Santana 22 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Mull's hull is solid fiberglass and, by the builder's own description, heavily laid up, while the deck is balsa cored — a combination that yields a robust shell without excessive weight. The sweptback fin keel carries 1,230 pounds of cast-iron ballast, driving a ballast-to-displacement ratio of nearly 50 percent, and the underwater profile is completed by a spade rudder on a stainless steel post with cockpit tiller steering. The original hull-to-deck joint was shielded by a somewhat flimsy rubrail and remained vulnerable to impact anchor, a detail later addressed in the reintroduced boats through a revised joint. A deck-stepped mast was standard, and most boats received a support post; the newer generation substituted an athwartship fiberglass deck beam to carry the load and open the interior.

Rig and Handling

As a masthead sloop with 217 square feet of working sail, the Santana 22 is fairly stiff on the wind and can carry sail in breezy conditions, while the beam carried into the mid and aft sections keeps her balanced and limits rolling. Off the wind, the well-aft spade rudder gives terrific steering control, and a masthead spinnaker — the class association runs separate spinnaker and non-spinnaker divisions — adds real punch on a reach. The mainsheet traveler sits aft for efficient end-boom sheeting, sheet winches are mounted on molded islands, and most boats carry backstay adjusters the helmsman can reach without leaving the tiller. The builder claimed she is well known for handling heavy weather and is no slug in light air, and owners sailing San Francisco Bay confirm she performs in windy conditions.

Accommodations

Below, the boat uses a two-compartment arrangement with four berths: two full-length berths forward and two full-length settee berths in the saloon, a layout the maker judged sufficient for the boat's purpose. Headroom is what was once called with a straight face "full-sitting" headroom. The low-profile cabintrunk carries two large portlights per side for light and visibility. On deck, the side decks have a fair bit of camber, and the cockpit is a shallow well where the coaming boards tend to land in the small of the back and make bracing or stretching the legs difficult.

Known Issues

Several period weaknesses deserve a buyer's attention. The original aluminum chainplates tended to elongate and corrode with age, and the early-production boom was underbuilt and sometimes broke under sail load, while the gooseneck fitting was undersized as well. Rudder play appears to be a common complaint, tied to the stainless steel rudder post possibly needing better bearing support within the fiberglass rudder tube. The transom carries a clever cutout for an outboard mounted low yet liftable, and the builder stated the structure will support modern four-stroke engines.

Refits and Ownership

The reintroduced Santana 22 kept Mull's hull, keel, and sailplan so the one-design fleet stayed unified, while swapping the compression post for a deck beam and updating the hull-to-deck joint and hardware. Owners describe the boats as easily crewed and affordable, with strong turnouts at Northern California events and a 2016 national championship won by the oldest and simplest-rigged boat in the fleet — some hulls now older than their skippers and still standing up to rough sailing.

The Verdict

The Santana 22 is a designer's first independent work that matured into a durable, one-design stalwart: a heavily built little sloop with near-50-percent ballast, weatherly stiffness, and lively reaching. The cockpit and a few original rigging details show their age, but the class's continuity and owner enthusiasm speak for the package.

Pros