A Review of the 422 Pearson

The 422 Pearson completes the series of Bill Shaw hull designs. The prior editions include the 390 419 & 424. Most noteworthy about this design is the center cockpit & centerline queen aft. Between 1981 1987 Pearson produced 39 hulls.

The History of Pearson Pearson produced the first fiberglass sailboat in 1959. The Triton 28 was a bit hit & mass produced by Everett & Clinton the Pearson cousins. This success led to the businessfs expansion. In 1961 Grumman bought the company & stepped up production. The classically designed 35 Alberg & 44 Countess followed. Five years later the cousins were replaced by Bill Shaw who introduced his own designs to the company. His first design was the the 390 an aft cockpit design for the charter industry. Later he created the 419 the 424 & finally the 422. 30 hulls later the hull design was altered to be more owner-friendly. The 419 only offered a single v-berth stateroom forward. As demand changed there was a need to produce aft cockpit designs. Thus the popular 424 was introduced. Ultimately Pearson decided to offer both the aft cockpit & center cockpit designs so they created the 422.

Design Both the 422 & the 424 have identical hull designs but the 424 has the center cockpit deck mold. The 422 has a fin keel with a skeg hung rudder flat transom subtle sheerline & raked bow. The center cockpit deck layout allows for the interior to offer an aft stateroom with private head. The beautiful centerline queen aft is
the 422fs best feature. Portside the walkthrough offers a work table & navigation station at the end. Amidships the galley is starboard & saloon forward. All the way forward she has a guest head & a V-berth. Headroom is 6 foot 4 in. in the center tapering to 6 feet at the sides.

Build Pearson was the original maker of fiberglass. While the designer changed Pearson was always first class in build quality & manufacturing techniques. The 422 hull is thick & sound with a solid hull to deck joint keel stepped mast. The original engine was a Westerbeke with a Walter V-drive. Pearson commissioned her with Lewmar winches. One known issue on the 422 is the aluminum fuel tanks one on each side. They have a .090 thickness which has been found to be thin. Recommended thickness is .125. A distinctive feature of the 422 is her cockpit. She has unique cockpit steps one on each side which hing up to completely enclose the cockpit. Otherwise they lock down providing an easy step.

After In 1985 Grumman sold Pearson to a private group who quickly stopped production of the 422. In 1991 Pearson went out of business. These days Everett Pearson the co-founding cousin owns the Pearson brand & runs TPI who produce J boats. Notable problems with Pearson 422fs after 20 years are regular old age issues. Check for leaky portholes. They should have repowered engines new rigging. Overall these boats are great Caribbean cruisers with their 5and 1/2 foot draft have gorgeous centerline queen berths aft & attractive classic lines. Find one somewhere between $60 to $100 thousand.

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