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Review of the Hunter 27 by Shawn Brown

Year built 1975  
Location of boat Shearwater Yacht Club Halifax NS  
The boat is sailed on Bays, sounds, or protected salt water  
How the boat is used Day sailing  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 2009  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Yes, as a roomy inexpensive starter boat is excellent. Small enough to handle easily and big enough to help the Admiral envision what a big boat would be like, and want it :D  
Gear that's been added Yes, Fish/Finder Depth Sounder, removed mangy old direct to sea head (no holding tank) and replaced it with a 975 MSD Portable Toilet http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1%7C51%7C806%7C903103&id=902441 and a macerator pump out. This gives me 5-6 days of use before either pumping out offshore, at a station, or simply removing the tank to dump in a domestic toilet facility. Removed forward sink in head due to straight to sea drain and wasted space. This space is now a hanging locker and the Galley sink is only 3 steps away. Plus I get to fill a useless hole in the hull. Added all new interior lighting to get rid of the 1970s tent trailer looking incandescent lights. Much much more to come..............  
Structural or complex improvements Not yet, but there is compression under the mast due to poor sealing of holes drilled in the cabin top for Antenna wire etc going up the mast. Resulting in Balsa wood much under the mast step. I will have to cut this out and repair it in the fall when the mast comes down for haul out. Repair seen here; http://forums.hunter.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=106509 I do have concern with the lack of any real bilge, but I think I am out of luck on that one.  
The boat's best features She is a slow moving, roomy boat that is big enough to live aboard for a few days and small enough to learn on. Also her 3'3" draft is pretty sweet for gunk holing.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. Absolutely ZERO ventilation. I will have to add at least 2 solar powered vents and likely 2 dorades. The lack of any substantial (2" maybe) bilge bugs me because any water at all flows into the cockpit lockers when at any kind of heel. I don't know what my plan for this is yet. Possibly add a "false floor" to the lockers to get them above any potential water, and of course keep my bilge as dry as possible (that seems to be very difficult at the time, and more detective work is in order).  
Sailing characterisitcs Limited as the boat is new to me and I have only had it out a few times. She seems to sail fairly well, and is not to "temperamental". Not really quick to react and seems to prefer to sail with very little heel. Not bad to windward, maybe points about 30 degrees? Give or take a couple. I have not had it out on any really poor weather days so I can't really speak to how it handles rough weather, but it does handle large wakes etc, caused by ferries and tugs in Halifax Harbour, very well. I am still sailing original sails, which work and are not blown out. I am sure new sails would make a noticable differance in her sailing characteristics.  
Motoring characterisitcs Fantastic. The old SVE 8 Yanmar was rebuilt in 2001 and runs exceptionally well. I did add an access port to the fuel tank and thoroughly cleaned it before firing it up after I took possession this spring. It burns about 1/3 of a gallon per hour at cruising speed, so with a full 12 gallon tank and a 5 gallon Jerry Can in the cockpit locker I can get around 51 hours or 255 nautical miles. Not too shabby IMO for a small boat.  
Liveability For a 27 foot boat it is excellent. Small Galley, Head and V-Berth are fine for a couple on an extended weekend trip or longer if you really like each other. The cold locker does not have a drain which makes it less than useful (one will be added this winter), and it does not have any substantial insulation. The non pressurized alcohol 2 burner stove works very well I think, especially with a propane BBQ on the Stern Rail. In my case, the quarter berth is used for sail (and other misc stuff) storage which really opens up the other lockers etc. I am doing a 5 day excursion in September, I will know a lot more after that trip.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) N/A  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any N/A  
Other comments I love her and am extremely happy with my purchase. I would certainly buy anouther Cherubini Hunter. As a matter of fact a 36/37 Cherubini may be in my not to distant future.  

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