Sailing on an Ultimate 20

My friend Garett and and I spent the afternoon sailing the Ultimate 20, UFO with owner Trent Watkins and his pal and fellow U20 owner, Tom Hughes. Another 4 Ultimates joined the action. A small course was setup just outside Richmond Yacht Club and we ran 5 quick races. A LOT of fun and a great way to get initiated to the boat. Trent was gracious and spent the day coaching Tom and us on how to sail a U20 fast. Start, beat 1/4 mile to weather, round a mark, set the asymmetrical kite, toss in a couple of quick gybes and blaze downwind to the finish. Tom put a small video camera on board and hopefully some of the footage will come out. I'll post it if it does.

Prior to the race Trent's routine is to put the boat into a hard crash so everyone sees how easy it is to recover. Well, he's right, we laid the boat over, keel out and she popped right back up. Amazingly he's spun 360° turns with the kite up, on purpose! Certainly a solid testimony to this great boat.

This is the BIGGEST 20 footer I've ever sailed. Felt much more like 24 feet. You can even sleep in the interior if that's your thing. Lots of storage and I looked hard and found no telltale stress cracks. Mind you, this is a 13 year old boat that's sailed hundreds of races, HARD. Very well built, as is typical of California built boats. Deck layout is great, no winches! Everything is pretty simple, though certainly a good workout.

The U20 Class Organization is a fun group of people. There's a real camaraderie among the owners. The best thing is that this boat is now back in production after a couple of years hiatus. Spinnaker will be selling these boats at the Pacific Sail Boat Show  April 16-20 and there will be U20 demos, Fri, Sat & Sun.