Bristol produced only about 20 hulls from 1972 to 1974. The model represents a brief, deliberate chapter in the yard’s first-generation output: a lean, IOR-oriented 28-footer conceived for racing rather than the cruising market Bristol would soon pursue with the 29.9.
Design and Lineage
Halsey Herreshoff designed the boat specifically for the International Offshore Rule Half Ton class, a rating band built around 27-to-30-foot hulls in which the limit rewarded performance over raw size.
The 28 is best understood as a sleeker, racing-minded precursor to the more cruiser-focused Bristol 29.9. The family resemblance was deliberate rather than coincidental. Compared with the later 29.9, the Half Ton 28 had less stern overhang, a choice tied directly to better speed and handling in competitive conditions.
The hull measures 28 feet overall, with a 24-foot waterline and a 10-foot beam. Displacement is roughly 6,600 pounds, including 3,000 pounds of lead ballast. These proportions belong to a pointed thoroughbred rather than a pocket cruiser.
Construction
The Bristol 28 is a classic fiberglass sailboat in the plain sense of the term. Its hull is solid, hand-laid fiberglass without coring, about a half-inch thick below the waterline and three-eighths above. Bristol joined it to a balsa-cored deck with a through-bolted, caulked flange.
Bristol Yachts built its early hulls this way, and the 28 sits squarely in that construction era. Its fin keel and skeg-hung rudder also place it among the first generation of fin-keeled Bristol designs, rather than the full-keel or keel-centerboard boats that had opened the marque’s line a few years earlier.
Rig and Handling
The Bristol 28 is a masthead sloop with a tall, narrow-aspect rig suited to the IOR rule. The standard rig dimensions are:
- I: 37.5 feet
- J: 11.5 feet
- P: 31 feet
- E: 10 feet
That produces a mainsail of about 158 square feet and a working jib of roughly 170 square feet. The 150-percent genoa measures 325 square feet, while a 656-square-foot spinnaker formed part of the racing inventory.
Those numbers describe a boat intended to be driven hard upwind and flown downwind under a kite. The reduced stern overhang keeps the waterline effective when the boat heels, while the skeg-hung rudder gives the helmsman a defined pivot aft of the fin. It’s a layout that rewards an attentive crew in the Half Ton’s intended racing conditions.
Accommodations
The 28 wasn’t marketed as a cruiser, and its interior remained subordinate to the IOR racing brief. The balsa-cored deck provided stiffness and insulation overhead, while the solid-glass hull below formed a simple, repairable shell.
Anyone expecting a finished cruising interior comparable to the later Bristol 29.9 will be looking at the wrong boat. The 28 was a racer first, with accommodations reduced to the minimum required for offshore racing compliance rather than coastal comfort.
The Verdict
The Bristol 28 is a rare, purpose-built IOR Half Ton racer from a respected Rhode Island yard. Designed by a Herreshoff and built in tiny numbers during a three-year production run, it’s more collector’s racer than family cruiser. Its value lies in the purity of its intent and the scarcity of surviving hulls.
Pros
- Designed specifically for IOR Half Ton racing rather than as a cruiser compromise
- Drawn by Halsey C. Chase Herreshoff, with a clear lineage to the Bristol 29.9
- Solid, hand-laid fiberglass hull with lead ballast and a skeg-hung rudder
Cons
- Only about 20 were built, so spares and comparable sales are scarce
- Racing-focused design offers minimal cruising accommodations
- Brief production run limits fleet knowledge and support
