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Review of Kerry 27


Kerry 27
Kerry 27 anno 1971.

Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Kerry 27 is a sailboat designed by the Irish maritime architect George O’Brien Kennedy in the early seventies. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Kerry 27 is built by the Irish yard Kennedy International Boats Ltd. (IE029714).

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

Hull
Deck plan
Deck plan of Kerry 27.

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.


Interior
Floor plan
Floor plan of Kerry 27.
Interior
Interior of Kerry 27 anno 1971. Salon (refitted)

The boat is equipped with one cabin, 4 berths, a galley, 45.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.


Cockpit
Cockpit
Cockpit of Kerry 27 anno 1971.
Rig
Rig
Rig of Kerry 27.

The Kerry 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 Kerry 27 anno 1971.

Full keel

The Kerry 27 is equipped with a long keel. A full keel provide a better directional stability than a similar boat with a fin keel; on the other hand, better directional stability means also that the boat is more difficult to handle in a harbour with less space.

The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.32 - 1.42 meter (4.33 - 4.63 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

Kerry 27 may be equipped with an inboard Couach gasoline engine at 6 hp (4 kW). Calculated max speed is about 3.6 knots


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 Kerry 27 is 1.89, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - 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 6.1 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 Kerry 27 is about 108 kg/cm, alternatively 607 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 108 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 607 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 Kerry 27 is 21.7.

Low High 58% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 58% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just above average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Kerry 27 is 3.25.

Wide Slim 76% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 76% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a significantly more speedy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Kerry 27 is 44%.

Low High 69% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 69% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just above average.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Kerry 27 is 260 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 42% 0 50 100
42% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)
Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind:
- Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15
- Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20
- Racers have ratios above 20
- High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24
Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 16.63


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 18m2 (193 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

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
Jib sheet 8.2 m(27.0 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Genoa sheet8.2 m(27.0 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Mainsheet 20.6 m(67.5 feet)10 mm(3/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet18.1 m(59.4 feet)10 mm(3/8 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 Kerry 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