The design remains a recognizable product of its era: a keel-centerboard pocket cruiser with a long waterline, minimal overhangs, and pronounced flare at the gunwales. It isn’t a racer or a boat intended to maximize berth count. Instead, it combines substantial accommodations with a thoughtful deck plan.
Design and Construction
The hull begins with a chopped-strand skin layer, followed by roving and then Coremat. The deck and cabin top have a glass syntactic foam core roughly one inch thick hull and deck laminate structure.
The hull-to-deck joint uses a shoebox arrangement, with a vertical deck flange that slips over the hull. The keel is molded as an integral part of the hull, eliminating the usual keelbolt concerns while reinforcing the bottom.
Two molded foam sections are glassed into the hull: one beneath the forward bunk and another beneath the cockpit sole. On that basis, the builder described the boat as unsinkable.
The shoal keel and centerboard avoid the pivot pin and winch-and-cable machinery found on retractable swing keels. The 70-pound centerboard pivots inside the boat, so it cannot leak, and kicks up if it strikes an obstruction. A braided pennant, secured at a cleat, raises the board. It requires no hold-down line under sail.
Ballast consists of 600 pounds in the keel and 630 pounds of encapsulated shot. Draft is 20 inches with the board raised and 48 inches with it lowered.
The pronounced gunwale flare does more than give the Rhodes 22 its distinctive appearance. The builder claimed its compound curvature stiffens the hull, provides a hiking seat that reduces heeling, helps deflect spray, and adds buoyancy when the boat heels, improving capsize resistance flared hull benefits. Practical Sailor’s testers found the boat initially tender but quick to stiffen as it heeled. They also reported that the flare made hiking easy without being especially athletic; two people on the rail flattened the ride considerably.
Rig, Controls, and Sailing Performance
The masthead sloop rig is built around a 26-foot hinged mast. The 100-square-foot mainsail rolls into the mast, while a 175% roller-furling genoa of 200 square feet is set on the forestay and lacks battens. Together, they provide a generous 300 square feet of sail area.
The mast is supported by a forestay, twin backstays, upper shrouds, and forward and aft lower shrouds, each with its own chainplate. The forestay padeye is through-bolted to the deck and hull. The backstay plates bolt through the transom corners, and the upper-shroud chainplates bolt through the hull-to-deck joint. The four lower-shroud chainplates are glassed into the cabin top.
Roller furling is convenient, but it doesn’t produce the most efficient sail shape, particularly when the jib is partly furled in heavier air. A self-tending jib and conventional hank-on sails were optional.
The traveler runs on a stainless-steel rod across the twin backstays. This keeps it out of the cockpit and provides some shock absorption during an accidental jibe. All controls are mounted in the cockpit and fall readily to hand. The tiller swings up and has a hiking stick and locking clips, allowing the helmsman to steer from almost anywhere.
With the centerboard down, the boat sails nicely; with it raised, performance remains presentable, though the boat cannot point as high. It also sails well under either jib alone or main alone. Testers called the hull fast, especially off the wind. With the board raised, the Rhodes 22 draws 20 inches and can be sailed in that depth. Board-down draft is 48 inches. Its PHRF rating is about 258.
Cockpit and Deck
The cockpit is enormous for a 22-footer: about 7 feet 4 inches long and nearly 8 feet wide. It is self-bailing, with full-length bench seats whose open fronts provide access to storage beneath. A transverse aft bench sits over a lazarette that opens into a six-foot-wide access area.
The coamings serve as backrests and incorporate shelved compartments. A socket in the cockpit sole accepts the table when it is moved up from below.
The cabin top pops up to provide 6 feet 4 inches of headroom. Telescoping stainless-steel tubes support it aft instead of pivoting arms. There is no gasket, but a deep lip and overhang help shed water. Forward, two side-by-side deck hatches bring light into the head and dinette.
Accommodations
Below, the dinette converts into a 6-foot 6-inch double berth to port. Its cushions flip up to form settee backs. Secondary 6-foot V-berths occupy the bow.
The galley and enclosed head are to starboard. The galley has a 4-1/2-foot counter with a sink, stove, and large front-opening icebox. The head is enclosed by a multi-panel door and includes a marine toilet, holding tank, and pump-out or macerator fittings. It also has a tiled floor and an overhead opening through which a person can stand when the pop-top is lowered.
A rotating, telescoping table serves both the dinette and cockpit. The companionway entry panel can hinge down flat to become a navigation surface or lift away completely.
Known Issues
Practical Sailor noted the absence of a boom vang, which the reviewer called unfortunate. Testers also wished for footrests or toe straps to keep crew from sliding around the large, open cockpit.
The roller-furling rig trades some sail efficiency for convenience, particularly when the jib is partly furled in stronger breeze.
The Verdict
The Rhodes 22 Continental is a thoughtfully detailed small cruiser that offers a great deal for its 2,000-pound displacement. Its molded foam sections, integral keel, internally pivoting centerboard, and pop-top cabin make it a capable trailerable boat for a couple. The broad cockpit and well-placed controls suit both day sailing and modest cruising.
The principal drawbacks are the lack of a boom vang and the loss of sail efficiency that comes with the furling rig, especially when the genoa is partly furled in heavier air.
Pros
- Molded foam sections were the basis for the builder’s unsinkability claim
- Integral keel avoids common keelbolt concerns, while the internally pivoting centerboard removes the usual pivot-leak worry
- Pronounced gunwale flare stiffens the hull, aids hiking, deflects spray, and adds buoyancy when heeled
- Large, self-bailing cockpit with substantial storage
- Pop-top cabin provides 6 feet 4 inches of headroom
- Well-supported hinged mast with individual chainplates and through-bolted attachments
- Sails acceptably with the board raised in 20 inches of water, while the 48-inch board-down draft improves pointing
Cons
- No boom vang as delivered
- Roller-furling mainsail and genoa sacrifice some sail efficiency, particularly when partly furled in heavier air
- Large, open cockpit lacks footrests or toe straps for bracing the crew
