Cruising the Ultimate 20

Although the Ultimate 20 is not intended to offer the amenities of an inboard auxilliary cruising yacht, for a small one-design racer she is remarkably 'cruiser friendly.' The placement of her bowsprit in a fiberglass housing on top of the deck frees up cabin space inside. There is room for two sleeping bags in the bow V berths and two more under the deck along the sides of the cockpit. The cockpit is wide, and the rolled cockpit edges and sloping cockpit sides make for a very comfortable ride. Listen to what the U20's designer, Jim Antrim, has to say: "One thing I worked hard on in the U20 design was making a 20 foot boat that fit real-world full-size people... One little feature I’m proud of is the seats alongside the keel. Few boats let you sit where there is headroom—under the house. It’s not a seat where you would settle in to read War and Peace; but it suffices just fine for changing your clothes or rummaging through the cooler for a cold one."