27 footer - sea-kindliness, comfort

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TN

TN

.
Sep 23, 2004
65
Catalina 350 Seattle, WA
I'm interested in perspectives on comfort & sea-kindliness in boats in the 27-foot range. I'm also interested in the kinds of conditions people in 27 foot boats tend to sail in, and when you decide not to sail because the wind or water is too much - what is your cutoff? We're finding our Hunter 27 (06 model) to be rather uncomfortable in as as the wind approches 15 knots. A 2 starts to be bouncy, and 3 foot chop feels like a lot for our boat, but I'm looking for perspective. Reefing obviously helps if it pipes up, but the boat motion seems unpleasant - crashing, lots of pitching. Is this typical in light small cruising boats such as an H27?
 
A

alans

comfort

hi, last year we went from a 25 catalina to a 31 hunter. it feels like nite and day in that our larger boat has many upgrades which seems to lower alot of the drama. we have roller reefing main, auto pilot, a real bathroom etc. etc. what seas were rough befor are much more comfortable with larger boat. our displacement is only 8500 lbs. so great in light to medium winds. its all relative. your boat if your a coastal cruiser and with proper sail management should be the perfect boat. if you need more in comfort and weight then upgading is great... regards alan p.s. go out on someones larger boat for the day...
 
Manny

Manny

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Oct 5, 2006
983
Hunter 82? 37 Cutter Wherever the wind takes me
pretty comfortable

TN, my 1980 27 is very comfortable and stiff, but I am sailing in a freshwater river. I was caught out once on a day with huge winds (45 mph gusts) and 2 to 3 foot waves with a very high frequency. I was trying to motor back through that mess and the boat was surprisingly comfortable, but since I have an outboard, I was having a hard time keeping it in the water. My wife was much more relaxed than I was and my dogs weren't spooked at all. As a matter of fact, she went below and started reading a magazine! I'm not sure of the specs on your hunter but mine displaces around 7000 pounds, the keel is 3200 pounds - shoal keel. One thing, I've been playing with reefing and the boat is really much more comfortable with the main reefed in and the jib also rolled in a bit once the wind hits 15 mph. Manny
 
TN

TN

.
Sep 23, 2004
65
Catalina 350 Seattle, WA
seakindliness/comfort in 27 feet

Thanks for the perspective and taking time to respond. I'm going to make a bigger effort to reef early to see how that makes things, because I know I tend to reef later rather than sooner, so that might be the issue.
 
Manny

Manny

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Oct 5, 2006
983
Hunter 82? 37 Cutter Wherever the wind takes me
One other thing

I've noticed that sailing dead down wind is the most uncomfortable point of sail on my boat. I can see where the Death Roll created could really upset a lot of people. Maybe altering your points of sail against the chop could bring in more comfort. Experiment with pointing a little higher or more of a beam reach to see what angle hitting the waves is the least traumatic. Since I have to deal with lots of wake in my area, hitting them at about a 45 degree angle seems to be the best way to go. Manny
 
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