I've had an SC20 since 81 and am thinking of moving up to a ARC22.My girlfriend and I are a combined weight of 300lbs.Any feedback pro or con is appreciated.

Having both 1980 SC20 and ARC22 I can say the 22 is a much better boat in some ways. If you're used to being wet the 22 has much less spray. Its the same hull but 2 ft longer. If you have heavy air then the 22 is alot more work. The tall rig is an absolute beast here in Dallas when the winds are up. It doesn't like the sudden gusts we have here. Mine has a self taking jib which works pretty well. If you like to race you had better be someplace that has some of these boats. PCola or south Florida. Here I was told if you don't sail a Hobie you will be sailing by yourself... The expense factor speaks for itself. Most ARC 22 are painted which is a problem unless you buy some padded carpet to beach on. The beaches here are gravel/rock with mud. When I have a crew they usually have to walk the boat to the beach. When I don't have a crew the boat sits on the trailer which is most of te time around here. If you don't park your trailer on the carpet someone will take it... AT least mine has gone missing several times. Rating wise the SC20 is a rating beater while the 22 has to spot almost every boat. The 22 beams are solid as well as the spin/forward tramp setup require a longer setup/take down time than the telescoping SC20. I have a dry stall about 100 yards from the water so the 22 stays assembled mast up storage most of the year. Construction wise both boats are pretty good. I recently sanded down the hulls of my SC20 and found the boat to be stiff and sound but the painter did a terrible job that two professional painters suggested I start over and sand down to the glass. Both hulls weighed about the same with the gel coat off.

hope this helps,

thom

For the real inside scoop contact Tom Haberman at Aquarius Sails, Inc. They build the SC/ARC's and can fill you in on all of the contrasting details. The boats can be configured in many ways.

My son and I had a chance to both crew twice on competing ARC22's last week. I'm a Hobie 17 guy, my son a Hobie 14 Turbo dude.

We were in moderate winds and both boats were a dream almost sailing & rigging themselves. Certainly found it much more enjoyable than my Hobie.

The true test for me was my son can't wait to get back on the ARC22.

Hope this helps.

Sail on, Tom G

Thanks Thom
My main concern was the extra mast height with our limited weight.I also sail the boat by myself under 7 knots and think I'll be in the air a great deal.I would only sail the 20 up to 10 to 12 knots these days as I'm a heavy windsurfer and also have a Tasar, which is a planning racing dingy from Australia.
The 20 has been through alot and is a telescoping rather than a fixed beam so it's walking a bit.
I don't race at all,I'm just into speed and I've never lost the rush when the spray starts kicking up.

My 20 has 6' racks that I built many years ago with the help of Randy Smyth.They can be transfered to the 22 as the dimensions are exactly the same between the cross beams.This should help a bit but when you mentioned the boat being alot to handle at times when the wind picks up, I get a little apprehensive.I'd have to add a third crew !!!

Thanks for your feedback.

G

Thanks Tom G and I'm very familiar with Aquarius over the years. I'm actually looking for a pre owned 22 so I must look at what is available.
What do you call moderate winds and what were the weights of the crews?
G

If your beams are creeping you might look into some green pvc pipe as a sleeve. I have seen this used with the delrin shims removed and new holes drilled. Its a cheap method for solid beams but he uses a tilt trailer as well. . Haberman probably has some replacements that would be better as well as alot of other improvements and retain the telescoping aspect.

I like the 22 better in winds under 12 mph but just don't see it much around here. Seems that when it blows here its 15-25 with gusts or gradually turns into that... The 20 handles that with ease especially when sailing with main alone. I bought a set of high wind sails that were designed by Haberman/Posey as well as a Furling spin from GM Sails thats about 450sqft instead of the 615 sqft stock spin. They tame it down a bunch but you always get the dumb a.. questions about being able to handle the boat...

If you're single handing be advised the 38.5ft mast I have weighs 86lbs according to Aquarius spec sheet furnished with the manual. So watch that flying high because that much weight up top can pull you over. Of course with evrythinag all sealed its easy to right it without leaving the high hull...

thom

This a partial quote from the Aquarius Sail forum regarding the evolution of the SC/ARC boats mentioned in this post. Bill Roberts stated: "The SC20 was rated at 64 and the SC20TR at 62. Then in 1992 the ARC22 comes along which is all SC20TR components, rig, sails, boards, rudders, tramp, beams, etc, with 2ft longer hulls made from SC20 hulls and this boat with spinnaker is rated at 57.1"

thom

My son and I each weigh in at 185-187 lbs. Winds were in the 8-12 mph range.

At times I have seen used boats for sale on the Aquarius website. Have not looked recently. Just a thought if you have not checked. Sounds like you are already pretty well tuned into the SC/ARC community.

Tom Haberman may know of used boats available.

Sail on, Tom G

Thanks Thom and check your email
G

Followed the posts and thought I might jump in. I have an ARC 22 , actually my second one, and have been sailing them for 6-7 years now. Absolutely great boat with tremendous performance potential. I race the local events with my girlfriend and do all my day sailing with her as well. Real serious big events and I have a good friend sail with me as the chute can be a handful when it blows. I find the 22 to ideal in our conditions.... 10 up to 15 knots and shes a joy. The rig is so controllable that we can effectively flatten the main and jib and be in good shape into the upper teens . The biggest problem I see is some of the 22 sailors are conservative and might be tentative when it blows.....time on the water and you get comfortable in the breezes. Let me know if I can help with specifics. Its a great boat and quite frankly the rating is very winnable...we do quite well even when we screw up and thats against tough sailors in fort walton and pensacola.
Hope this helps!

Hi Mike-

I was talking to Curry about the Black Cat spin being good up to about 20 knts. I know he wasn't talking about the gusty stuff but I believe it could be done in your area with the steady winds/double trapped. Have you flown a chute in that kind of breeze?

thom