Bristol 27.7 Buyer's Guide
The Bristol 27.7 is a fin-keel cruiser designed by Halsey Herreshoff and built by Bristol Yachts between 1976 and 1980, with fewer than 100 hulls completed. A shopper on the used market is looking at a rare, heavily built 27-foot sloop whose value lies in construction substance rather than equipment inventory.
Layouts on the Used Market
The boat carries 63 gallons of water and 19 gallons of diesel in a single 12-horsepower Yanmar diesel installation, which frames the cabin as a compact cruising interior suited to two people rather than a configurable platform with multiple factory plans. The hull is solid fiberglass with lead ballast and a fin keel, and a buyer can expect a shoal-draft coastal cruiser since the keel draws between 4.36 and 4.66 feet with load.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
No equipment tiers are established for this model, so a buyer should assess each boat on its own installed gear rather than expect a standard package. Given the sparse listing history, any electronics, canvas, or rigging additions should be treated as individual to the hull and judged on condition. A masthead sloop rig with genoa-driven sail-area flexibility is the as-built plan, and any furler or rig modification is an owner choice to evaluate.
What to Inspect
The 27.7 shares no model-specific structural or rigging defects in the known record, so a buyer's survey should center on universal age-related checks for a solid-fiberglass hull of this era rather than presumed design failure points. Look for gelcoat crazing, soft deck spots, and tired standing rigging as you would on any 1970s fiberglass sloop.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats appear on the used market in the United States. A short inspection checklist for any example:
- Confirm the Yanmar diesel starts cold and holds cooling pressure.
- Check the fin keel-to-hull joint for staining.
- Sound the solid fiberglass hull for thin or repaired laminate.
- Verify masthead rigging terminals are free of corrosion.
- Inspect the 19-gallon fuel and 63-gallon water tanks for leaks.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Bristol 27.7. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 1 row
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 26 | 1 | $7,500 | — |
Where they're listed
Bristol 27.7 listings appear across 1 country. United States has the most listings with 1.
Country view
1 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $7,500 | 1 | 0 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
4 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabre 28-2 | 28.42' | $ 14,500 | 15 | 7 |
| Bristol 29.9 | 29.92' | $ 12,000 | 13 | 3 |
| Northshore 27 | 26.97' | $ 17,933 | 11 | 3 |
| Sloop 27.7You are here | — | $ 7,500 | 1 | 0 |