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See below - copied from my post on the sailboat owners.com website in November.
BTW- no issues so far with cored hull - was surveyed before purchase. Also, S2 is known for good build quality and layup (certainly their Tiara powerboats are known)
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Have had the 27 for one season. Also, have spoken to another S2 27 owner, and have looked at some posts in other sites. Here is more or less my comments in random order...overall i am happy with the boat.
1) is a relatively stiff boat that sails well to windward - can point very well. not too bad in lighter air.
2) not that fast downwind for some reason. need to fly the chute to get speed.
3) thoughtful placement (for the most part) of exterior sail handing gear, halyards, sheets, etc.
4) quality materials and very good build quality thruout - which is typical of S2/Tiara sail and powerboats.
5) the 1987 has a redesigned interior which seems better than the 85-86
6) is a mainsail driven boat - you can sail nicely with main alone - although the stock main has too much roach and gets caught on the backstay easily in light air.
7) the inboard yanmar 9hp is underpowered. in any seaway or chop or wind or tide, you will be lucky to get her over 4-4.5 knots - in low wind with current - and a clean bottom and prop with 6 people, I struggled to get over 5 knots - really needs a 12-13 hp motor.
8) you need to check the keel/blige area - some reports of cracking of inner liner to hull - but only in an area where there was no use of fiberglass cloth - so likely it is cosmetic.
9) the bilge design is not very good - way to shallow and no real way to place a pump effectively.
10) handles on a dime - it has a real tight turn radius and the rudder is well balanced.
11) these boats have a cored hull (and deck)- some people are not bothered by this - so you need to have a GOOD surveyor do a GOOD moisture check.
12) check chainplate areas - are prone to leaking (like most boats....) the spinnaker downhaul block also can leak - need to check that area too
13) generally she likes to sail in 10-15 knots with 3-4 people on board. since she's lighter than most 27 footers (5K lbs vs. 6-7 lbs) she'll start to heel more quickly in heavier air.
14) the life line stanchions are strange - the uprights mount such that you have to remove the base in order to remove the upright - which is not a good design in my mind.
15)i am thinking that the boat would motor better with a fixed 2-blade prop - but would suffer speed under sail
16) if you plan to race her - i think she suffers from a PHRF rating that is too low - the boat has a SA/D of 17 vs. C&C 27 MkV which has a 19-20 SA/D - yet the rating is the same - the boat is more a true "performace cruiser" than racer cruiser.
17) the location of traveller in middle of cockit is not great - you get your shins bruised...
Rick,
Since I don't have 10 postings yet, I can't PM you, but I wondered if you were able to get your class association off the ground. Anyone else have information on such an owners group?
I am also too recent a member to pm Rick. I acquired my S2 27 this summer and have enjoyed her thoroughly. Down to my last two weeks of the season on the Chesapeake... Please post any progress, Thanks.
I am also too recent a member to pm Rick. I acquired my S2 27 this summer and have enjoyed her thoroughly. Down to my last two weeks of the season on the Chesapeake... Please post any progress, Thanks.
Hull #50. Officially a 1986 boat, but it must be early '86 as the serial number indicates the hull being laid up in 1985.
I'm a happy owner although I'd agree the <10hp diesel is a bit wimpy for a tough current in some inlet.
The only problem I have is an odor issue. Apparently the P.O. left the holding tank full for several years of yard storage. I was told the hoses can get saturated, and I tried the wipe-with-a-rag-and-smell test, but didn't get an obvious blast of stink. The tank is pretty well obscured behind bulkheads so off season I guess I'll start pulling components til I get there. It's not a fresh sewage odor. It's just a vague acrid rankness that I can't pinpoint.
1) bilge - are you getting any water in the bilge?
2) water tank - my smells awful - and i need to swap out the water lines - a future project as I don't use the tank...
Hull #50. Officially a 1986 boat, but it must be early '86 as the serial number indicates the hull being laid up in 1985.
I'm a happy owner although I'd agree the <10hp diesel is a bit wimpy for a tough current in some inlet.
