Tom 28 on Top

The Tom 28 is the first pure match-racer to be specially built in Italy. The boat was commissioned by Andrea Tromboni, chief organizer of the event that carries his name, with the brief for a high-performance and stimulating boat that would nevertheless prove durable in use, and would work well with a simple sailplan. Maximum beam had to fit within European trailing limits and the boat had to be light enough to be towed by a mid-sized car.

Cooperation was sought and received from a number of the world's top match-racers in designing the boat. We drew this boat completely free of any class or rating rules, purely to meet the objective of creating a good match — or on-design fleet — racer, that would be popular with the crews that would use it.

With no restraints whatsoever, we were able to design a boat with good speed, but also good maneuverability, key for a good match-race design. The boat can be measured under the CHS sportsboat rule, but no concessions were made in this direction.

We employed much of the experience we gained from our ILC25sand ILC30s, both categories in which we have won world titles in the past.

The TOM 28 is now in production at the Cantiere Navale Giovanni Pozzolo in Italy, but we intend to make molds available for overseas yards that may wish to produce this boat locally.

The hull is constructed of single skin E glass and polyester resin, while the deck employs a PVC core. The structure is kept very simple to control costs, using a single bulkhead, two lateral frames and two longitudinal members.

The keel is made of cast iron, while the rudder is an E glass/foam blade mounted on a stainless-steel stock.

The sailplan consists of three sails: main, jib and spinnaker — while the mast is a simple aluminium extrusion, with no runners.

A slightly larger than minimum section was chosen in order to ensure reliability in all conditions, and if the rig should be abused, as of course is inevitable with a match-racing boat that will be used at the highest level!

Boat Specifications