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Review of the Hunter 27_75-84 by David Foster

Year built 1977  
Location of boat Mentor Lagoons, Ohio  
The boat is sailed on The Great Lakes  
How the boat is used Weekends and longer  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2000  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? We felt very good buying the Lady Lillie, and are more and more sure of the decision as we live with her, and compare her to other possibilities.  
Gear that's been added Additions include: New Doyle half full batten main has added 1 to 1.5 knots in medium winds, and reduced heel by about 5 degrees. New Doyle Asymmetrical Spinnaker really makes her go off the wind from light to medium winds. Brought the main and spinnaker halyards back to the main cabin, and added clutches and a winch on the starboard cabin roof. This makes sharing the load with Admiral or single handing easy. Garmin GPS 48. Boom vang with a rope fall so it can double as a preventer when running. Planned Additions: The "big bed" queen sized conversion for the cabin. A new 110 jib (only if the bonus is good this year according to the Admiral.)  
Structural or complex improvements None.  
The boat's best features A great size to day sail with up to 6, and perfect for cruising the Great Lakes with my wife. That means most of our nights are spent in marinas with showers and toilets. Ventilation (augmented with a windsock forward and a small fan) is great, and the bow berth is quite comfortable. Cherubini did design a good looker, and the cabin woodwork is beautiful. Shoal keel means we can sail into any harbor at all lake levels.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. There is some compression of the mast step (noted by our survey) but it is not increasing, and I am watching carefully. The depth guage and knotmeter are caput, but we are pretty happy with the GPS, sounding lead, and bearing compass.  
Sailing characterisitcs She rides the wind and waves very comfortably, and really goes on all points of reaching. Running is as expected, and much improved by the new spinnaker. I'm still learning to sail her to weather: - reef early to "keep her on her feet" and avoid leeway. I'm aiming at less than 10 degrees heel when tacking. - use a barber hauler to pull the jib sheet farther inboard when close hauled. - tuning the rig to minimize weather helm and the resulting rudder drag.  
Motoring characterisitcs She does prop walk to port in forward and reverse, but I've learned to plan for this, take advantage of it, and control it so that we have been able to go wherever we want to in various harbors. A tight circle to starboard against the wind does not happen, though! We didn't have the time to replace a mildly worn cutlass bearing discovered in the survey, so we get a little vibration just above 5 knots. We have the original Yanmar diesel motor, and it is reliable, simple, and has driven the Lillie into a 4 foot chop and headwind exiting Sandusky Bay at 4 knots. Normal cruising speed is 5 knots.  
Liveability We feel she is just right for the Admiral and me on the Great Lakes. That means tieing up with water, shore power, showers, and toilets in every port so far. We'll try anchoring out a few times this summer, but the porta-potty does place a limit on a lengthy stay on the hook. We do use the alchohol stove, but the microwave (mounted to port on the nav table) is a really great addition. She is very comfortable in the cockpit and the cabin. We like sleeping in the bow berth, except our feet are a little cramped (thus the plan for the "big bed" conversion in the cabin.) We are planning a one week cruise with my Dad and two brothers this June, and I'm pretty confident that will work well.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) No direct contact.  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any Terry Freeman of Freeman-Eckley did a great job as our broker looking for boats, especially considering that he knew there wasn't much commission in the $9,000 to $18,000 range we were looking in. He was a real help in finding the boat we wanted, and helping us to get comfortable without intruding on our decision. We did use the web to understand the market, and the pricing for older 27 to 30 footers on the Great Lakes, and, eventually to find the broker we wanted.  
Other comments We were very happy with Greg Koski of the Doyle loft in Cleveland. He was very willing to come out and look at our sails and to listen to our plans to cruise and day sail (versus race) the Lady Lillie. Then he gave us good advice on which moves would be best for us. We are very happy with the Cherubini h27 size. It is a big boat for its length. The sails are easy to control, and we spend our time thinking how to improve her much more than about moving up to a bigger hull. (Despite some great tours of larger boats from friendly skippers.)  

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