The only problem I have is an odor issue. Apparently the P.O. left the holding tank full for several years of yard storage. I was told the hoses can get saturated, and I tried the wipe-with-a-rag-and-smell test, but didn't get an obvious blast of stink. The tank is pretty well obscured behind bulkheads so off season I guess I'll start pulling components til I get there. It's not a fresh sewage odor. It's just a vague acrid rankness that I can't pinpoint.
Sorry guys - work has left me with not much time to pull together a website. However, I can start a yahoo newsgroup where we can share files, info et al.
I will PM each of you individually with my email address so i can gather your email address and add you to the newsgroup.
Thanks for the efforts, a mail group is a good starting point. Wish I had time to do more website stuff too.
The main bilge is clean and gets no more than a few drops in heavy rain and the icebox drainage. I hand pump it and soap it out regularly. I did notice a tiny bit or water in the cockpit lockers last weekend though. The engine sump was really nasty when I bought it, I've scraped and cleaned and scraped and cleaned, but it could still be contributing.
The water tank has been replaced very recently. Perhaps it had a similar problem as yours! It seems very accessible.
I took a quick look this weekend and the waste tank does not appear to be easy to get at. Has anyone re-done their head/hoses/tank on this model?
Hmmm though I sent a reply a few days ago, but it's not here...
There's rarely any water in the bilge. In a heavy rain, a few drops come down the inside of the mast. And some rain blows in around the hatch boards. I've scrubbed the bilge pockets out in August and besides the cooler drainage there's very little action there. I did see a little water in the cockpit locker last weekend.
I re-read the hose saturation test: wet rag in place for some time, then smell. I'll try that later today when I sneak down to the marina to do the winterizing. She's hauled out for the season and flurries are forecast.
I'll be replacing the speed log off season. The old unit is dead and I've just had gps speed info to work with. Learning to trim is fascinating and I'd like real water speed info. Besides, I'm about tired of stuffing batteries into and squinting at a handheld! Which brings up the question: where do I find the hull speed for this boat?
Hmmm though I sent a reply a few days ago, but it's not here...
There's rarely any water in the bilge. In a heavy rain, a few drops come down the inside of the mast. And some rain blows in around the hatch boards. I've scrubbed the bilge pockets out in August and besides the cooler drainage there's very little action there. I did see a little water in the cockpit locker last weekend.
I re-read the hose saturation test: wet rag in place for some time, then smell. I'll try that later today when I sneak down to the marina to do the winterizing. She's hauled out for the season and flurries are forecast.
I'll be replacing the speed log off season. The old unit is dead and I've just had gps speed info to work with. Learning to trim is fascinating and I'd like real water speed info. Besides, I'm about tired of stuffing batteries into and squinting at a handheld! Which brings up the question: where do I find the hull speed for this boat?
Third attempt to post a reply.... don't know where they go.....
The bilge is clean and gets very little water. The water tank is very recent. I'm suspicious of the engine sump though. It's hard to clean, and was very nasty when I bought her.
Thanks for the hull speed info, R. I look forward to beating it soon after launch day. That should be early April for me. We just had a freak warm weekend so there was a flock of early birds in the marina. I pulled the head intake thru hull fitting today and was please to find a dry core.
I had to look up Lake St. Clair on the map. When is ice-out up there?
What's the hull number of your boat? Cabintop or cockpit traveler? I would like to find info from someone who has rigged control lines on the cabintop traveler. Those spring pins are a pain.
>>BobS2 wrote: I would like to find info from someone who has rigged control lines on the cabintop traveler. Those spring pins are a pain.
I agree that those spring pins are a pain. After I broke my original cabintop Lewmar traveler car and blew out the rubber end cap on the track, I replaced the whole shebang with a Harken traveler with 4:1 purchase control lines. Overall, a much better system than the obsolete Lewmar with the spring pins, but likely a far more beefy system than I really needed. Two downsides for me, so far. First, the profile of the track and the end control is higher, so visibility over the cabintop is reduced. Secondly, the total travel port to starboard is a few inches less, because of the endcontrols and the longer length of the traveler car itself. I *do* like the new system much better tan the old one, however. The control lines are cleated on the end controls, and are easy to use. The lines simply hang down in the companionway.
