Difficult to answer your inquiry
First regarding seaworthyness, I personally do not think a swing keel C-22 is significantly more seaworthy than an O'Day 22 with its swing keel mounted inside a "shoal" keel. On a C-22, the four bolts and 5/16 inch wire holding up its 500 pounds of iron keel is not exactly a confidence building set up, although experience informs that it is a rugged design. However, a fin keel (fixed keel) or wing keel C-22 would be more seaworthy. But a wing keel C-22 will not point as well as you desire, although the fin keel will do fine. Regarding the C-22 performance, it is tricky to come up with a good overall statement. There is a tendency to beleive that not all C-22s are created equal. First consideration is the significant variance in weights of different C-22 models. In 1996 the Catalina 22 National Sailing Association weighed all the swing keel boats participating in that year's national championship race. They ranged from 2,130 pounds to 2,570 pounds. Thus the heaviest boat weighted more than twenty percent greater than the lightest boat. All these boats were set up for racing having the same required equipment and without any excess weight on board. The conclusion is that early boats are generally lighter and hence faster than later heavier boats. Further, I have read about someone who races his C-22 and found it weighted about 3,000 pounds, although it is suspected that there is considerable water penetration into this boat's haul. Outside of weight, there are items like the orginal oval shaped mast that is considered faster than the newer flat side mast. And then the newer newer flat side mast that is about three inches shorter than the first flat side mast, although I do not think there is any performance diferential between these two flat sided masts. Further, due to the C-22's popularity, there are endless improvements or upgrades possible to a C-22, especially through outfits like Catalina Direct, not to mention a bountiful selection of different sails, including spinakers, from many different sail lofts. So from an equipment standpoint, C-22s can vary meaningfully. Finally, there are C-22 skippers who can literally suck the crib boards off other vessels. Witness the C-22 named True Love in the latest issue of Main Brace. Yes, the C-22 does have a high (numerically)PHRF rating, as it is basically a small family trailerable crusing boat. But with the right gear and, more importantly, the right skipper, they can and do perform magnificantly. And perhaps that is why there are over 15,000 of these boats, and, last time I checked, still produced today.
