Soverel 28 Buyer's Guide
The Soverel 28 is a 28.5-foot centerboard sloop built by Soverel Marine from 1961 through 1970, roughly 90 produced. She pairs a 2.67-foot board-up draft with a 4.5-foot board-down draft, a spade rudder, and solid fiberglass construction. What follows is a buyer-side look at the boat as she appears on the used market.
Layouts on the Used Market
The Soverel 28 carries the centerboard trunk amidships, which shapes the cabin floor and limits open space compared with a fixed-keel boat of the same 8.33-foot beam. The 28.5-foot length and board-up draft of 2.67 feet make her trailerable and suited to shoal berths.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Period boats left the factory with a Palmer gasoline engine, and most survivors have been re-powered or rewired over the decades. A spade rudder and masthead sloop rig are standard; downwind sail ranges from the factory figures run to a 611-square-foot spinnaker.
What to Inspect
The centerboard trunk and pivot should be checked for water staining, softened glass around the pivot bolts, and free movement of the plate; a trunk that weeps or shows crazing at the hull joint has been loaded by a seized board. The spade rudder stock and its bearing should be wiggled at the blade — any play at the quadrant or a creaked bearing under light load points to a worn tube. The mainsail on the standard rig measures about 187 square feet with a racing cut near 206 sail area calculation table.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The Soverel 28 appears without concentrated regional market data, so buyers should canvas broadly. At a viewing, the centerboard trunk, spade rudder, and sail measurements define the key checks.
- Inspect the centerboard trunk for stains and free plate movement.
- Check the spade rudder for stock play at the bearing.
- Verify the mainsail size against the standard 187-square-foot figure.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Soverel 28. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.