UFO 28
Galetti · Umberto Felci · 1996
Updated
The UFO 28 is a 8.60 m planing racing yacht designed by Umberto Felci and built by Galetti, first launched in 1996. It races in Sportboat.
Length
8.60 m
28′ 3″
Beam
3.62 m
Draft
1.95 m
Displacement
1.2 t
Sail area
52 m²
On the podium
Where a UFO 28 finishes when she goes racing.
0
Wins
0
Seconds
0
Thirds
3
Starts
Not enough races yet for a percentage — these are the counts so far. We keep collecting results, so this will fill in.
Read from 3 starts by 1 boat between 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a UFO 28 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Regatta Sozopol Sailing Cup2026
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: 2 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
—
Not enough data yet: 1 race over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a UFO 28 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Platu 25 (3 meetings), Farr 30 (3 meetings), Bavaria 37 (3 meetings), X-41 (3 meetings), First 211 (3 meetings), First 36.7 (3 meetings), Elan 36 (3 meetings), Sun Fast 32 (3 meetings), Bull 700 (3 meetings), Bavaria Cruiser 45 (3 meetings), Bavaria Cruiser 36 (3 meetings), Apollo 12 (3 meetings), Sun Odyssey 40 (3 meetings), Conrad 24 (3 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the UFO 28 has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
5.25
36°
Beam reach
9.53
90°
Broad reach
12.89
135°
Downwind VMG
11.00
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
It needs pressure to show what it can do. Give it a fresh day and long legs and it delivers more than it promised; in a drifter it is working uphill.
Where it gains
Its best ground is running deep once it pipes up, where it goes better than its measurements say it should, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage cracked off as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short on the beat once it pipes up, giving away time it never gets back. That is a hull that wants to get up and go, and needs pressure to do it.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 3.0 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a UFO 28
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 4.10 | 5.00 | 5.19 | 5.25 |
| 52° | 6.14 | 6.94 | 7.21 | 7.40 |
| 60° | 6.38 | 7.18 | 7.52 | 7.78 |
| 75° | 6.54 | 7.54 | 8.05 | 8.57 |
| 90° | 6.46 | 7.87 | 8.62 | 9.53 |
| 110° | 6.25 | 7.85 | 9.33 | 10.86 |
| 120° | 6.08 | 8.04 | 9.47 | 11.58 |
| 135° | 5.48 | 7.41 | 9.70 | 12.89 |
| 150° | 4.59 | 6.64 | 8.19 | 12.71 |
| Run VMG | 3.98 | 5.77 | 7.11 | 11.00 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Most run a fixed propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 480 kg.
Rigging
UFO 28 rig and sail dimensions
A UFO 28 carries 10.40 m of mainsail hoist on a 4.50 m boom, a forestay 9.49 m above the deck and a 3.98 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 3 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 58 to 71 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.