1995 Sailing World Boat of the Year in the PHRF/Sportboat category, then selected by the U.S. Sailing Team for the 1996 Mallory Cup Championships and the 2006 Triple Handed Youth Championships. With an all-up tow weight under 1,800 pounds and a total boat-and-trailer figure of 1,500 pounds, it’s suitable for towing behind a compact car or minivan.
Design and Construction
The U20 began as a reworking of the Hotfoot 20. Canepa acquired the molds in 1988, and Ron Moore built a prototype. Antrim then began a year-long overhaul, stretching the hull nine inches to 20 feet 10 inches, adding two inches of freeboard, and widening the beam to 8 feet 6 inches.
The keel was moved aft eight inches and fitted with a flared bulb reminiscent of America’s Cup whale-tail foils. The lifting keel draws just nine inches when retracted. A removable, patent-pending winch raises and lowers it, and six “Scotty” screws lock it by hand.
The hull lay-up consists of a 3/8-inch Baltek balsa core with 12-ounce bidirectional woven roving on both faces. It uses Hydrex vinylester on the exterior skins and Polyester C2849 within, with smooth gelcoat outside and polyester enamel inside. The deck uses the same core with 10-ounce cloth and .75-ounce mat. Two 12-inch carbon-fiber panels sit beneath the keel and across the mast step and chainplates.
The hull and deck are joined over a roughly two-inch eggshell flange with a syntactic slurry of polyester putty, mill fibers, and microballoons. The cockpit sole mirrors the deck construction but uses a 3/4-inch Baltek core.
Below the berths, a fiberglass pan with longitudinal stringers creates watertight compartments credited with 1,800 pounds of buoyancy. The boat carries positive flotation as a standard feature.
Rig and Handling
The fractional rig was made more powerful by raising the mast to 30 feet above the deck. The spar weighs 45 pounds and is easy to step. Swept-back spreaders set at 25 degrees remove the need for a permanent backstay, while the full-roach, loose-footed mainsail measures 205 square feet.
A 100-square-foot working jib sits on a Harken roller furler recessed below deck. For light air, a deck-mounted bowsprit, housed in a molded slot secured by six screws, carries the kites. The designer noted that, in a collision, the sprit or its housing fails at 1,700 pounds of pressure before the hull does.
A carbon-fiber rudder blade is reinforced with a fiberglass-and-wood head and hung from the transom on pintles and gudgeons. Overall, the boat is easy to sail and launch.
Accommodations and Stowage
For a 20-foot sportboat, the interior is genuinely usable. The forward V-berth is 94 inches long and tapers to 64 inches wide at the boat’s midsection. Port and starboard quarterberths each measure 96 by 18 inches.
The cabin can be fully enclosed with hatch boards. It provides shelter from foul weather, enough comfort for overnight trips, and ample storage. Because the berth structure also serves as the buoyancy pan, the cabin doubles as a safety cell.
Builders, Durability, and Ownership
The owner-reported lineage traces a complicated production history. Ultimate Sailboats International built most of the fleet in the late 1990s before going bankrupt. The molds then passed through Abbott Boatworks, whose Sarnia, Ontario, factory burned in 2006, and briefly to Columbia Yachts before W.D. Schock took up production in Corona, California.
The class has survived six builders because the design is active and the boat is straightforward to construct. Owners report that older boats are holding up well, crediting the simple, well-designed construction. One owner account in Sailing World similarly observed that the old boats are holding up really well.
The manufacturer points to an award for the industry’s highest resale value. For budget-conscious buyers, the U20 appeals both for its initial outlay and retained worth. Practical Sailor found that it was gaining acceptance among mid-level sailors looking for more performance, as well as veterans wanting big kicks from a small hull.
The Verdict
The Ultimate 20 is a rare combination: a sub-1,100-pound sportboat with genuine overnight accommodation, a lifting keel for trailering, and a racing pedigree that includes national-team selection. Its balsa-cored construction and engineered buoyancy make it a secure trailer-sailer, while the simple rig keeps crew workload low.
The long succession of builders is a quirk of the class’s history rather than a quality flag, given owner reports of durability. Its main practical compromise is below: although the boat provides forward and quarterberths, the narrow quarterberths limit comfortable sleeping to two adults.
Pros
- Multihull-style pace, dinghy-like response, and bigger-boat stability
- Lifting keel with hand-locked screws
- Towable behind a compact car
- Forward and quarterberths in an enclosed cabin
- Buoyancy credited at 1,800 pounds
- Active one-design class with strong resale recognition
Cons
- Narrow quarterberths limit comfortable sleeping to two adults
- A history of builder bankruptcies means documented pedigree varies by hull
