UFO 27 Information

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Aidan27

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I have searched the websites to find a boat test report on the UFO 27 to no avail. Could anyone tell me about her abilities as a cruising yacht, sea keeping qualities, is she stiff/tender etc, also if anyone knows of any further refernces to the boat. Many thanks <span style="color:black"> </span>
 
I used to have a UFO 34 - wonderful fast safe and quite dry boat. Cruised the Irish Sea from fishgaurd - Conway and Ireland from Carlinford Loch to Fastnet rock. Owned her for three years and enjoyed every minute. Heavy boat by todays standards and very kind in a heavy sea - looked after me and my crew on a number of occasions - a number have done the atlantic circuit and I believe one came through the 1979 fastnet without too much bother. That said, I have never sailed the 27 but the 31 can be a little tender. Good luck
 
We chartered a UFO27 a few years ago. They are very good sailing boats and quick to windward. A much better bet than a Westerly of the same era if you like your boats to sail fast. Having the 70's style "pinched" tramsom they can be a bit scary down-wind if you have a lot a sail up! Most of the UFO's were home completed meanaing amateur interiors, not necessarily a bad thing but standards will vary a lot from boat to boat. You might prefer a more recent production boat which should have more room down below. Deep fin I think was the only keel option (I might be mistaken on this), they were popular in the 70's for racing so also may have had a hard life. A survey is a must for a boat this old.
 
I owned one for a couple of years:
1. Limited headroom, around 5'8" (I'm 6'2", so felt it, often).
2. Nimble, fairly quick, great fun to sail.
3. Hull built by Colvic to Lloyds, so pretty solid. But one known problem on examples that regularly took the ground was that keel would try to push through hull. Some will have been beefed up in this area.
4. Pretty good in a seaway but, as other poster notes, can be hairy in a following sea. I added 9" to rudder which made her much more positive.
5. Bilges very shallow. 2 pints of water looks like a flood.
6. Most seem to have been raced, so many examples will be tired.

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.
 
I owned both a 27 and a 34, and liked them both. The 27 was available with a cruising or racing interior, and although many were home completed (some to a high standard) if you can find a pro completed one they make very nice boats - good in light to moderate airs, especially upwind. Although the design was more modern than the 34 or 31, with more beam aft, they still could be a handful in a breeze downwind. Similar boats to consider might be the Super Seal or Evolution 26 - same era, but slightly quicker especially downwind when the keel can be lifted - opens up new cruising grounds, too.
 
my first yacht. raced and cruised with wife and three young children[5,3 1 yrs old.still besed milford haven and we cruised scillies ireland and brittany.
my boat was professionally finished [landamore wroxham] on a colvic hull.
modifications included a lead keel with extra lead bulb. this made her stiff and especially downwind.[she came with an ior rating].with spinnaker. another boat locally without this seemd quite skittish.
yanmar single cyliner 12hp engine
aluminium toe rail through bolted hull deck joint somewhat leaky despite our attempts to reseal.
my first boat =we sailed it 4000 miles before changing to a westerly for comfort and now to a big beneteau for long distance stuff. we enjoyed her and she encoraged us to continue sailing always felt safe in her. my guess is they will be a little time expired by now and be careful with that hull deck joint.
might consider an achilles 840 if there are any around
 
Ive just bought a ufo 27 not taken her out yet looking forward too it a lot - Im a dinghy sailor so will be coming back here in need of a lot of tips very soon
cheers
Quinty
 
StevenJMorgan said:
I used to have a UFO 34 - wonderful fast safe and quite dry boat.
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Are you living on planet earth? I was a very regular racing crew on one (Donufo) From Burnham on Crouch. For several years. It came second only to my Stella, for being the wettist thing next to a submarine. I still recall hours sat on the rail with water running down the side of the cabin to form a 3 inch deep puddle under my rear. In a blow water would fly everywhere.
The helm was ridiculously heavy & because I was used to helming my Stella, the owner (Don) used to get me to sit to leaward of the long tiller & put my foot against it. I used to power up his movements because after a few hours on an EAORA race he had problems holding the heavy tiller. Broaches with the spinnaker & blooper up were something to behold.
2 of us went over the side over the years I sailed on it. However, being fit & gung ho, we managed to stay with the boat .
Slower than a Sigma 33 in light airs, but a lot faster in a blow. His brother had a Sigma & competition was fierce. Don was a good helm often getting cups in his Stella at Burnham week.
 
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footsoldier said:
You and the other guy are responding to a thread that is nineteen years old! You are both extra-terrestrials.
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Fair point. I tend not to look at the date. But i know that some nerd will always jump in if I make a mistake.
However, somebody might pick up on it & think that a UFO 34 is a dry boat. They still come up for sale & one would not like them to make a mistake without checking for themselves first
 
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