Overview
The Southern Cross 28 is a Thomas Gillmer double-ended cutter related to the larger Southern Cross 31. James Baldwin’s model notes describe an Airex-cored hull and a shortened keel compared with the 31.
History
Archived Sailboatdata identifies C. E. Ryder of Bristol, Rhode Island as the builder and gives 1978 as the first-built year. Good Old Boat reports that production ran mainly through the early 1980s and counts about 66 factory-finished boats plus about 6 kit hulls sold as the Gillmer 28. Those production details come from Good Old Boat alone in the source set read for this review. Baldwin separately confirms that some boats were owner-completed kits. No cited source identifies the final production year.
Construction
Baldwin describes an Airex-cored hull. Good Old Boat reports a foam-cored hull, balsa-cored deck, and encapsulated lead ballast. The more detailed deck and ballast construction remains a single-publisher account. Sailboatdata and Baldwin agree on 3,400 lb of ballast and 8,500 lb displacement, which yields the listed 40 percent ratio. Sailboatdata classifies the hull as a fin with the rudder on a skeg. Baldwin’s phrase, “a shortened keel compared to the Southern Cross 31,” is compatible with that classification but does not independently establish the same taxonomy.
Under Sail
Sailboatdata reports 415 sq ft of sail and a 20.17 ft waterline. Good Old Boat describes a masthead cutter with twin forestays and an optional self-tending staysail. It calls the boat “rugged” and “seaworthy” with “modest speed,” and reports at least one circumnavigation. The page does not name the boat or voyage, so the passage claim remains attributed to that source.
Buyers Notes
Baldwin’s recorded warning is specific: “some were owner completed kit boats of varying quality.” Establish whether a boat was factory-finished or completed from a Gillmer 28 kit, then inspect the owner-finished work on that hull.
