(c) Yachting Monthly, 1992
 
Second look
Hurley 22
A popular and long-lived small cruiser

For a yacht to have a production life of almost 25 years, in a business where new designs can appear and disappear in the same season, it must have qualities which place it outside the strictures of trends and fashions.
In 1966, when GRP was a relatively new and still mistrusted interloper, A G Hurley (Marine) Ltd began production of an innovative 22ft cruising yacht designed by lan Anderson. The qualities which lay behind the Hurley 22's enduring popularity were summed up two years later in a YM test: 'The Hurley 22 is a well-proven and justly popular small glassfibre cruiser, with a better than average performance and sea-going ability.'
Produced alongside a smaller sister, the Hurley 18, the 22 became an instant hit. Quite aside from her pretty lines -she looked like a 'proper yacht' - she was solidly built, drawing on Hurley's years of experience building glassfibre cabin cruisers, and had good accommodation for her size, with 5ft of headroom and full use made of a modest 7ft 5in beam.
The interior was open plan, with a roomy V-berth forward, a small amidships galley with a cooker which slid out over a sink, a hanging locker opposite that, and two quarterberths, one of which was home to a slide-out chart table. A pump toilet was installed between the V-berths. Slight changes were made to the  layout over the years as the moulds changed hands; the boat we inspected had been built by South Coast Marine in 1979 and sported a clever saloon table, which doubled as the door to the hanging locker, and could also be set up in the cockpit. A later version still was given an enclosed heads compartment in a three-berth layout.
From the outset the Hurley 22 was intended to be raced as well as cruised. After a 22 won the Round The Island Race in 1967, South Hants Marine produced a full racing version, the 22S, on which a skeg-hung rudder was substituted for the original spade, and a loftier racing rig was added. These boats acquitted themselves well on the JOG circuit.
But it has been the 22's cruising performance that has won the respect of many yachtsmen over the years. The unlikely combination of a long keel and a small spade rudder proved surprisingly effective, and former Hurley owners speak fondly of the little boat's performance and seakindliness. A ballast ratio approaching 60 per cent means she stands up well to her 250sq ft of sail.
The boats have proved themselves on long cruises; several 22s have crossed the Atlantic, and at least one has cruised the Pacific. Closer to home, they were especially popular in the West Country and in the shallow waters of the East Coast; the full keel version draws 3ft 9in, and with bilge keels she will float in well under 3ft of water.

Some boats were sold with inboard engines, usually Stuart Turners, but the most popular option had an outboard in a well aft of the rudder. One of the few criticisms of the boat is that the outboard-equipped, long keel versions are difficult to steer astern under power.
Well over 1,200 of these little yachts were produced by various builders until 1990. Given the affection the Hurley 22 seems to inspire in past and present owners, it is not beyond the bounds of probability that she might, one day, be resurrected. PN
 


Survey

Tony Staton-Bevan writes: The Hurley 22s have particularly tough hull and deck mouldings for a craft of this size. As a result, many of those originally built by Hurley Marine are still in remarkably good condition today. The quality of these earlier mouldings is also reflected in tlieir above-average resistance to gelcoat blistering. One potentially serious defect, on both single and twin keel versions, is where water can seep in around the encapsulated ballast. If left unchecked for many years, it can degrade and seriously weaken the GRP laminate. It is important that the ballast is kept well sealed on both the inside and the outside.

Specifications: LOA: 6.70m (22ft) LWL: 5.18m (17ft) Beam: 2.22m (7ft 5in) Draught: 1.14m (3ft 9in) fin, 0.76m (2ft 6in) bilge Displacement: 1,769kg (3,900 Ib) Ballast: 1,043kg (2,300 Ib) Sail area: 23,22m2 (250sq ft) Launch price: £1,175 Current price guide (asking prices): £4,000-£6,500