Used boat test – MG 27
Some boats just seem to possess the Peter Pan factor – and the MG 27 is one of them. Words and photos by David Harding
A 27ft performance cruiser that refuses to grow old and can be snapped up for less than £15,000
Let’s say you’re looking for a performance cruiser between 25 and 30ft (7.5 and 9m). You hear about a 27-footer that has a reputation for being quick, capable and, for those who point it in the right direction on the race course, competitive too. You’re told this boat has a big, comfortable cockpit, an airy open-plan layout below decks and a fractional rig with a large mainsail that allows her to sail nicely in cruising mode with a self-tacking jib. In get-a-move-on mode she has been known to hit 14 knots downwind.
If you didn’t know the identity of this boat, you might imagine from a brief description (self-tacker, flying downwind etc) that she was from the recent past and that you’d probably have to have to pay at least £50,000 to buy one. So if you then learned that the design was nearly 35 years old and that you could find a good example for less than £15,000, you might be pleasantly surprised and have reason to become very interested indeed.
The boat in question is the MG 27. For people in search of a cruiser-racer in this size range she tends to be at or very near the top of a short list. In Poole, for example, MG 27s have always been a popular choice along with Impalas and the occasional Laser 28. Individual MGs have come and gone and they change hands from time to time, but their following is such that I struggle to remember a time in the past three decades when we haven’t had at least two or three racing from the local yacht clubs.
In fact it was in Poole over 30 years ago that the MG (or the Contessa 27 as she was in those days) first made a name for herself in competitive circles. Jim MacGregor’s original Flair (many more Flairs followed) swept up much of the
silverware in the mid 1980s and also won her CHS (Channel Handicap) class in the 1986 Round the island Race. MG 27s – and 335/346s too for that matter – have featured prominently in racing results in Poole ever since.
Local origins
The Contessa 27 started life in Lymington, just along the coast from Poole, where Jeremy Rogers commissioned the design from Rob Humphreys as a smaller follow-up to the Contessa 33 and a replacement for Doug Peterson’s Contessa 28. She was intended to be forgiving and easy to handle for newcomers yet sufficiently fast and responsive to appeal to racing sailors.
It was immediately apparent that Humphreys and Rogers had a winner on their hands: their new boat succeeded in both roles. Humphreys describes her as ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing and very much a pot-hunter in her day.’ At the same time the self-tacking jib – this was one of the first boats to have one as standard – helped make life easy for short-handed crews and she didn’t look too racy for cruising folk. If ever a boat fulfilled her brief as an all round cruiser-racer, it was the Contessa 27.
Turbulent times at the yard in Lymington meant that, after only a dozen or so boats had been built and despite a strong order book, the moulds were in need of a new home. They were bought by MG Yachts in Scotland, who had been building the MG 30 (half-tonner) and 34 (three-quarter tonner) designed by Rob Humphreys and a Tony Castro-designed quarter-tonner, the MG 26.
After the move north the Contessa 27 became known as the MG C27 – the ‘C’ in recognition of her origins – and a further 30 or so were built. MG then sent the moulds back south and production was taken over by Northshore, sales being handled by MG Yachts’ office at Hamble Point.
Various keel options were offered along the way. If you didn’t want the standard fin (draught 5ft 5in/1.65m) you could choose twin keels or (as on Flair) a centreplate that swung up below the hull. Rudders varied over the years; we’ll discuss them later.
Back in 1999 I tested a Poole-based MG 27 – a fin-keeler, as most are – and I liked it. As the MG has been so perennially popular, however, it seemed a good idea to have another look at her. At the time of the first test it was barely 15 years since the Contessa 27 had hit the water: though no longer in production, she was still relatively new. Now I wanted to sail her as a 35-year-old, because models that seem fresh and modern when young don’t always age well. And, of course, design evolves in a way that can make earlier boats look very dated – or not, as the case may be.
The boat I tested this time was bought about three years ago by someone with enough experience to make a pretty well-informed choice. Owain Peters comes from a sailing family and his parents, David and Jenny, own the Southerly 115 on which we looked at in-mast reefing in PBO February 2016. Owain’s working life over the past 10 years or so has alternated between Kemp Sails – where he works at the moment – and teaching for Poole Sailing on a variety of boats including a First 40.7. He still takes time away from the sail loft for teaching and skippering during the summer, often in events such as the Round the Island Race and Cowes Week.
Owain’s previous boat was a Sonata. Interest in something bigger was prompted in part by thoughts of taking a break from work to sail around Britain. Costs and a host of practical considerations ruled out most boats over 30ft, so potential candidates were typically around 27ft. The MG was a strong contender from the start, especially given her long-term popularity at Owain’s sailing base, Poole Yacht Club.
