Cape Dory 28 Review and Used Buyer's Guide

The Cape Dory 28 and the art of accidental ownership

Cruising World's Classic Plastic profile of the Cape Dory 28 begins with a confession familiar to many owners: the writer went to a Chesapeake boatyard just to look, found an Alberg-designed Cape Dory 28, and owned it three weeks later. That is how this boat sells. The graceful sheer sweeping forward from a counter stern to a teak bowsprit, the teak eyebrows and grabrails on a long trunk cabin and the bronze opening ports do most of the work.

Cape Dory Yachts built about 388 of them in East Taunton, Massachusetts, between 1974 and 1987 (Wikipedia's model table lists 389, and sailboatdata gives 1988 as the last year). That long run makes the 28 one of the most common Cape Dorys on the market, and one of the most frequently recommended small cruisers for couples on a budget.

Alberg's lines, and what the ratios say

Like most Cape Dorys the 28 follows Carl Alberg's recipe: a full keel with the rudder hung on its trailing edge, relatively narrow beam of about 8 ft 10 in, moderate freeboard and generous overhangs. The waterline is 22 ft 2 in on a 28 ft 1 in hull, displacement is 9,000 lb, and 3,500 lb of it is lead ballast.

Those numbers describe a heavy, stiff boat that will not set speed records but will keep going when lighter boats are reefing hard. The comfort ratio of about 31.7 sits in the moderate bluewater range, and the capsize screening value of 1.71 is well under the usual 2.0 offshore threshold.

Under sail, quicker than the numbers suggest

The Cruising World owner sailed her 28 for six years and described it as sound, safe and comfortable: stiff, surprisingly quick in light wind, extremely capable in heavy air and a joy off the wind. It balanced well, tracked perfectly and used its momentum to plow through Chesapeake chop.

Her one complaint was the club-footed jib. It made tacking easy when singlehanding but was hard to trim well, so she replaced it with a roller furling system. That is a common upgrade, and a boat with a good furler and a newer headsail is worth more than one still carrying the original club.

Small boat, big passages

Wikipedia notes that a Cape Dory 28 has completed a solo circumnavigation, and the boat appears regularly on lists of small offshore-capable cruisers. Treat that as proof of the hull's capability rather than a promise about any individual boat. A 40-year-old 28 needs new standing rigging, a sound rudder, rebedded hardware and a reliable engine before it goes offshore, and tankage is modest for long passages.

For most owners the 28 is a coastal and island-hopping boat that can handle an unexpected gale, which is exactly the margin a cruising couple wants on the way to the Bahamas or along the Maine coast.

Inside: teak, bronze and a galley split by the companionway

Below, solid teak and teak veneer dominate, and bronze appears in the through-hulls and the eight opening ports. The saloon has about 6 ft of headroom and two opening hatches. Each settee hides a 30 gallon water tank, with more storage behind the backrests and narrow bookshelves above. The starboard settee is a single berth; the port settee slides out to make a slender double, and a teak table swings down from the bulkhead between them.

Forward of the saloon is the head, with a hanging wet locker and a small sink. Cruising World noted that the sink drains into a fiberglass trough and then to the bilge, and the toilet sits below the waterline, so valves must be closed when it is not in use. A folding door leads to the V-berth, where a cushioned insert creates a double, with the anchor locker beyond.

The galley straddles the companionway: the top step sits on the counter beside a single stainless sink, with an icebox to starboard and an alcohol stove to port. Many owners have converted to propane.

Engines and the squeeze behind the steps

Sailboatdata lists the 13 hp Volvo MD7A as original equipment, with some boats fitted with Farymann or Universal diesels. Engine access is the 28's least loved feature. Cruising World described removing the companionway stairs to gain just enough room for a small person to lean over the engine to service the raw-water pump or top up the transmission.

Fuel capacity is reported inconsistently, 13 gallons by sailboatdata and 32 gallons by Cruising World, which may reflect different tank installations over the years. Check the actual tank before planning range. A boat that has been repowered with a modern small diesel is worth a meaningful premium, both for reliability and for parts availability.

Owning one: costs, community and the powerboat confusion

Running a 28 footer is affordable. Budget roughly $4,000 to $9,000 a year in most US regions for slip or mooring, insurance, haul-out and bottom paint, engine service and teak care. The Cape Dory Sailboat Owners Association (capedory.org) is one of several groups that support owners, and much of the original bronze hardware came from Cape Dory's own Spartan Marine division, so keep original castings rather than replacing them with generic parts.

Do not confuse the sailboat with the Cape Dory 28 powerboat. Wikipedia's model table lists a separate 28 powerboat line in open, sport and cruiser versions, built from 1984 to 1990 with 223 produced. Listings sometimes mix them, so check that the boat in front of you has a mast.

• Cape Dory Yachts folded in 1992 and sold several designs to Newport Shipyards
• Robinhood Marine, headed by founder Andrew Vavolotis, later acquired molds for several models
• Owner associations remain the best source of drawings and fixes

Used values and what moves them

Cruising World put asking prices at $14,500 to $35,000 when it profiled the boat in 2007. Today we see the realistic range as roughly $12,000 for a tired boat with an original engine to around $40,000 for a repowered, well-kept example with good sails and electronics. Year matters less than refit history, so judge each boat on survey rather than age.