Cal 20
Description
The CAL 20 is a small sailboat designed by Bill Lapworth. With her light displacement hull, she offers spirited performance. The boat is especially known for its relative speed in heavy air. Class rules limit sails to working jib and mainsail making competitive class racing with minimal crew quite inexpensive. Built by Jensen Marine (later Cal Yachts) from 1961 to the early 1980s, with over 1,945 units produced, making it one of the most popular small sailboats of its era. Designed as an entry-level daysailer and club racer, it combines simplicity, affordability, and lively performance, appealing to beginners, families, and competitive sailors. Its lightweight fiberglass construction, shoal draft, and trailer ability make it ideal for lake sailing, coastal day trips, and one-design racing, with active fleets still racing in California, the Great Lakes, and Chesapeake Bay.
Construction Details
| Designer | Bill Lapworth |
|---|---|
| Length | 20.000 ft |
| LOA | 20.000 ft |
| LWL | 18.000 ft |
| Beam | 7.000 ft |
| Displacement | 1950 lb |
| Ballast | 500 lb |
| Max Draft | 3.330 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 22 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 7.33 ft |
| p | 23 ft |
| e | 10 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 ft | 7.33 ft | 23 ft | 10 ft | - | - |
Documents
Blueprints
Sails
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 23 ft - (7010 mm) |
| Foot | 10 ft - (3048 mm) |
| Leech | 24.833 ft - (7569 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 87.74 ° |
| Diagonal | 24.67 ft - (7519 mm) |
| Head (inches) | 4 in - (102 mm) |
| Area | * 116.99 ft² |
| Comments |
This is the class mainsail. ** Additional measurements: 1/4 Girth: 8 feet, 7 inches 1/2 Girth: 6 feet, 5.5 inches 3/4 Girth: 3 feet, 9 inches ** 4 Battens: 24, 26.5, 26.5, 24 |
| Sail Type | JIBSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 20.5 ft - (6248 mm) |
| Foot | 9.25 ft - (2819 mm) |
| Leech | 18.187 ft - (5543 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 113.92 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 8.35 ft - (2545 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 7.12 ° |
| Area | * 85.54 ft² |
| Comments | This is the working jib defined in the class rules. Three 12-inch battens are permitted but leech must not be convex (no roach). |
| Sail Type | GENOA |
|---|---|
| Luff | 21 ft - (6401 mm) |
| Foot | 13.75 ft - (4191 mm) |
| Leech | 21.75 ft - (6629 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 180.49 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 13.23 ft - (4033 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * -2.65 ° |
| Area | * 138.94 ft² |
| Comments | Dimensions taken from designer's blueprint (see above). |
| Sail Type | DRIFTER |
|---|---|
| Luff | 21 ft - (6401 mm) |
| Foot | * 12.39 ft - (3776 mm) |
| Leech | * 19.69 ft - (6002 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 150.07 % |
| Length Perp | * 11 ft - (3353 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 8.96 ° |
| Area | * 121.18 ft² |
| Comments | Luff reduced from .95 of hypotenuse to provide jackstay clearance. |
| Sail Type | SPINNAKER |
|---|---|
| Stays | 22 ft - (6706 mm) |
| MidGirth | 13.167 ft - (4013 mm) |
| Foot | 13.167 ft - (4013 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 180 % |
| Area | * 246 ft² |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.