Review of Kerry 27

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.

Floor plan of Kerry 27.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Kerry 27 is 21.7.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Kerry 27 is 3.25.

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Kerry 27 is 44%.

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.