Design and Construction
The H-28’s proportions place her firmly in the heavy, able cruiser tradition rather than the lithe racer end of the spectrum. Her 10,500 lb displacement on a 23-foot-1.5-inch waterline, paired with 2,800 lbs of ballast, gives a low, steady profile that rewards patient sailing. L. Francis Herreshoff’s design number 80 was a masthead ketch from the outset, a rig choice that splits sail area into manageable pieces for a short crew.
Rig and Handling
As a masthead ketch with a published sail area of 343 sq ft, the H-28 favors divided rig control over raw driving power. One owner’s account shows the boat lends itself to practical enlargement of that rig: a bowsprit can be added anchor, and with the forestay on a removable turnbuckle a good-sized genoa can be set and easily handled on the headstay, a blessing in light air. The same bowsprit makes a wonderful place to hang the anchor—safe, out of the way, and easy to single-hand. A 1977 example named Gwylan, built by McKie (“Nick”) Roth in Westport, Maine, was constructed almost entirely as designed but omitted spreaders on the mizzen and the cedar bucket, showing the design tolerates modest deviation without losing character.
Accommodations
The record gives no interior arrangement beyond those owner-noted omissions and fittings, so the cabin plan must be read through what builders chose to leave out rather than what was added. The absence of a cedar bucket on Gwylan suggests the original specification included one as standard period gear, and the mizzen spreaders were a designed feature the builder elected to skip. The bowsprit’s value for anchoring and light-air genoa work implies a deck layout where single-handed ground-tackle handling mattered to owners.
Refits and Ownership
The most documented refit path is the bowsprit addition, recommended by an owner who found it transformed light-air performance and anchor stowage alike. Because Gwylan was built almost entirely as designed apart from that sprit, the missing mizzen spreaders, and the omitted bucket, the as-designed baseline is coherent enough that later owners can reproduce or adapt it with confidence. The 1977 Roth-built hull proves the drawings remained buildable decades after 1942.
The Verdict
The H-28 is a heavy, ballast-steady ketch of conservative length but generous beam, whose divided rig and optional bowsprit make her a forgiving cruiser for light-air and single-handed work. She is not a modern performance boat, but her documented build consistency across thirty-five years argues for a design that knows exactly what it is.
Pros
- Substantial 10,500 lb displacement with 2,800 lb ballast for steady, weatherly motion
- Masthead ketch rig splits sail for short-handed handling
- Bowsprit option improves light-air genoa use and anchor stowage
Cons
- Heavy displacement limits sparkle in calm conditions
- Original period fittings like the cedar bucket may be absent on later builds
