BOAT REVIEW: Rhodes 22 Revisited)

Overlooked by the masses, admired by owners—there are good reasons the Rhodes 22 has been in production for over a quarter century.

Back in 1959 when General Boats B= started production, their focus was the Picnic 17. Factory brochures proclaimed: It’s a motor boat, a fishing boat, a skiing boat, and a sailboat!”

Company owner Stan Spitzer says their do-everything design didn’t do so well.

“It got knocked by the boatshow experts—in fact the only guy who saw any redeeming value in our 17 was Roger MacGregor).”

Spitzer says that with no experience or background in the marine business, General Boats needed a direction. The trashing of their initial design provided one. Our goal became to design a new boat that experts wouldn’t dare knock.” Spitzer says that meant starting at the top and working down. The first door we knocked on, flared-hull sketches in hand, was a Lexington Avenue firm with government-restricted inner doors; the office of Philip L. Rhodes.” One of the most respected naval architects, whose credits included an America’s Cup winner, Rhodes was enthusiastic about getting back to small-boat design and agreed to take on the project.

Ten Eyke Associates, at the time a noted aircraft design team, offered their talents. They were eager to try their hand at a sailboat. Every curve and angle, from the cabin trunk to the recessed nonskid pattern, was painstakingly incorporated into a handmade plug. Finally, Spitzer turned to Lofland Sailcraft—known for their winning Snipes—to make the molds.

“After a few years we were ready for the third design team’—boatshow kibitzers. And they had lots to say. And we listened. So while the naval architecture has changed only slightly over the years, the ongoing input of show crowds from sea to sea has been shaping the Rhodes ever since.” Spitzer says.