“The brief,” he explains, “was for something on which we could potentially go around Britain, something we could overnight on and something that would have racing potential. The plan to go around Britain was quite vague at that point but the plan was always to have a boat we could race afterwards.”
Considering the options
Although the Impala might seem one of the more likely alternatives, especially as she’s another long-time favourite in Poole, Owain found her easy to dismiss. Every example he saw had been raced and left the worse for wear, and the accommodation was rudimentary.
“It wasn’t a nice place to spend time. The coachroof is low and there’s not much in the way of a double bunk.”
The appeal of the Laser 28 as a racing boat wasn’t matched by her suitability for cruising, while the opposite applied to the Dehler 28 – a boat with many nice features but, in Owain’s experience and from his research, one that has never sailed to her rating. Other possibilities included the Hanse 291/292/300/301 and the Aphrodite 101, coincidentally one of the three boats chosen for one-design status by the Offshore One-Design Conference in the 1970s along with the Impala and Jeremy Rogers’s OOD 34.
“We went through all sorts of crazy ideas,” says Owain. “We even looked at a Bull 7000 but they were like hen’s teeth when we were getting serious about buying one.” In compensation for its lack of offshore capability compared with the MG, the Bull could have been trailed to Scotland and it offers the bonus of an enormous double bunk under the cockpit.
In the end the MG won and, by coincidence, the boat Owain found in Lymington on a broker’s books – hull No.62, built by Northshore – was being sold by someone he had taught to sail a few years earlier. It also just happened to have Kemp sails.
Soon after buying the boat in 2016, Owain competed in one day of the International Paint Poole Regatta and was encouraged by the boat’s performance with three-year-old cruising sails. He had, however, already fitted a folding prop in place of the fixed two-blader that came with the boat. Eliminating the vast amount of unnecessary drag was a priority, as was getting rid of what he described as the ‘unbearable’ rudder judder when the engine was in gear and the equally unbearable noise when the prop was left to spin.
Since then it has been an ongoing process of refinement, making changes and planning or contemplating more for the future. One of Owain’s first decisions was to abandon overlapping headsails and use non-overlappers instead – without a furling system.
This was for several reasons. One is that he reckoned the MG, with her good-size mainsail and having been designed to cruise with a self-tacking jib, would have ample power in most conditions without a large genoa. Eliminating the overlap would simplify handling and minimise the need to change area in the headsail. That in turn meant no furling system was called for, saving cost, weight and windage. As the wind increases, a slab is tucked in the main. A second slab keeps things under control in up to 25 knots or so depending on whether Rum Juggernaut is cruising with two people in the cockpit or racing with a full crew on the rail.
A second reason for a non-overlapper is the IRC rating. Some years ago Owain
made sails for one of the local MGs that had previously had a headsail with an overlap of more than 150%. When new sails were needed he negotiated a reduction to 138%. It worked well, so when he bought his own MG he thought it sensible to continue on the same track – metaphorically rather than literally, because he needed to fit new tracks inboard on the coachroof and removed the original ones on the deck that had become nothing more than a toe-stubbing hazard.
For racing in heavy weather and for cruising, Rum Juggernaut now sails with a high-clewed 101% headsail. A low-clewed sail of the same LP comes out of the bag the rest of the time, both of them sheeting to the coachroof tracks that give a sheeting angle of about 7°. Using these instead of a large overlapper lowers the rating substantially and appears to have little effect on performance, especially in winds over 7 knots. In very light conditions some loss of power is inevitable and Owain says he needs to tack in enough clear water to sail deep on the exit and bring the boat back up to speed as quickly as possible. Most of the time he’s up with other MG 27s that rate higher with their overlappers and, since Rum Juggernaut convincingly won her class in last year’s Poole Regatta, he’s happy with the way she’s going.
Exit strategy
On the subject of exits, Owain fitted sheaves above the gooseneck for the genoa and spinnaker halyards, which previously emerged at the bottom of the mast. He also added a second spinnaker halyard, bolted on a short bowsprit for the Code 0 and fitted a shorter, split pulpit in place of the original. An over-length carbon pole is on the way for the symmetrical spinnaker. Further aft, one essential addition has been a mainsheet traveller: originally on MGs the mainsheet block was taken to the cockpit sole. Then there’s the backstay, now in Dyneema instead of wire and fitted with a 24:1 purchase.
After the Sonata, Owain is enjoying making modifications to the MG.
“The Sonata was quite restrictive because of being a one-design,” he says. “With this I have free range to play – it’s more of a blank canvas.”
