Owner's Review for 1976 Rhodes 22
Roger Pihlaja
The Rhodes 22 is a trailerable cruising sailboat which features a
shoal draft keel with centerboard. The mast is deck stepped with a
single spreader & 9 stays. The sailplan is masthead rigged with
roller furling. We have owned our 1976 Rhodes 22 since 1987. We live
on a small inland lake in central lower Michigan & keep the boat at
our own dock. However, we have also sailed the boat extensively on
the Great Lakes and inland lakes in Arkansas.
Cruising with our family of 4 is like camping out on the water. On
land, we also use our Rhodes 22 like a pop top camper at campgrounds.
It's not luxurious; but, it sure is fun and affordable. My 2 sons
have grown up with the boat.
We find the Rhodes 22 to be very sea worthy & safe. We have raced our
Rhodes 22. The boat is at its best in light to moderate air & has
enough adjustments to keep the sail trimmers happy. The mainsail
traveller works particularly well & the shock absorbing feature of
being mounted on the backstays works as advertised.
The Rhodes 22 points & tacks reasonably well for a small
trailerable sailboat. Hard on the wind, the crew really appreciates
the wide gunnels & reverse hull shear which enables them to hike way
out while remaining reasonably dry.
Downwind, the boat performs best
with a triradial spinnaker. The shoal draft keel & hull shape provide
directional stability such that she tracks better than any other 22
foot sailboat I've ever experienced. Yet, the big transom hung rudder
enables her to be quite manuverable when you want to turn. The Rhodes
22 comes with a Cruising Designs roller furler. With this standard
roller furler, the genoa sail shape is OK when fully unfurled.
However, at about 15 mph wind speed, the rig will require shortening
sail in order to keep her sailing on her lines. The genoa sail shape
suffers so badly with the Cruising Designs roller furler that it is
best to reef the mailsail first, even though that will cause lee
helm. My wife & young sons found the standard winches to be too small
in heavy air (> 15 mph) & we upgraded them to Anderson 12ST's. We
upgraded the Cruising Designs roller furler to a Harken roller furler
with a 150% bi-radial genoa with foam luff pad. We have also upgraded
to a fully battened mainsail with 2 jiffy reef points. These sail
upgrades have essentially cured the moderate to heavy air performance
of the boat.
The Rhodes 22 is somewhat expensive for a 22 foot
sailboat. However, the engineering design, superb ergonomics, and
quality materials & construction are there. If you purchase a used
Rhodes 22, be aware that the builder (Stan Spitzer) has made numerous
changes & upgrades to the boat over the years. All the parts are
still available & many of the upgrades can be retrofitted to older
boats.
Stan & company have been very patient & helpful with me over
the years in determining which version of the part I needed for my
boat. After 11 years with the boat, we have no intention of selling
her. If something happened to our Rhodes 22, we would buy another
without hesitation.
Owner's Review for 1977 Rhodes 22
Contact: George Staples
This boat has a tremendous number of features packed into 22'.
Large cockpit, lazaret, full size galley, and double bearth.
Ballast is in the shallow fixed keelson, so that the center board
is not heavy. Pop top allows full standing headroom and ventilation
at anchor. This is a great pocket cruser that can be trailored, and
sails very well in light to moderate wind. However, it isn't a racer,
and has no place way off shore. I have had this boat on the Chesapeak
bay for 5 seasons, and am very happy with it.
Owner's Review for 1984 Rhodes 22
Contact: Cam Whetstone
I like the styrofoam flotation and difficulty in capsizing the boat
under sail. I am not an accomplished sailor, but I love sailing so
anything that keeps me alive is good.
Owner's Review for 1985 Rhodes 22
Contact: Jim Morrison
A great boat! You can get all the specifications by contacting the
homepage of the manufacturer at http://www.rhodes22.com. This will
give you all the technical data about the boat, but if you want an
owners views & opinions, contact me. I'll just let you know in
advance that I think it's a fantastic boat; the builder (StanSpitzer)
is a straightforward & upright guy who isn't out to "take" you. I
respect his opinions and suggestions when outfitting or making
additions/changes to my 11 year old boat. This was the first boat I
ever owned, so I needed lots of advice when I first started out.
Stan helped me a lot! I've taken the boat on several 10 - 14 day
trips singlehanded & been in some pretty rough weather conditions
on the Chesapeake Bay, and she's always served me well. Contact me
for answers to your particular questions. I'll be glad to respond.
Owner's Review for 1988 Rhodes 22
Contact: Steven Brill
I have been sailing a reconditioned Rhodes 22 for about two months in
Long Island Sound. So far, I love it! Pros: Roller furling main and
genoa. All lines lead back to the cockpit. Easy to sail singlehanded.
Large cockpit. A lot of room for a small boat. Many "custom" features
add to confort on board. Cons: A little difficult to handle in winds
over 20 knots. Somewhat tender and weight sensitive when
singlehandling.
Owner's Review for 1989 Rhodes 22
Contact: Ralph Bibbus
We've owned the Rhodes 22 for three years and have sailed her
extensively during this period. My family and I have spent a great
deal of time on the boat and have nothing but good news to report.
She's not an offshore boat nor is she a racer but that is not what
we were looking for when we did our "shopping". She points well and
is great in light winds. She is a bit tender initially but stiffens
very quickly. The cockpit is big enough that we had 4 large
teenagers, 3 adults and 2 dogs aboard last summer for a daysail and
the space was adequate. The cabin is a bit on the small side but
it's only been my wife and I overnighting anyway, so it actually is
very cozy. The builders market a boom room that increases the overall
living space aboard and we intend to purchase one this coming season.
She launches and retrieves like a dream, and the mast and rigging is
quick too, although not as easy as the Spitzer's ( the builders )
make it sound. The builders of the boat are always very helpful and
eager to help out in any way they can. If we had to do it all over
again we would without hesitation buy another Rhodes.
