Cornish Crabbers Crabber 22 Sailboats for Sale

Layouts on the Used Market

The Crabber 22's interior is consistent across the range: a saloon with two full-length berths, a centreboard case serving as the pedestal for a fold-out table, a galley area aft to port and starboard, and a separate forepeak with two narrower berths and a marine WC between them. Most owners have always used that forepeak exclusively as a heads compartment and stowage, and the used-market examples you will encounter reflect this — the forepeak infill that would convert those berths into a double is rarely fitted and often absent entirely.

The galley arrangement is compact but functional: a fixed sink to port and a worktop to starboard that conceals a cooker and doubles as a chart table. Sitting headroom throughout rather than standing headroom is not a limitation of a particular specification tier; it is simply the design. Buyers occasionally find examples where previous owners have added a small opening port or two to the forward face of the coachroof for ventilation, a worthwhile modification on a boat where the forepeak doubles as a heads space.

The hull itself is solid GRP with encapsulated steel ballast around the keel and a drop centreboard — a design that gives the Crabber 22 a shoal draught of around two and a half feet with the board raised, extending to five feet with the board fully down. That range is one of the boat's genuine strengths on the used market: it opens harbours and anchorages that fixed-keel boats of similar waterline length cannot access.

Equipment and Common Upgrades

Chartplotters and autopilots are commonly fitted across examples on the market, reflecting the reality that even short coastal passages benefit from modern navigation and self-steering on a gaff-rigged boat whose helm load varies with the breeze. Solar panels and hot water systems are often seen as well, indicating that many owners have used their Crabbers for extended coastal seasons rather than purely day-sailing.

Heating and life-raft installations appear as owner upgrades on a portion of the fleet — not universal, but a meaningful signal of how a particular boat has been used. A Crabber 22 fitted with a cabin heater has probably seen autumn and shoulder-season sailing in British or northern European waters, which is worth bearing in mind when assessing wear patterns on the hull and rig.

The Yanmar diesel — a small, low-horsepower unit — is the standard auxiliary. Running rigging on a gaff cutter is more extensive than on a bermudan boat of comparable size, so expect to find varying states of renewal: some examples will carry recently replaced halyards and sheets, others will show original or aged cordage that needs budgeting for replacement.

What to Inspect

The Crabber 22's solid GRP hull is robust and requires modest seasonal maintenance, but there are areas that reward careful survey attention. The deck is balsa sandwich construction with plywood pads incorporated at deck fittings — a construction method that performs well when fittings are sealed properly but is vulnerable to water ingress wherever a screw or fitting has been allowed to weep. Probe carefully around chainplates, cleats, and the centreboard winch housing on the coachroof, and ask the surveyor to pay particular attention to any deck fitting that shows discolouration or soft spots in the surrounding laminate.

The encapsulated steel ballast around the keel is worth specific attention. Encapsulated steel can corrode internally if water has found a path in through the hull-keel join or through the centreboard trunk. Rust staining in the bilge, particularly near the centreboard case, warrants investigation. The centreboard itself — its pivot, its winch, and the condition of the trunk — is a routine inspection item that is sometimes deferred by owners and can be expensive if neglected.

The gaff rig places higher compression loads on the mast partners and deck through a different geometry than a bermudan rig, and the wooden deck and coachroof — finished internally in a tongue and groove lining — should be checked for delamination or movement at the partners. Inspect the bowsprit fitting and the stemhead ironwork, both of which see significant cyclic loading from the cutter forestay and bowsprit shrouds.

The Yanmar diesel should be assessed on compression and a run-up; spares availability for Yanmar small diesels is generally good, but service history is worth requesting. On boats where a camping-style cooker rather than a marine stove was fitted originally, check whether any subsequent owner has upgraded to a properly gimballed marine unit with a flame-failure device.

Availability and Buyer's Takeaway

The Crabber 22 circulates most actively in the United Kingdom, with a secondary presence in France and the Netherlands — markets where shoal-draught gaffers have an established following and where the boat's coastal credentials match the sailing grounds. Occasional examples appear further afield, but the natural habitat of the Crabber 22 is the British estuary and the tidal harbours of the Channel and southern North Sea.

Because the model is discontinued, values are supported by scarcity rather than depressed by obsolescence, and a well-maintained example represents a more stable proposition than a depreciation-prone production boat. The limited fleet size also means that a poor example is harder to walk away from than in a class with dozens of alternatives available at any moment — patience is an advantage.

Pre-purchase checklist:

• Commission a full out-of-water survey with specific attention to the balsa-sandwich deck around all fittings
• Inspect the encapsulated steel ballast zone and centreboard trunk for rust staining or water ingress
• Assess the centreboard pivot and winch mechanism for wear and ease of operation
• Examine the mast partners and deck at the cutter rig's compression points
• Inspect the bowsprit, stemhead, and all chainplate throughbolts
• Check the running rigging for the full gaff cutter inventory: halyards, peak and throat, bowsprit sheets, and both headsail sheets
• Confirm service history and compression on the Yanmar auxiliary
• Verify the forepeak marine WC is serviceable or budget for replacement
• Establish whether a life raft, AIS, and safety gear meet your intended cruising category