First 27.7

[ifoxwell]

So in my investigations for a 32ft short handed cruiser race I've come across the 27.7

Apart from being smaller and lighter than my target size it does seem to tick a lot of the box's. Does any one have any first hand experience of what they are like to sail,to live with and also how they rate. Just a cursory look at the suggested NHC number for the class tends to suggest its fast for its size but a quick google search uncovers some old threads stating it wont sail to its handicap?

Thoughts please chaps

Cheers
Ian

 

[olly_love]

We have raced against them,
they are more cruising orientated so not set up for racing really, however they go really well and down wind they fly.
ratings wise i think they are ok but never really seen one that is properly rigged up for racing (check the cowes week results for 2 years ago there was one there)

it will be a dog in the light winds with massive wetted area but a large kite can get round this

 

[TSB240]

I had a good look over one and short sail a while back. We were looking at replacing our Ed dubois 1/4 tonner inspired lift keeler.

The boat is quick off wind but needed reefing early as we had no beef on the rail....

I didn't like the fact that the cockpit coaming was flexing as I braced my self against it when winching. All looks too lightweight to my mind....

Also I noticed this winter that the big single deep lifting rudder had developed a nasty hairline crack at the maximum stress point at the lower pintle.

Ok I was thinking in terms of a quick cruiser but it was all a little too lightweight for my liking... The Trapper was better!

Not sure about sailing to handicap but suspect you will have to work very hard up wind to make it pay for the off wind fun that the asym set up gives.

 

[Judders]

I've not sailed one myself but I've sailed past a couple. yacht_Yogi of this parish had one and will no doubt be along later with a far more informed view.

From the comments of my group of mates who took one for a year for the JOG inshore series, it would be safe to say that the other comments you've seen about being hard to sail to a handicap ring as familiar but then that covers a multitude of sins.

Generally speaking, IRC does not like wide arsed offwind flyers and makes no allowance for poor upwind performance. I dare say if your racing is a lot of reaches, that handicap becomes more realistic.

 

[mrming]

There were a couple in action at the Scottish Series when they were new (2004). We were in IRC4 in an Impala.

A quick glance at the results archive shows the two 27.7s were in IRC3 and ended up second last and third last. As others have said, not a boat to handicap race with. Things might work out better on a breezy downwind passage race, but you'd be murdered round the cans every time.

Shame cause otherwise they look like a lot of fun.

 

[ifoxwell]

yup it does seem a shame :-(

 

[Hayling]

Do what I did and go for the 31.7, bigger, safer, plenty of speed if you want it, easy to handle two up and plenty available secondhand, great little boat capable of sleeping 6 with basis comforts or banging round the cans!

 

[Yacht Yogi]

Hi, Ian.
I had a 27.7 for a while and sailed her in Solent club racing, RTI and a few JOG coastal races. The IRC rating was a bit tough and we seldom did well in the handicap fleet on windward-leewards against the likes of Laser 28s. We had both asymmetric and symmetric spinnakers to choose from and normally went symmetric in light winds.
Once the wind got up to the high-teens she would easily plane with either spinnaker and would routinely do 12-14 knots so we would do better in those conditions with lots of "yeehaaa"ing. We seldom had enough weight on the rail to get best performance upwind and probably lacked the skills as a crew to get the best out of her.
As a cruising boat she was fantastic around the Solent and along the coast for a family of four. The lift keel meant that we could berth in a muddy corner of the Hamble that nobody else could get into and got half cost berthing as a result. The rig, deck gear and fittings are generously sized and we never had any damage or failures. Interior stuff was functional and reliable for weekending. Hull build is a little light but tough enough in the important areas. She has a lot of sail area so needs to be reefed early if you don't have the weight on board.
Once planing in a breeze its a bit of a "tiger-by-the-tail" like a big dinghy but generally viceless and will safely spin up into wind if you loose the plot. A great fun boat all round but penalised by her high IRC rating.
Cheers, Chris

 

[ifoxwell]

Thank Chris
Its nice to hear from some one that has lived with one for a while.
Ian