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Review of UFO 27


UFO 27
UFO 27 anno 1979.

Basic specs.

sail specifications
The UFO 27 is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect bureau Holman & Pye. The UFO 27 is built by the British yard Colvic Craft.

Looking for a new boat? Find an UFO 27 or similar boat for sale

Hull

The hull 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.


Rig

The UFO 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

The UFO 27 has been built with different keel alternatives.

Unknown keel type

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 most marinas as the draft is just about 1.52 - 1.62 meter (4.99 - 5.29 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Fin keel

The UFO 27 is equipped with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.19 - 1.29 meter (3.90 - 4.20 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


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 UFO 27 is 2.12, 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 UFO 27 is about 138 kg/cm, alternatively 776 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 138 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 776 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 UFO 27 is 19.5.

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 UFO 27 is 2.73.

Slim Wide 85% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 85% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for UFO 27 is 40%.

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


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for UFO 27 is 246 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 50% 0 50 100
50% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. This boat has a precise average ratio between displacement and length!


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

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

The SA/D for UFO 27 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 14.8, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 17.8.

Low High 34% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 34% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 69% 0 50 100
The UFO 27 has more rig than 69% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly overrigged.


RSP (Relative Speed Performance)

What is Relative Speed Performance?

The Relative Speed Performance for UFO 27 is 58

Slow Fast 58% 0 50 100
The relative speed performance is 58 which means that a it is faster than 58% of all similar sailboat designs.


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 23m2 (247 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 genoa specifications spinnaker 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 24.6 m(80.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard24.6 m(80.5 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Spinnaker halyard24.6 m(80.5 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 sheet18.0 m(59.2 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Cunningham2.6 m(8.7 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Kickingstrap5.3 m(17.4 feet)8 mm(5/16 inch)
Clew-outhaul5.3 m(17.4 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 UFO 27 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