H23 vs Rhodes 22

[Joel23819]

I was mousing around through some of the other forums and noticed in the Trailer Boat forum that someone posted a message about the Rhodes 22. After reading through its reviews and the manufacturer's web site, I am a little intriqued. Has anyone in this forum ever done a comparison between the Rhodes 22 and the Hunter 23? It just looks like many of the concerns people have expressed about the H23 (mast-raisng, pointing ability, drawbacks of the wing keel (some have talked about making extensions, etc.), small cockpit, etc.) might have been solved in the Rhodes.Then again, it may all be just advertising-fluff. Just wondering.

 

[Ricky P]

I'm not a Rhodes Scholar, but

I used to own one. Although they do have a huge cockpit, and they have many amenities down below for a boat that size, their weaknesses in sailing far outweighed any benefits for me. First and foremost, no matter what the manufacturer says, the boat is strictly for lake sailing. With a draft of about 18", the boat is EXTREMELY tender. Any waves passing under the boat cause the boat to follow the wave slope exactly. The boat has a tiny mainsail that's loose footed and furls into the mast. As such, the boat gets almost all of its power from the huge genoa. This causes the boat to have lee helm--you let go of the tiller and the boat will move progressively downwind.

 

[Frank Ladd]

I'd go for the Hunter 23

I'd prefer the Hunter 23. It's a great sailing boat and a mast raising system can be added that will make it as easy to rig and better to sail than the Rhodes 22. I like a lot of the thinds about the Rhodes 22 and think they are fine little cruisers. However, once you add all those nifty expensive option to a 22 you have a very expensive pocket cruiser that is mainly for weekending and daysailing. I wouln't hesitate to take either boat coastal cruising as we take boats as small as the Compac 16 out around here. Coastal cruising is a lot more about planning what to do when the weather goes bad than what type of boat you have. Any small cruiser that can be reefed easily and sail to windward in a blow can be a good coastal cruiser in protected waters if you watch the weather and have a good backup plan.