Design and Construction
At 27 feet 5 inches overall with a 23 foot 5 inch waterline and a 10 foot beam, the Mg-C27 is a compact monohull carrying 6,000 lbs of displacement and a fin or lifting keel. Roughly 150 Contessa 27s and MGC27s were sold in total, and most of those were the fin-keel version; the drop keel variant is the rarer of the two, drawing between 3 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 10 inches with the keel raised or lowered, against a fixed 5 foot draught for the fin model. The original design was a replacement for the Contessa 28, and the hull moulds and Humphreys' design passed from Rogers to MG and eventually to Northshore without alteration to the underlying shape.
Rig and Handling
The boat wears a fractional sloop rig, and as built the Contessa 27s and MGC27s carried a self-tacking jib on a curved deck track forward of the mast. That arrangement, paired with a narrow blade jib, keeps sheet loads low and makes the boat easy to handle without sacrificing pace. The Mg-C27 has an excellent reputation for sailing performance and handling, and period assessments describe the performance as excellent in its own right while never rendering the boat difficult to manage. With 413 square feet of sail area in main and blade jib, the design delivers the lively, modern feel MG's cruiser-racer lineage promised. On the illustrated example the self-tacking track was removed and the jib sheeted conventionally, a refit that shows how readily the foredeck can be reconfigured.
Accommodations
Below, the Mg-C27 gives two cabins and berths for four or five. The saloon places the galley to port and an aft-facing chart table to starboard, with two settee berths filling the main cabin. Forward of the table, a raised berth area sits apart from the saloon behind a zipped curtain, while aft of the galley a large quarterberth — nominally a double, though a small one — extends the sleeping plan. In the lifting-keel versions the keel winch mounts on the aft end of the saloon table and is worked with a removable handle, and a clear panel on the keel box lets the crew see the keel's position; apart from the centreboard case, the fin-keel layout matches the lift-keel interior closely.
Refits and Ownership
The most visible owner-level change seen on these boats is the deletion of the original self-tacking jib track in favour of conventional sheeting, as on the example reviewed. The lifting-keel models ask a little more of the owner in the form of the keel-winching gear and the sight panel to monitor keel travel, but the mechanism is simple and hand-operated. The usual power plant is a 9 BHP Volvo Penta 2001 diesel, a modest but fitting auxiliary for a 6,000 lb hull.
The Verdict
The Mg-C27 is a Humphreys-designed small cruiser that translates a racing-bred pedigree into a single-handed-friendly package. The fin-keel majority makes spares and comparisons straightforward, while the rare lift-keel boats reward the shoal-draught cruiser without complicating the core layout. It is a boat whose reputation rests on real handling manners rather than size.
Pros
- Excellent sailing performance and handling reputation
- Fractional rig with narrow blade jib for low sheet loads and easy short-handed sailing
- Practical two-cabin, four-to-five berth layout with distinct forward berth space
- Lift-keel option with clear keel-position sight panel
Cons
- Lift-keel versions are rarer and add winch gear to the saloon
- Quarterberth is a small double at best
- Only about 150 built, limiting the used pool