Thanks, I've seen the Lewmar Ocean size 1 traveller kit advertised. Any opinions? The loss of range is a big consideration. Has anyone considered extending the length of the track a bit? Adding support under the track beyond the width of the hatch cover shell?
So far resetting the stock traveller in mid tack has been a bit of an exercise. I can see how an end cap blowout will eventually happen...
My new Harken traveler does not have pre-drilled holes for mounting. Instead, there is a channel in the track that is designed to take stainless steel slides, whose positions are adjustable left to right. The slides have bolt holes in them. I inserted the bolts into the slides, then I simply slid the slides into the track, aligned the bolts over the old holes, snugged down the traveler (with 3M 4200 beneath and in the holes), and tightened the sucka down. In other words, I didn't have to drill new holes in the storm hood to install the Harken traveler. I did remove the vertical washboard "keepers", which allowed me to slide off the Lexan hatch. I could then access the traveler bolts from the companionway to put on the washers and locknuts without removing the storm hood (which would have been a can 'o worms that I didn't want to open! That would have required lots of rebedding of many bolts.) So my caution is this: if you get a new traveler that is predrilled, make sure that the boltholes line up with the old holes, or you are in for a LOT of additional work. The Harken slide system worked great for this.
Thanks for the tips!
I ordered the Lewmar, which also has a sliding bolt channel in the track.
I'll be figuring a way to fabricate some support for the track ends to extend the width of the system to keep from losing too much travel. A block of teak on either side of the hatchcover perhaps. It looks like there's plenty of room.
As for bedding, I found a soggy chainplate bulkhead this past weekend... the pre -launch list just got a little longer.
I just found your threads and thought I'd post: I have owned S2 27 no. 81 for about two years now. Not much to add to the cabin top traveller discussion, except that mine also has the Lewmar cabin top arrangement. I have changed out the cam cleats, as it was already set up with control lines when I purchased the boat. If there is an owners forum dedicated to the S2 27 somewhere, I'd be interested in joining. Thanks.
Welcome. I have hull #80, build year 1987. I have a question for you. Does your boat have a compression post in the salon? All the literature I've read states that 27s have keel stepped masts, which I am sure the pre-'87 models do. Mine doesn't, however, so I am interested in hearing about your mast configuration.
Glad to see another S2 27 owner! This thread seems to be about the closest thing to a group I've found. I purchased hull #50 last summer. Found some soggy core in the cabintop, so the new traveller install will coincide with that repair as soon as possible. Where do you sail?
Bob - a while back I mentioned forming a class assoc, etc. but with so few boat owners, and spread thin geographically, it wasn't financially feasible.
next best thing would be a yahoo newsgroup - since we could control access and share information and documents in private. the newsgroup would be easy to set up.
if more are interested pls PM me and I'll set up the group in the next few weeks.
I just found the forum don't know if you still use it. I have an 1986 S2 27 and have owned it for 11 years. I love the boat its been a great boat for the family and I have done a bit of racing as well. Mine is the cruiser version which I have somewhat changed so I could better race. I think I'm either 44 or 72 cannot remember.
I do still use this forum, just not too regularly. I have been trying to tune my rig a bit better for racing. Have been experimenting with shroud tension. What type of keel do you have? Mine is the shoul keel. Winter is about to bite us here in MI. I plan to pull the mast on Sunday and pull it out of the water on Monday. Glad you're on the forum. Stay in touch.
I have slowly pulled together a yahoo newsgroup with a few s2 27 owners. Granted our posting activity has been minimal but we have gathered info on the boat of interest to owners.
See my post above if you email to the class association email addres I will give you permission to access the forum.
That should have read can't (not can). So now this will be posting #5 for me. Again I appologize for using up space unneccesarily.
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