Yes, but most gas
boats have been around 30+ years. If gas were such a bad thing, why would they still be here? There are hundreds of thousands of gas-powered runabouts, cruisers and outboards out there, not even considering the A4 sailboats. You hear of a few gas motor sinkings a year. Many less than you hear blamed on gate valves (and there are still lots of 27's out there with the original gate valves), or on hurricanes (and that doesn't cause people to stop living in Florida). Not to say that Glenn is wrong, or to ignore the procedures you should follow religiously with a gas motor, but take it in context. If you're careful in running the blowers, and maintain your fuel system, a gas powered boat (A4 or OB) can be quiet, economical, long-lived and easily maintained with inexpensive parts, and with the skills most boaters who drive cars have.And in a C27, one of the biggest problems with diesels are the way they are shoehorned into the engine compartment. You need to have three sets of double-jointed elbows to work on them! So there are lot of regular maintenance tasks that don't get done regularly by a lot of owners. A4s are a lot better, but outboards are best in that regard.I just pulled the OB from my 27 last week to take it in for an bi-annual service at the dealer. Took me about an hour to disconnect the remote controls and pull it out of the boat. Service was about $250. And 5 years ago, when the old OB needed to be replaced (the old evinrude had an estimated 1500-1800 hours on it), I paid 2K for a brand new motor. Try doing that with an A4 or diesel!And be sure to try Roger's trailersailor C27 forum. Lots about the pros and cons of the various motor choices there.