2007 should be a great year for the Mission Bay Yacht Club Santana 20 Fleet. We've added some new fleet members that joined us in 2006 and another new boat just came to the fleet in the first couple days January 2007.

There is now 20 Santana 20s in the fleet at MBYC. Its quite a sight to see this fleet of boats working for position for the start and then lining up as the signal sounds for the start of the race. Next stop, a Santana 20 "party" at the weather mark as several boats round within seconds of each other. Then kites open and down wind tactics kick in. If you're looking for good one design racing, you've found the right place.

The Santana 20 rewards time spent in the boat learning to keep the boat flat upwind, roll tacking when its light and good sail handling at the turning marks. Total crew weight on the boat doesn't effect the out come as much as it does in the smaller boats, so sailors weight is not a big deal which is good for the small and heavy teams. Some boats race quite well with just a skipper and one crew , while most race with a total of three sailors on board. You can't hike past the sheer line on the hull so you won't get a sore back or bruises from hiking like mad all day. These boats are physical to sail but they're not pain boxes. With the class jib up they are nice boats to day sail which many other race boats don't do well. Yet even with the keel, the S20 handles like a dinghy.

Santana 20 boats have two deck lay outs, the new open transom and the older closed transom. Both new and old boats are very even in speed and you see the oldest boats fighting to win races along with the new ones. Boats in race condition with good sails and trailer start around the $4000.00 range so it's a inexpensive boat to campaign as far as boats go. There is a national championship regatta every year for the S20 class and there are many regattas to travel to if that fits your program.

As for the local fleet , its a fine group of sailors and people. I've found it to be a fleet that has many friendly members that will help each other out. We will once again this year have tuning days and practice sailing with some of the top sailors in the fleet helping out with trim and boat handling tips. We'll take some video and break it down in the bar so everyone gets up to speed faster. We want a fleet where anyone can win and I hope it will be you!

Speaking of winning, 2007 will be the first High Point Championship we conduct with a new Perpetual Trophy awarded at the end of the year to the overall winner. Beyond that, just being part of this fine fleet is a great experience for all involved.

Good competition, great people , fun times on and off the water. Come join us as an owner or crew. I hope to see you in a Santana 20 soon.

Sincerely,
Richard Hoffmann
S20 fleet captain MBYC