Herreshoff 28 Ketch

Description

The Herreshoff 28 Ketch (also known as the H-28 or by its class name “Aries”) is a classic full-keel cruising yacht designed in 1937 by L. Francis Herreshoff as a compact, go-anywhere double-ender for his own use and for a small circle of clients who wanted a smaller, more manageable version of his famous 52-foot ketch Ticonderoga. Measuring 28 ft 2 in LOA (22 ft LWL), 8 ft 10 in beam, and 4 ft 6 in draft, the H-28 displaces about 10,500 lbs. with 4,000 lbs. of outside lead ballast, giving an exceptionally high ballast ratio (~38%) and a very easy, sea-kindly motion. She carries a low-aspect ketch rig (total sail area ~440 sq ft): tall main with a short mast stepped well forward, and a tiny mizzen stepped on the transom, providing perfect balance and the ability to heave-to instantly under mizzen and backed jib. Below, the layout is pure L. Francis genius in miniature: V-berth forward, saloon with two 6 ft 8 in settees, galley aft to port, quarter berth to starboard, and a proper enclosed head — real standing headroom (6 ft+) under a small doghouse. Only about 40–45 were built, almost all in wood. A handful were built cold-molded or in fiberglass in the 1970s–80s under license (notably by Cape Cod Shipbuilding and Cheseborough), but the vast majority are traditional carvel-planked originals.