A Seascape 27 won the doublehanded division of last year’s Chicago-Mackinac race, so there is no doubt about its racing credentials. A lot of boats fall into the racer-cruiser classification, but along the spectrum this boat fits nearer the racer than the cruiser. The 27, however, is not a stone-cold racing machine. 

Sometimes the subtle features of a boat can tell a lot about its personality—the 27 has soft-foam nonskid on the cabin sole. That makes this boat conducive to barefoot sailing. 

The weather is too cold for bare feet? No problem, the 27 has a rotating centerboard and a 7-foot beam that makes it trailerable to warm weather regions. The centerboard stays external to the hull so the cabin is mostly free of a centerboard trunk, except for the narrow, lifting gearbox attached to the mast support. 

The cabin is designed for efficiency, with removable hanging storage bags with long handles that clip up onto the sides where cruisers have shelves. A clever door arrangement—the doors are also foam—can be configured to hide the head, giving a head user some room to maneuver in privacy, or block off the V-berth. 

There is not galley per se, but there is a removable, gimbaled rig for a Jetboil stove. A drop-leaf table attaches on top of the centerboard gearbox with a hand bolt.  There may not be another boat out there that can convert from a basic cruiser to a racer so easily. 

Deck hatches allow sails to come up from the V-berth. The 27 has a square-topped main, jib, and asymmetrical chute flown off a retractable sprit. The sail area is large for a 27-footer. It does not have a backstay. The mainsheet comes off a traveler located behind the helmsman and the single tiller runs under the traveler to a bar that controls twin rudders.

The engine controls are mounted on the side of the cockpit. The engine, an outboard, stows horizontally beneath the cockpit sole. For motoring, part of the sole detaches, a port in the hull opens, and the engine rotates into position with the lower unit below the waterline and the engine casing showing just above the cockpit sole. That process, working in either direction, takes seconds. 

Seascape 27 crews are lucky that way, every system on the boat was designed for speed, simplicity and efficiency, so the crews will be the first ones to the yacht club bar after a race—if they can find their shoes.

LOA 26’3”; Beam 7’ Draft 6’3” (board up) 3’1”(board down); Displ. 2755 lbs.; Ballast 1280 lbs.; Sail area 516 sq. ft. Auxiliary outboard 10-hp (max)

Estimated price $98,000

Seascape USA | 147 Whipple Rd, Kittery, ME  03904 | 207-703-0307 | www.SeascapeUSA.net