Rhodes 22 and General Boats, a Trailerable Cruiser Built by One Owner's Obsession

A famous designer's name on a small builder's boat

Philip Rhodes was one of the best-known American yacht designers of the 20th century, and his name appears on several small boats that are still sold in the US. Cape Cod Shipbuilding in Massachusetts builds the Rhodes 18 and supplies spars for the Rhodes 19, for example. When American buyers search for a Rhodes sailboat to cruise, though, they usually mean the Rhodes 22, and the company behind it was General Boats.

The partnership began in 1968, when General Boats commissioned Rhodes for a design that would carry its owner Stan Spitzer's own ideas, and production started that same year, at times under the label Rhodes Continental 22. The reviewer Steve Henkel later wondered how much credit belonged to each man, since the reversed sheer line and flared sides echoed the company's earlier 17-foot Picnic, a Nils Lucander design. Neither the year General Boats was formed nor its home base could be confirmed, so we leave both blank.

Spitzer's 22, sold direct and never finished evolving

Total output reached roughly 1,000 boats. General Boats built the bulk of them, while licensees filled in at times, C&C Yachts in Canada plus three American shops, Ray Greene & Co., Siddons & Sindle and Lofland Sail-craft. Wikipedia now describes the design as no longer built. Spitzer, who passed away in 2024, treated the boat as a permanent work in progress, so the same hull shape can carry very different hardware and details depending on its year.

That steady tinkering, aimed at couples rather than racers, is what earned General Boats such a loyal following. The company's priorities show in the package: ballast sealed inside a shoal keel stub with a lifting centerboard so the boat can be beached or trailered easily, roller-furling sails, a raising pop-top for standing room, a private head and a big cockpit. Practical Sailor sailed one in a stiff breeze in 1997 and came away impressed with it as a two-person cruiser. The specifics of the keel, the board and the test sit on our Rhodes 22 model page.

Buying a used Rhodes 22

Instead of building a dealer chain, General Boats dealt with customers itself and bought boats back to recondition and resell, which is why good used examples tend to surface a few at a time and why shoppers commonly drive across several states to fetch one. New boats carried a premium price for a 22-footer, and the secondhand market still reflects it, with the oldest tired hulls at the bottom and late, well-kitted boats on sound trailers at the top. Our model page lists sample asking prices by year.

Ask for the hull number and year, then compare equipment lists line by line, because a reconditioned older hull can beat a newer one.

• Pop-top tubes, detents and drip lip for leaks
• Centerboard pennant, pivot and trunk after groundings
• Hull-to-deck joint screws under the rub rail
• Soft spots in the deck core near stanchion bases, cleats and the mast hinge
• Furlers and UV damage on roller-furled sails
• Trailer tires, bearings, brakes and title