Gulf Coast 20
Description
The Gulf Coast 20, designed by naval architect Martin Bludworth and produced by Gulf Coast Sailboats in Texas from 1967 to 1975 with around 100–200 hulls built, is a lightweight fiberglass pocket cruiser and racer optimized for trailerable day sailing or club racing in shallow coastal waters like the Gulf of Mexico, offering surprising seaworthiness and speed in a compact package for solo or small crews. Measuring 19 feet 10 inches LOA with a 17-foot LWL, 6 feet 9 inches beam, 1,400-pound displacement, and 400 pounds of internal ballast yielding a modest .29 ballast/displacement ratio for tender but responsive handling, it features a swing keel drawing 9 inches up or 3 feet 6 inches down for beaching versatility and a fractional sloop rig with 215 square feet of sail area—delivering a high SA/D ratio of 21.5 for planning performance up to 5.7 knots in 10–15 knot breezes (PHRF around 240), though its low D/L ratio of 140 and capsize screening of 2.37 classify it as a lively coastal daysailer rather than a stable bluewater boat.
Construction Details
| Designer | Martin Bludworth |
|---|---|
| Builder | Gulf Coast Sailboats |
| Length | 20.000 ft |
| LOA | 19.920 ft |
| LWL | 15.940 ft |
| Beam | 6.920 ft |
| Displacement | 1400 lb |
| Max Draft | 4.000 ft |
| Min Draft | 1.330 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 19 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 7.50 ft |
| p | 22 ft |
| e | 10 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 ft | 7.50 ft | 22 ft | 10 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 22 ft - (6706 mm) |
| Foot | * 10 ft - (3048 mm) |
| Leech | * 23.64 ft - (7205 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diagonal | * 23.85 ft - (7269 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 4.5 in - (114 mm) |
| Area | * 113.62 ft² |
| Sail Type | JIBSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 18 ft - (5486 mm) |
| Foot | 9 ft - (2743 mm) |
| Leech | 16 ft - (4877 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 106.53 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 7.99 ft - (2435 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 5.84 ° |
| Area | * 71.93 ft² |
| Sail Type | GENOA |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 19.41 ft - (5916 mm) |
| Foot | * 12.47 ft - (3801 mm) |
| Leech | * 17.98 ft - (5480 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 11.25 ft - (3429 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4.03 ° |
| Area | * 109.16 ft² |
| Sail Type | ASYMMETRICAL |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 19.41 ft - (5916 mm) |
| Foot | * 12.38 ft - (3773 mm) |
| Leech | * 17.86 ft - (5444 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 165 % |
| Area | * 180 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.