Thoughts on Ranger 22

[gmbandco]

I have an R-26 which I bought on Ebay, believe it or not. I love it. I had an Alacrity 19 before, so this is definitely more boat. Two of us sailed it down the Hudson into a 20-knot breeze, and did fine, although we had to reef the jib. Since then I have singlehanded it in various conditions with no trouble. I have the halyards routed to the cockpit, and mounted shift and throttle controls on the sides of the tiller, and I put Winchers on the primaries and secondaries. I also put a BoomKicker on it, to make lowering the main easier. The only negative is the lack of headroom, but you can't have everything. Go for it!

[bebuch]

In researching R23's, it seems fairly common for the keel-to-hull joint to have some issues - e.g., a crack at the joint that can get as bad as the keel loose enough to be moved from side to side. Does the R22 have any sort of reputation for such keel attachement issues?

[buslog]

I sail a Ranger 23 as volunteer able-bodied skipper for a disabled sailing organization, The Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors in San Francisco Bay. I'll tell you that the 23 is stiff and handles well on SF Bay, where conditions can be severe and changing, particularly important with disabled passengers aboard. The best setup in my view would be for the skipper to have full control of tiller and mainsheet as the helmsman needs to feel the balance in the groove and is able to feel the boat adjusting to puffs. Would think that the 22 is simliar to the 23 in these respects, and if so it's a great boat. BAADS would not ever, every, use a boat for disabled sailors that was not a darned good boat, so the 23 is a good choice in my view.

A

Originally Posted by kclaybrook

I started sailing this year in April. Completely hooked! The sailing club we have joined here in Nashville, TN has a learners program, but it is really hard to get enough stick time in 2 hours a week sharing a boat with 5 or 6 other learners. So, I started looking at my own boat. There are a few criteria for this boat:

• Something my wife and I can handle ourselves (22-25 ft)
• Something with a somewhat comfortable cabin (to placate the wife)
• Something with a little bit of speed

• and finally PRICE (we need to stay in the 2K - 5K range)

Just today we took out a Ranger 22. This seems to fit all of our criteria. I have read the boat reviews on the site, but always take those with a grain of salt. I have yet to read a review from an owner that hated the boat. I was wondering if anyone has any comments on the Ranger 22. I'm not just looking for the good, but the bad and the ugly as well. JeffH has said the Ranger 23 is a far superior boat. That's a good start. So, come on, let's hear the opinions of all you experienced sailors, and salty dogs. Let me know what you think.

[bobd43769]

I owned a Ranger 22 for a couple of years and loved it. I used it mainly for racing and did very well with it. I also delivered a Ranger 23 for a local broker (4 day trip solo). I liked the Ranger 23 better. It has a bigger cockpit and cabin. It sails the same as the 22 in light air but is faster and handles better in wind over 10kts. I would reccomend the 23 over the 22.

[Jeff_H]

I have sailed both boats. The Ranger 22 was designed as an IOR mini-tonner and while it is a pretty nice one design boat, it is a pretty compromised design relative to the Ranger 23 which was designed to be a good all around design and a MORC boat second. As has been said above, the Ranger 23 is a good boat on all points of sail, and across a wide wind range. The Ranger 23 is one of my favorite boats of this size and type and would probably be near the very top of my list of boats to learn to sail on and for a first boat.

I would never recommend the Ranger 22 so highly. The keel issue is possibly true of any small, bolt on fin keeled boat of that era. It is repairable much more easily than repairing a delaminated keel cavity which would be the expected condition on an encapsulated keel boat of that era.

Jeff