Vberth air chambers. Is there a problem with these?
A19: The original Santana 20s were built with square cutouts in the V berth and quarter berth. These were seen as good places to store sails and gear. As the boat became more and more of a race boat these holds were not used. And as Santana 20s were raced in more and more breeze — and broached, took on water, and capsized, things changed again. With no positive flotation, the boat would actually sink pretty fast. At some point in the production series, the squares stopped being cut in the berths and instead round inspection ports were installed. This would allow an air pocket to float the boat in an emergency. This is not something most folks should be too worried about, but if you are concerned about sailing in heavy air, seal those square cutouts, lock the front hatch down, and sail with your vertical companionway hatch in place. With these precautions it would take a tidal wave to sink you.
