I owned the Bayliner Capri 1952 for the last 8 seasons. (The Capri 1952 is the predecessor to the Discovery 192). The rumors about Bayliner's falling apart is complete nonsense. The resale value is less but so is the purchase price. The Discovery even with a diesel will be A LOT less than the C-22. What matters in resale is the % in loss from what you paid to buy it vs. the price when you sell it. With that being said, my loss after 8 years of hard use was 40%. This is not a great resale %, but most people hear about a year 2000 Sea Ray 25' cruiser going for $50,000 and the same size Bayliner going for $30,000...what horrible resale!" The resale dollar is not what matters but again the % of loss from purchase to sale.
Here's the most objective review of the boats I can provide.....The Discovery 192 has an I/O of course. This means bellows, impellor pump, gimble bearing, etc. which need to be replaced after 5-7 seasons. This will cost $1000. The canvas will look good for 5 seasons and will cost $1400 to replace. The bow wander in these things is unreal...to cruise at hull speed will require significant, constant correction to remain straight. I always hated that in my boat. The canvas top is stand-up height, but again it's canvas. I vowed I would never again own a boat that requires canvas to keep occupants dry and comfortable. My boat had the Mercruiser 3.0L carbed engine and was underpowered. I will never again own a carbed engine. The carb needed to be rebuilt every season for the last three seasons. With that being said, (my catch phrase for this note it seems), the boat was a TANK! I have cruised out to 23 miles from shore with gear for three technical divers (max load capacity for the boat). I have even slept 4 adults on this boat! Ha ha - but that was interesting. The forward v-berth is surprisingly large and very comfortable for two people. The seats in the cockput lay flat and you can at least lay there and rest...but I could never personally actually fall asleep on them. The cockpit is cramped with the engine cover. The boat will pound like crazy in the seas (as will some of the others you mention). My boat carried 23 G of fuel which can be problematic depending upon your cruising desires. I found her to be a reliable boat overall, but it became awfully small awfully fast on the ocean.
I have cruised on the Trophy 2359. I was very impressed with the boat from a cruising and space perspective. The cabin is very nice and spacious. The big thing for me was the head...it's located right in the middle of the forward cabin area. Either you leave the center cushion up or you have to remove it before you use the head. I wanted an enclosed head....that should be a private affair
The visibility from the cockpit was quite good. I don't know anything about the maintenance issues since I was only an occassional guest.
The C-22 would likely pound like crazy, perhaps worse than both of the above boats due to the flat bottom. However the great advantages are the outboards, fully enclosed stand-up pilot house cabin, and the single hull to cabin building process. The Bayliners above have brackets connecting the hull to the cabin top.
From my research and experience a straight inboard diesel is the most reliable engine/drive configuration, followed by fuel injected outboards, and carbed I/O's as the least reliable.
I would take a cruise in the C-22 in the usual seas you will be cruising and decide from there.
