Tom 28 Boat Review by Steve Steiner for YachtRacing.com

It’s not often that a different kind of performance sailboat emerges on the water. The Tom 28 is very different. It is not set out to be an all around boat. Instead it was designed by Giovanni Ceccerelli to be a very fast, easy to sail Match Racer. That is exactly what it is. We just had the pleasure of sailing the Tom 28 on a perfect January afternoon in 16+ knots of wind on San Diego Bay. Although the boat has less than 3 feet of freeboard, we arrived back at the dock completely dry.

As we approached the boat, I was very stunned to see a 27 foot cockpit on a 28 foot boat. It looked more like something you would fly than sail. We left the dock with 2 of us aboard Hull #29 and 3 aboard Hull #30. In 12 to 13 knots of wind, I was sure that the other boat with 3 aboard would leave us to weather, but was surprised when the boats held even with the deep 1,519# bulb keel supplying most of the righting force. We went through some tacks and found the boat was very maneuverable and easy to control for just 2 people. The jib sheets are on a 2 to 1 purchase system making them a simple task to trim. We put her through the paces of beating reaching and running with just a main and jib, but it was time to get down to some spinnaker flying. The designer chose symmetrical chutes to tighten the racing downwind. He feels that the Asymmetricals take smaller boats on too wide of angles for match racing and split the boats too quickly.

Manufacturer Provided Information: General Specs: TOM 28 -Price: $38,000 (any port in the USA) -LOA 28.1 -Beam 8.1 -Displacement 3014 -Ballast 1519 -Sail area 479 (main, 105% jib) -Spinnaker 525 -Designer Giovanni Ceccerelli-Ravenna, Italy -Currently being built at the Omega Ship Yard in Moden, Italy by Paolo Pizzo and Matep Plazzi from "Team Prada" Imported to the USA exclusively by Pacific Sport Boats. -Hull Constrution: Fiberglass -Alluminum rig -Deep foil keel with bulb -High ratio rudder -"Simple to operate and cost effective to keep"

We chose to run Hull #30 with 4 people which is the ideal race crew configuration. Being strong and stupid, I decided to work the mast. It was truly a joy to work the mast from inside the boat. No standing on a cabin top trying to balance on one foot. The chute went up very easily on the 7/8ths fractional rig and filled quickly in the now 16 knots of wind. The boat accelerated to 10 knots of boat speed on a broad reach in an 18 knot gust according to our GPS against a slight outgoing tide.

Now was the moment of truth: My first end for end Gybe in probably 10 years. Luckily I could do it while standing inside the 27 foot cockpit. The pole came back and the trip was easy not fighting against a foreguy. The pole is controlled with tweekers on the single sheet/afterguy. The new sheet was snapped in the other side and I was able to push my foot against the inside of the leeward cockpit to give me way more than enough leverage to make the pole on the mast ring. The sheet was trimmed and we went flying across the bay toward the Coronado bridge. The chute was brought down just behind the jib and right into the cockpit. As we headed back up the bay, I was shocked how high the narrow dart shaped hull would sail. We easily went over the top of every other boat we encountered.

The boats do not have any lifelines and with the crew assined specific tasks, there is nobody sitting on the rail. Instead, everyone that sails these boats find different ways to transfer their weight over the rail. The favorite technique is to run the jib sheet up to the windward winch. Once that is done, the main and jib trimmers may hook their feet under the sheet, hold on to their respective lines and lean their upper bodies back over the rail. The forward crew member can easily hold on to the shroud or to one of the halyard ends to accomplish the same feat.

I drove most of the way to weather expecting everyone in front of me to get wet. The narrow bow kicked up very little water keeping us dry in the small chop inside the harbor. However, offshore sailing of the Tom 28 could be very wet, like the Melges or Etchells

Sean Downey, my Associate Editor was aboard for the official review sail, and had sailed the boat previously in PHRF fleet conditions at the New Year’s Day Regatta held by San Diego Yacht Club.

Sean’s comments:

"As a crew of three we were assigned to USA-30. The boat was given a gift rating of 75 for the race. It is important to remember that these boats were never intended for fleet racing unless as a one-design fleet.

We got the boat at the committee end of the line right at the gun and accelerated on starboard tack into an 8 knot breeze, easily keeping pace with a Beneteau 36.7 to starboard and a 40 foot boat to port. Because of the extreme pointing ability of the boat, we were able to lay the line without tacking.

The downwind performance was incredible. When we rounded the mark and popped the chute, the boat seemed to rocket on a reach and gybing was a very simple procedure.

The boat seems to perform much better reaching, but going deep is definitely not at a snail’s pace."

 

The real business:

The Pros	The Cons:
Fast and Fun Large, Comfortable self draining cockpit Easy to Sail Well balanced rudder Well balanced rig Great for match racing Great day sailor Beautiful hull lines like an AC boat of the 90s Quick to rig and de-rig	Only a day sailor No interior but a small secure storage area under the cockpit No engine No head as of yet Deep bulb keel catches kelp

To purchase these boats in the United States, contact the exclusive U.S. dealer:
Pacific Sport Boats
SunRoad Resort Marina
955 Harbor Island Drive #155
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619.209.4742
Fax: 616.209.4744
E-Mail: info@pacificsportboats.com
www.pacificsportboats.com