Design and Construction
Despite the traditional outline, the Heard 28 is no lightweight replica. The GRP hulls are heavily laid up, with 15 ounces per square foot of glass on the topsides and 24 ounces on the keel, stem, and stern regions. Five tons of steel punching ballast is encapsulated over the full length of the long keel, giving the advertised 10,000-pound ballast figure and a ballast ratio near 59 percent. The deck is three-quarter-inch plywood glued and fastened to the beams, then sheathed in GRP. With a displacement around 18,000 pounds on a 27-foot waterline, the yachtdatabase DL-ratio of 407 puts her firmly among ultra-heavy cruisers, while a Motion Comfort Ratio of 45.0 and an immersion rate of roughly 924 pounds per inch speak to a stiff, slow-to-react hull that rides quietly in a seaway.
Rig and Handling
The rig is a gaff cutter carrying a long, down-curved bowsprit that can be retracted to shorten the boat for berthing, with some examples able to steve the bowsprit upward as an alternative. Although heavy, these yachts carry a lot of sail and a long bowsprit, and are surprisingly fast. The sail plan centers on about 630 square feet, and the SA/D ratio of 15.88 supports the period claim of lively performance for the tonnage. Mast and spars are Columbian pine; most boats are keel-stepped, but the illustrated yacht carried a deck-stepped mast in a hinged tabernacle to permit lowering. Sheet diameters are modest — 10 mm for jib, genoa, and mainsheet leads of 28 and 70 feet respectively — consistent with a hand-led cruising rig rather than a winch-dominated racer.
Accommodations
Almost every Heard 28 is slightly different, because these are not standard production boats. The most common short coachroof encloses an owner-designed interior with saloon and forecabin. Headroom runs six feet aft, easing to 5 feet 11 inches forward in the saloon, heads, and forecabin. The forecabin holds two 6-foot-3 crossover berths; the saloon offers a single 6-foot-3 settee to port and a U-shaped settee whose drop-down table converts to a 6-foot-3 by 4-foot-6 double. A removable timber frame by the galley can host a canvas pipe cot above the double for an occasional extra berth, and the heads sit to starboard. Maximum berths are six.
Refits and Ownership
Because no two are alike, ownership is as much about the specific example as the design. Engines are listed simply as "various" with 20 to 35 horsepower diesel installations, and a Taylors paraffin heater with an insulated flue through to the forecabin appeared on the illustrated boat. The builder named in the archive is Gaffers & Luggers of Tregatreath, Cornwall, and the long-keeled, traditional-rigged nature means routine upkeep follows wooden-boat-adjacent practice even where GRP is used.
The Verdict
The Heard 28 is a characterful, heavily built cruiser for the sailor who values traditional Falmouth lines and owner-finished individuality over production uniformity. She is slow to accelerate but steady, with a surprising turn of speed under her gaff cutter rig and a hull that inspires confidence in a blow. The trade-off is a bespoke interior on every boat and a long-keeled, bowspritted footprint that demands traditional handling.
Pros
- Heavily laid-up GRP hull with full-length encapsulated steel ballast
- Traditional gaff cutter performance that belies the tonnage
- Retractable bowsprit eases berthing of a 41-foot overall length
- Owner-designed interiors give six-berth flexibility
Cons
- Non-standard construction makes class-wide judgment impossible
- Ultra-heavy displacement limits light-air progress to hull speed
- Plywood-cored deck sheathed in GRP needs traditional upkeep
