Design and Construction
The defining structural idea is a 2,000-lb water-ballast system rather than fixed lead low in the hull. With the tanks empty she draws just 1 foot 9 inches, a shoal draft that lets an owner launch at a modest ramp; filled, the ballast brings her down to 6 feet and the boat becomes stiff once the ballast tanks are filled, trading rampability for seated stability at sea. The full walk-through transom incorporates an integrated swim platform and boarding ladder, and the deck carries a folding helm seat aft of wheel steering. Hunter Marine built the boat in the United States, and the construction is framed around the trailerable premise.
Rig and Handling
The boat wears Hunter's signature backstay-less B&R fractional rig with swept spreaders, a configuration that simplifies the stern and shifts mast-support geometry forward. The working sail plan is a large roachy fully battened mainsail of about 170 sq ft paired with a roller-furling jib in the 110–135% range, giving a total upwind area near 320 sq ft. For offwind work she carries an asymmetrical spinnaker set on a retractable bowsprit. The B&R rig and the water-ballast stiffness combine to make her a stable, family-friendly platform rather than a twitchy racer; the shallow empty draft is the compromise that buys the trailering convenience, and the deep filled draft is what recovers sea-kindliness once she is commissioned at the ramp.
Accommodations
Compared with the 260 she replaced, the 270 gained a larger cockpit with wheel steering, and the interior is laid out for genuine cruising. There is a huge aft athwartships double berth beneath the cockpit, a private forward V-berth, and an enclosed head with shower. The galley is complete with a two-burner stove and icebox, and the cabin offers standing headroom throughout, with a pop-top that adds another 6 inches when raised. Reviewers describe her as genuinely comfortable for a family of four or five on week-long cruises, which is a strong claim for a 27-foot hull and speaks to the beamy volume and the walk-through transom's livability at anchor.
Ownership and Community
Around 400 examples left the mold, and the class has stayed organized: active owner groups exist on both coasts and the Great Lakes. That network matters for a trailerable design, where ramp technique, ballast-pump upkeep, and pop-top seals are the sort of practical knowledge best shared among people who actually tow the boat. The 270's production ran only through 2006, making it a contained generation within Hunter's numbering scheme rather than a continually evolved nameplate.
The Verdict
The Hunter 270 is a thoughtfully packaged trailerable cruiser that converts from a 1-foot-9-inch shoal-draft towable to a 6-foot ballasted weekender without leaving the ramp. She trades ultimate ballast security for flexibility, and the B&R rig plus walk-through transom give her a modern, sociable feel that the 260 lacked. For a family wanting to cruise four or five comfortably without a marina slip, she is a pragmatic, well-supported choice.
Pros
- Water ballast yields 1 ft 9 in empty draft for trailering, 6 ft full for stiffness
- Walk-through transom with swim platform and boarding ladder
- Standing headroom plus pop-top; aft double and forward V-berth
- Backstay-less B&R rig with roller-furling jib and asymmetrical spinnaker
- Active owner groups on both coasts and Great Lakes
Cons
- Trailering weight and ballast handling demand owner involvement
- Water ballast lacks the permanence of fixed lead for offshore use
- Production ended after only about 400 hulls; a short generation
