I'm interested in buying a Catalina 22 or a Catalina 22 MKII. Can I launch and sail these boats by myself? Anything that I should pay patrticular attention too when inspecting them? I read a previous article on this web site that mentioned delaminating issues. Is this common with the MKII? Is it something that can be fixed or should be avoided. Thank you, John
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C22 Launch and Recovery
Last year I trailer sailed a C22. I really liked the boat, but it was too small for my family to overnight in, so we sold it and bought a bigger boat, but I digress.... You can easily sail a C22 by yourself. A roller furler will help. An autopilot would be great, but a tiller tamer would work OK too. One big problem I see in trying it launch it solo will be stepping the mast, and then raising the mast. When trailering, the mast lays on top of the boat. To rig it, you need to walk the mast aft, raise the top end about 5 feet, place the mast base in the tabernacle, then raise the mast and connect the stay and shrouds. I found that raising and lowering the mast was a two person job. It's not very difficult or complicated, but I don't know how one person would do it. Regarding inspecting a boat, you need to check for common fiberglass things: leaky decks, delaminated core, pulled chainplates, etc. Visit catalina22.org for more info. Good luck, Barry
Last year I trailer sailed a C22. I really liked the boat, but it was too small for my family to overnight in, so we sold it and bought a bigger boat, but I digress.... You can easily sail a C22 by yourself. A roller furler will help. An autopilot would be great, but a tiller tamer would work OK too. One big problem I see in trying it launch it solo will be stepping the mast, and then raising the mast. When trailering, the mast lays on top of the boat. To rig it, you need to walk the mast aft, raise the top end about 5 feet, place the mast base in the tabernacle, then raise the mast and connect the stay and shrouds. I found that raising and lowering the mast was a two person job. It's not very difficult or complicated, but I don't know how one person would do it. Regarding inspecting a boat, you need to check for common fiberglass things: leaky decks, delaminated core, pulled chainplates, etc. Visit catalina22.org for more info. Good luck, Barry
Single Handing
I single hand mine all of the time, everything from stepping the mast, launching, to sailing. It is a good safety feature to have your halyards run to the cockpit. It does take a little time to learn how to get all of the wires laid to where they will not tangle/catch when steppping the mast. It is a bummer to get the mast 3/4 of the way up, and find that your wires will not let you finish the lift. I tie a u bridle on my pulpit, and hook the jib halyard to it, so when I have the mast up, I can pull the halyard down and cleat it, allowing me to go forward and pin the forestay. David
I single hand mine all of the time, everything from stepping the mast, launching, to sailing. It is a good safety feature to have your halyards run to the cockpit. It does take a little time to learn how to get all of the wires laid to where they will not tangle/catch when steppping the mast. It is a bummer to get the mast 3/4 of the way up, and find that your wires will not let you finish the lift. I tie a u bridle on my pulpit, and hook the jib halyard to it, so when I have the mast up, I can pull the halyard down and cleat it, allowing me to go forward and pin the forestay. David
Single Handing
Hello John: I do it all & I'm an old man! I have home made mast raising gear, trailer tongue extension, halyards led back to the cabin top winch, so single handing is not a problem. New C22 owners should take a look at "Ted's Sailing Page". Everything to do with the C22 is included in this website. The easy way to find it is do a Google search. Regards, Bob B.
Hello John: I do it all & I'm an old man! I have home made mast raising gear, trailer tongue extension, halyards led back to the cabin top winch, so single handing is not a problem. New C22 owners should take a look at "Ted's Sailing Page". Everything to do with the C22 is included in this website. The easy way to find it is do a Google search. Regards, Bob B.
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