Review of Leisure 27
Basic specs.
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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 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 6 berths, a galley and toilet facility.
The boat has more than one rig.
One option is 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.
The Leisure 27 has been built with different keel alternatives.
Bilge keel
One option is a bilge keel. A bilge keel is a double keel, which allows the boat to be beached. Bilge keels are the most popular keel for tidal waters.
Leisure 27 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.
Fin keel
Another option is a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.
The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.49 - 1.59 meter (4.89 - 5.19 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The Leisure 27 has been equipped with different engine alternatives.
Alternative 1:
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD 7A diesel engine at 13 hp (9 kW). Calculated max speed is about 4.8 knots
The transmission is a saildrive.
Note: Cobramold fitted the 14hp Volvo to the L27 in 1979/80
Alternative 2:
Leisure 27 may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD 5A diesel engine at 7 hp (5 kW). Calculated max speed is about 3.5 knots
The transmission is a saildrive.
Note: This original engine (7.5 hp) is generally considered not powerful enough.
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.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Leisure 27 is 1.95, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 6.3 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.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Leisure 27 is about 126 kg/cm, alternatively 706 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 126 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 706 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.
What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?
The Motion Comfort Ratio for Leisure 27 is 22.9.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Leisure 27 is 2.93.
The ballast ratio for Leisure 27 is 56%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Leisure 27 is 284 which categorizes this boat among 'medium weight cruisers'.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 20m2 (215 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.
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.
| Masthead rig | ||||
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Jib sheet | 8.2 m | (27.0 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 8.2 m | (27.0 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 20.6 m | (67.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 18.1 m | (59.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Masthead rig | ||||
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Jib sheet | 8.2 m | (27.0 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 8.2 m | (27.0 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 20.6 m | (67.5 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 18.1 m | (59.4 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
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