It’s a canvas that’s set to see a good deal more playing yet. A mainsail with more roach is on the way, the rig might find itself with more sweep-back to the spreaders and chainplates moved outboard, and there’s talk of a new keel. And why not? The MG is a great little boat with scope to be made even better. She’s good enough to be worth improving.
Some of the changes to date were made before the round-Britain sabbatical, which took Owain, his wife Chantal and Tally the spaniel around in an anticlockwise direction over the course of three months from May to July in 2017. The final leg from Dartmouth to Poole saw them passing Portland under just the jib in nearly 30 knots of wind, surfing down “bungalow-sized waves” well offshore at 12-14 knots. It was their most boisterous sail by far. Other additions to the boat, such as the bowsprit (it doesn’t make anchoring any easier) came after the trip, which you can read about on Rum Juggernaut’s informative and entertaining blog, rumjuggernaut.com
The MG proved to be a handy size for hopping around Britain: big enough to provide reasonable comfort (if not full standing headroom for Owain) yet small enough to fit into harbours and berths that would have been out of bounds to bigger boats. Shallower draught and the ability to dry out unaided would have opened up even more options.
As for her sailing abilities, well, Rum Juggernaut left a fair few larger yachts in her wake when she encountered them, proving that a smaller, lighter boat equipped with good sails and a folding prop, well sailed and not too heavily laden, can cover the ground pretty quickly.
I remembered from my previous test 20 years ago that the MG is unlikely to disappoint on the performance front. She’s quick, nimble and well balanced. And while transom-hung rudders can lose grip sooner than those mounted inboard, the MG’s held on tenaciously when I tried my usual trick of bearing away from hard on the wind with the sheets pinned in. We were sailing in 12-17 knots much of the time so it was a reasonable test.
When Northshore took over production they abandoned the original lifting rudder on the swing-keelers and fitted a shallow blade to all boats whatever their keel configuration. Inevitably this compromised control in fresh conditions, so it would make sense to have the deepest blade you feel comfortable with. Some early
tests criticised the original rudder for lack of balance, but on Rum Juggernaut it was marginally the other way. If a boat carries a small amount of weather helm and then bears away if you let go of the tiller, in my book that’s over-balance. How boat balance and helm balance interact is a subject in itself.
This foible aside – and it’s so slight it spoils nothing – the MG is a delight to sail. The cockpit is a good size (all of 7ft 4in/2.2m) long and most of it is useable because of the transom-hung rudder.
The coamings are positioned so you can sit on them, tiller extension in hand (or fingers), and lean outboard against the guardwires as the boat heels. That’s just as things should be. All Owain says he misses on occasions is a foot-brace along the inboard edge of the seats, beneath which is a locker to starboard. Right aft is space for a liferaft.
Accommodation
Below decks is a layout that most owners seem to make work for them even if someone I know who considered an MG didn’t like the ‘up-and-over’ forward berth with just a curtain to separate it from the saloon.
In the stern to port, abaft the galley, is a quarter berth of generous proportions but not what you would find on a typical modern cruiser of similar size with a broader transom and shallower cockpit.
In the middle is the saloon, with its U-shaped seating around the compression post. Owain made an infill to use this space for a giant double berth (albeit one with a post in the middle) in port or at anchor.
The MG was not conceived as a boat to show off a fine hand-crafted interior. The finish was always simple and functional. An internal moulding extending up to bunk level forms landings for the bulkheads and joinery. It runs across the floor pan where it’s bonded directly to the outer hull, substantial transverse members providing reinforcement around the keel.
Moulded water tanks occupy the space beneath the saloon seating each side and stowage is hardly extensive, though on some boats the tanks have had their inspection hatches removed and been commandeered for extra locker space. However limited stowage might seem, when a cruising couple and their dog can live aboard for three months it can’t be that bad. This well-disciplined couple found that double-stacked Really Useful 9lt plastic boxes fitted perfectly on the shelves outboard of the backrests in the saloon and provided all the extra space they needed.
Overhead is a partial moulded headliner. Vinyl and soft panels elsewhere can be removed for access to the fastenings for deck fittings and the toerail.
PBO’s verdict
When hundreds of owners have cruised as happily and raced as successfully as they have with the Contessa/MG 27 over a period of 35 years, it seems almost presumptuous for a boat-tester to proffer an opinion.
Will she be all things to all men (and women, children and spaniels)? Of course not. Some will find that the Impala, Laser 28/Red Fox, Super Seal, Parker 27/275, Dehler 28, Sigma 292, Etap 28 or any one of several others will suit them better. It’s good to have a choice. But whichever you may prefer, the MG 27 is one of the most appealing boats of her size you’re likely to find.