Design and Construction
The lapstrake hull is laid up from alternating 1½-ounce mat and 18-ounce woven roving in polyester resin, with laminate thickening from 5/16 inch at the sheer to ¾ inch down at the keel anchor. Fiberglass liners and plywood bulkheads carry the structural reinforcement, while the deck is fiberglass over a plywood core, married to the hull on six-inch centers with adhesive sealant and stainless bolts. Factory-finished boats were completed to a very high standard, and Heritage even sold the 27 in stages — from bare hull, deck, bulkheads, ballast, and rudder up toward complete — so owner-finishing history is worth noting on any given specimen.
Rig and Handling
Both rig choices are deck-stepped, single-spreader masthead sloops, offered at 30 feet 6 inches standard or 34 feet tall, with no meaningful speed gap between them anchor. A tabernacle base lets an owner raise or lower the mast without a yard, though an experienced hand still spends several hours making the boat ready to sail. Underway the narrow hull is easily driven and tracks well; the reviewer's Comfort Ratio of 32 stood as the highest he had calculated for any 27-footer. The one handling caveat from sea trials is that balance is a bit fussy and the helm does not like to be left unattended.
Accommodations
Buyers chose an aft or center-cockpit deck plan, with the center version the more popular for its slightly better interior layout and added stowage. In that arrangement the saloon dinette drops to a double, a fully enclosed head and chart table sit to port, and the starboard galley carries a gimbaled stove and oven, stainless sink, and icebox. The aft cabin, reached from the cockpit, holds two comfortable sea berths and bulk storage. The aft-cockpit model keeps a similar forward plan with a slightly longer trunk cabin and quarter berths. Cockpits are tight for more than two yet can squeeze four in a pinch, and narrow side decks are guarded by double lifelines on solid stanchions.
Deck and Equipment
Both models carry a teak bow pulpit with dual anchor rollers over a recessed foredeck well, and all hardware, hatches, and ports are top-grade bronze or stainless anchor. Scuppers at cockpit and foredeck are 1½ inches in diameter. Most boats left the factory with a two-cylinder Yanmar tucked under the cockpit deck; the installation is well insulated against noise and vibration, and a 30-gallon tank gives strong motoring range. A few were instead powered by a 9-horsepower Farymann diesel.
The Verdict
The Nor'Sea 27 is a seriously built small cruiser with offshore credentials — many passages and a handful of circumnavigations attest to that — wrapped in a trailable, eight-foot-beam package. It asks for owner involvement in mast handling and rewards it with a boat that can be trucked to a new ocean and then sailed there.
Pros
- Internal lead ballast removes keel-bolt maintenance
- Heavy, well-laid lapstrake hull with thick keel laminate
- Tabernacle mast enables trailering without a yard
- Center-cockpit layout adds stowage and a practical aft cabin
- Proven on offshore routes and circumnavigations
Cons
- Fussy balance; helm dislikes being left alone
- Cockpit tight for more than two
- Narrow side decks
- Several hours to step and tune the rig
