Skipper 20

[Kerrymorganandersen]

New Sailor here. I just bought my first sailboat, a Skipper 20, I can’t find to much history on them. How many were made? I could use a lot of pointers before I launch. Sails were inspected and passed. Bought all new sheets and halyards. Paid only $500 for boat and trailer. I hope it floats. Please help fellow sailors!!!

 

[Meriachee]

Congratulations.
If you don't mind, what do you mean by the sails "passed". Was there a test?

 

[Kerrymorganandersen]

i also don't know the sailor lingo. just bought it 2 days ago. I went to local sail shop and showed them the sails, they replaced a couple of "sail slugs". and replaced a missing "batten". Had a couple of small penny size holes that were patched. They said I was good to go.

 

[Meriachee]

Not to worry about the lingo. The usual "term" that comes into play is something like "blown out", which refers to a sail that is stretched beyond it's capability to perform as expected. What this means to you, the new owner, is that a; you probably don't know what to look for, and b; if the sails are stretched to that point, they may look just fine, but the net effect is that the boat will be hard to sail, and will have a tendency to (for lack of a better description) lean over a lot more than it should.
For now, the sails are serviceable, get it in the water and see what it does.

 

[Michael Davis]

That looks like a fun little boat. Sailboatdata.Com gives the specs. Looks good for a week-ender. Congrats.

 

[jssailem]

Great looking Pocket Yacht. These boats are great teachers in the Art of Sailing.
Congratulations and welcome to the Forum.
As @Michael Davis suggests pop her in the water and see what happens.
Be sure to plug or close all holes that might let water into the boat.
Key #1. Keep water out of boat.

 

[dlochner]

Key #1. Keep water out of boat.

Key# 2. Keep the big stick pointing towards the sky and the big fat thing pointed towards the bottom.

Key #3. Remember, this is supposed to be fun.

 

[shemandr]

Congrats! That looks like a salty little package.
Here's the page in Sailboatdata.com:
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/skipper-20
Have fun. Learn to shorten sail and be able to do that before you need to out on the water.

 

[Kerrymorganandersen]

What does shorten sail mean? Total rookie here

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Congrats- neat little boat-here's a link that discusses "reefing" or shortening sail-

 

[justsomeguy]

What does shorten sail mean? Total rookie here

Reef, as in "too much wind"!

 

[Michael Davis]

Nice post Charlie. We don't do that very often in the summer in the P.N.W. but a fair amount in the winter. Important safety knowledge. Practise when you don't need it... it's always a lot harder when you really need it.

 

[jssailem]

Practice when you don't need it... it's always a lot harder when you really need it.

Great words. @Michael Davis True Wisdom.

 

[Meriachee]

And when you get it in the water, take that tire off, and do the reverse "beat on it" to the fender.

 

[Kerrymorganandersen]

I have specs, just wondering how many are out there like this. I’m

And when you get it in the water, take that tire off, and do the reverse "beat on it" to the fender.

 

[dlochner]

I have specs, just wondering how many are out there like this. I’m

They were only built for 3 years, from 1978 to 1981.

For information, the search engines are a great help. I gave up on google and now use DuckDuckgo.com Less tracking and fewer ads.