Design and Construction
The Spirit 28 carries a solid fiberglass hull and deck, a fin keel, and a spade rudder, with a lead ballast of 2,590 pounds set in a 5,953-pound displacement — a 43.5 percent ballast ratio that the yachtdatabase review summarizes as 42 percent anchor. The length-to-beam ratio is a moderate 3.02 against a beam of 9 feet 3 inches, and the wetted surface runs about 247 square feet. With a displacement-length ratio near 229 and a comfort ratio of 19.7, the hull is a comparatively light, narrow-ish coastal cruiser rather than a heavy offshore slug. The theoretical hull speed is 6.4 knots, and the immersion rate of roughly 727 pounds per inch tells you how firmly she sits to her lines as load comes aboard.
Rig and Handling
The boat is rigged as a masthead sloop, and the sheet specifications in the review give a practical picture of her running rigging: jib and genoa sheets are both 27.9 feet long and 3/8 inch in diameter, the mainsheet is a long 69.7-foot, 3/8-inch line, and the spinnaker sheet runs 61.4 feet at the same diameter. Those dimensions point to a straightforward, conventionally proportioned sloop rig for a 28-footer. The fin keel draws between 5.09 and 5.39 feet depending on load, which keeps her out of the thinnest shoal berths but lets her enter most marinas without drama. The shaft-drive transmission is a simple, serviceable arrangement aft of the single engine.
Accommodations
The Spirit 28 is a 28-foot monohull of moderate beam and light displacement, built in numbers sufficient — 284 hulls — to place a fair number on the water over the decades.
The Verdict
The Spirit 28 is a clean, early-seventies expression of Van de Stadt's design work. She is light on her lines, well ballasted for her size, and rigged in the simplest masthead configuration. The structural and rig facts paint a boat that is easy to handle and berth.
Pros
- Moderate 42–43 percent ballast ratio in a 5,953-pound hull gives reassuring stability for the length.
- Fin keel with 5.1–5.4 foot draft balances marina access against windward ability.
- Simple masthead sloop rig with standard 3/8-inch sheets is easy to maintain and re-rig.
- 284 hulls built, so examples are not vanishingly rare.
Cons
- No accommodation plan or handling impression is given beyond bare specifications.
