YachtDatabase.com

Review of Pearson 27


Pearson 27
Pearson 27 anno 1989.

Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Pearson 27 is a sailboat designed by the American maritime architect William H. Shaw in the mid eighties. A few hundred boats have been produced. The Pearson 27 is built by the American yard Pearson Yachts.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Pearson 27 or similar boat for sale

Hull

Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.
The deck is a double deck which improves the indoor climate.


Interior

The interior is like most other boats made of teak. Teak has the advantage of being naturally very oily and therefore water-repellent, which is suitable on boats.
The boat is equipped with one cabin, 4 berths, a galley, 95.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.


Cockpit
Cockpit
Cockpit of Pearson 27.
Rig
Rig
Pearson 27 anno 1989 with spinnaker. Pearson 27 on the Hudson River.
Rig
Rig of Pearson 27 anno 1989.

The Pearson 27 is equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.


Keel
Keel
Keel of Pearson 27.

Wing keel

But be aware that even though a Wing Keel keel is very good for speed racing, a fishing nets and the like in the water can easily make you into a troublesome situation.

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.01 - 1.11 meter (3.31 - 3.61 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

Pearson 27 may be equipped with an inboard Universal M12-2 diesel engine at 12 hp (8 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.1 knots

The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenance than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.

The fuel tank, which is made of aluminium, has a capacity of 38.0 liters (10 US gallons, 8 imperial gallons).


Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Pearson 27 is 2.03, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.


Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.4 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Pearson 27 is about 127 kg/cm, alternatively 715 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 127 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 715 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.


Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Pearson 27 is 19.7.

Low High 46% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Pearson 27 is 2.95.

Slim Wide 62% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 62% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Pearson 27 is 38%.

Low High 42% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 42% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Pearson 27 is 227 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 58% 0 50 100
58% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Pearson 27 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.3, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.4.

Low High 54% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 54% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 100% 0 50 100
The Pearson 27 has more rig than 100% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 19m2 (204 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.


Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications headsail specifications

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale



If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 23.0 m(75.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard23.0 m(75.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard23.0 m(75.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib sheet 8.2 m(26.9 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet8.2 m(26.9 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 20.5 m(67.3 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet18.1 m(59.3 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Cunningham3.1 m(10.2 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap6.2 m(20.4 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul6.2 m(20.4 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Pearson 27 (Shaw) it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References