22-foot Sailboat Comparisons

Catalina 22

The Catalina 22 is the first boat that I considered as my upgrade. After all, given that Catalina has built over 15,000 of them says something about their popularity!

These photos are of a mid-70's C22 at Swans Marina in Pickering, Ontario:

In its favour, the C22 is a well-built boat with a logical layout.

Pro:
  • pop top for cabin space
  • large cockpit
  • clean deck
Con:
  • swing keel
  • sliding galley (not permanently installed)
  • no anchor locker on foredeck
  • unstable, large pop top

Two more photos of a better-kept Catalina 22 in the water at Frenchman's Bay in Pickering:

CS 22

The CS 22 was built by Canadian Sailcraft, and designed as a trailerable 22-footer. They were only built with a swing keel, which was one of the things I didn't want.
Pro:
  • toe rail for ease of rigging
  • vertically-sliding rudder
Con:
  • swing keel
  • styling
  • no pop top

Chrysler 22

The Chrysler 22 is another family cruising boat from the 1970s/80s. Brief comments:
Pro:
  • very well equipped
  • centered outboard mount
  • lots of cabin space
Con:
  • small cockpit
  • through-hull rudder (not transom-hung)

The first photo shows a CS 22 (front), Chrysler 22 (behind it) and Catalina 22 (in the distance). The other photos are of my Tanzer 22 (on the right) and a CS 22 (on the left).

Abbott 22

The Abbott 22 is a sweet-looking boat, with lines closely resembling those of the Alberg 22 (next on my list, see below). However, it makes sacrifices in deck and cabin layout, for exactly that reason. You virtually have to be a cat to walk along the catwalk to the foredeck.
Pro:
  • nice lines
  • mainsheet traveler is standard
  • fixed galley
Con:
  • complicated deck layout
  • cramped cabin
  • pressurized alcohol stove

Alberg 22

I didn't have a look at any Alberg 22's before buying my Tanzer, but it was one of the boats I was considering.

Just the fact that it was designed by Carl Alberg was enough to put it in the running :-). From the specs (48% ballast-to-displacement ratio), it would appear to be a very seaworthy boat. At any rate, I didn't actually look at one, but here are a few photos of one moored in Oakville, Ontario, just prior to haul-out in October '99:

Tanzer 22

The first Tanzer I saw at Frenchman's Bay in Pickering:

The Tanzer 22 is a Canadian boat built by Tanzer Industries in Dorion, Quebec. It's an amazingly overbuilt boat which can (and has) endured all kinds of physical abuse (falling off trucks, colliding with fishing boats, etc, etc) with minimal or no damage.

In comparison to the Catalina 22, the cabin extends to the full width of the boat, which provides a significant increase in cabin space. Also, although the Catalina and Tanzer are both "22" feet long, the C22 is only 21'6", while the T22 is 22'6" -- a full foot longer!

Three photos of T22 #1597, which was for sale in Markham, Ontario.

Why I chose a Tanzer 22:

Continue on to my Tanzer 22.

Back to Tanzer 22 #2104

Last modified Wed Oct 27 23:55:14 EDT 1999