New Cobalt 222 for 2007

Its designers talk much of the 222’s surfaces, of the tactile feel of the new boat, its integration of interior colors and textures, the long and free-flowing lines of its profile. The 222 is a looker alright, easy on the eye at first glance, sunlight bouncing from flawless gelcoat, graphics gleaming from their protected place within that gelcoat. And in a back-handed way this fascination with surfaces, with finished appearance, says much about time-honored Cobalt preoccupation with the deep-down heart of things. The 222 took first shape in the minds of its first captains.

Continuing the Cobalt tradition of listening long and hard to Cobalt owners and their ideas for improvements model year to model year, the 222 incorporates the thinking of the people who will come to know the boat best. For example, those owners said that sleek styling must never compromise the space reserved for storage, and so the 222 is a veritable moving van for equipment and supplies needful to a perfect day afloat, especially with underseat stashes in bow and cockpit alike.

Because the 222’s hull is so deep, these compartments below deck are truly accommodating, large enough for bulk storage. Cobalt owners, waterborne entertainers all, also asked for more comfortable seating in the bow, and Cobalt designers responded with a reclined backrest and enhanced padding in seats that are higher and deeper and therefore even safer, even more supportive.

Cobalt owners value technology; they understand its practical benefits, and so the 222 comes along with an optional global positioning system for pinpoint navigation offshore and cruise control with Wakeboard Pro to make the good times at the end of a towrope even better.

With all the gleam and the shine of the 222’s exterior, all the sensory details of its interior, the 222’s integrity arises from its unseen places. And perhaps no detail of Cobalt construction says more about the integral soundness, the overall quality of these boats than the aluminum backing plates that anchor every mounting point for the 222’s hardware -- from the bow scuff plate to the side-rails to the seat pedestals to the swim ladder.

Wherever exterior hardware adjoins the fiberglass, an aluminum plate lies embedded just below, with tapped or threaded connections to guarantee that bolts will not strip out, as is almost always the case over time with hardware mounted to fiberglass at the cleats amidships, for example -- no plated pot metal or plastic as is so often the case with other boats.

The rub rails are especially heavy stainless for rock-solid protection from dock abrasion. The rails too are stainless, manufactured in-house from a single piece of steel -- no joints to disengage -- and the ends have been filled to prevent loosening.

The 222’s cockpit carries on the good work begun in the bow. The high-back captain’s chairs, with their handy pockets, have been redesigned, now with a five-degree bottom, new foams, and additional padding throughout. The resulting jump in the soothe-factor is unmistakable.

The standard gauges and standard black leather, tilt steering wheel can be tricked out with an optional rosewood package that brings a rich luster to the pure functionality of the helm. The L-lounge seating is broad and welcoming, ready for a 50-mile cruise in comfort, a molded-in ice chest waiting at arm’s length as, just aft, the pad offers a sun-swept expanse for midday naps. Ski storage waits below, and at the transom a starboard walk-thru makes traffic-flow fast and easy.

Options for the interior add even more convenience, more security and, in the sand-colored rivulet carpet, more dashing good looks. New 222 owners may choose among more practical niceties – an air compressor, an engine hatch actuator, a dinette table, and adjustable seat bases – as they dial in the 222’s optional premium sound system with a tower-speaker package and a stereo remote at the transom.

The expectable Cobalt standards punctuate the exterior: an aft wet locker, aluminum at the windshield (the rakishly flat windshield, creating additional room abeam), an extended swim platform with ladder, stainless steel engine vents, and an ergonomic anchor locker. A ski tower, in stainless naturally, leads off the 222’s exterior option list, and enough canvas choices to cover a small house offer multiple opportunities for maximized protection of boat and owner alike.

Early reports suggest that the 222 is earning rave reviews from those inveterate stylists, the wakeboard crowd. Who better to recognize a boat capable of winning oohs and aahs at anchor and, then 90 seconds later, roaring toward the horizon at peak power, a laughing teenager out behind?

The 222. Surface beauty meets big heart.

SPECIFICATIONS
Hull Length Overall: 22' 6" (6.86 m)
Length Overall w/Extd Swim Platform: 24' 6" (7.47 m)
Beam Overall: 8' 6" (2.59 m)
Height Overall: 7' 1" (2.16 m)
Height Overall w/Arch or Tower: 8' 8" (2.64 m)
Bridge Clearance: 4' 9" (1.45 m)
Bridge Clearance w/Ski Tower: 7' 6" (2.28 m)
Freeboard Forward: 35 5/8" (.904 m)
Freeboard Aft: 21 1/8" (.536 m)
Draft Drive Up: 26" (.657 m)
Draft Drive Down: 36" (.914 m)
Deadrise at Transom: 21 Degrees (21 Degrees)
Dry Weight w/sm. block engine: 4165 lbs (1889 kg)
Dry Weight w/big block engine: 4640 Lbs (2105 kg)
Fuel Capacity: 50 Gal (189.3 L)
Water Capacity, Fresh: 10 Gal (37.9 L)
Capacity, by weight: 1,800 Lbs (816 kg)
Capacity, by persons: 12 Persons (12 Persons)

Base Suggested Retail Price: $55,073

Source: Cobalt Boats