Saffier SE 27 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The SE 27 is a light, slim hull with uncluttered lines, a fine entry, a vertical stem, and a broad stern. At a displacement of 4,200 pounds and a beam of 7 feet 5 inches per the survey quote, it carries a standard ballast of 1,980 pounds in lead, distributed across a choice of keels giving draft from 3 feet 9 inches to the standard 5 feet 5 inches. The hull is vacuum-bagged with a foam core and built with solid laminate at the keel root, where the ballast is bolted through 22mm of material reinforced by transverse and fore-and-aft stiffening members. A bowsprit is molded integrally with the forward deck rather than bolted on afterthought. This is a boat engineered to be as light as a reasonable strength margin allows, and the numbers bear that out: a displacement-length ratio of 96 and a sail-area-displacement ratio of 26 place it firmly in the lively, easily driven camp.

Rig and Handling

Sailing the SE 27 is, in the words of SAIL Magazine's tester, an absolute joy, with responsiveness that would give a Laser a run for its money while keeping the crew far drier. All controls lead aft to four cockpit winches, and a German-style mainsheet runs beneath the low coachroof molding with its halyard exiting at the mast base. A two-speed Harken electric winch handles the mainsheet to port, and a 16:1 backstay is recessed into a full-width traveler track. The rig offers an overlapping or self-tacking jib and a sprit for gennaker or Code 0. On the test with a 1.4m keel and aluminum rig, the boat sliced upwind at 5.6 to 5.7 knots with tacking angles of 80 degrees or less and a VMG of 4.3 knots. The designer's polar data and a builder video both point to planing performance downwind, with speeds around 15 knots in 20 to 25 knots of breeze. Steering is by wheel or tiller; testers found the helm so light that feedback was occasionally missed, though anyone could helm it comfortably.

Accommodations

Below, the SE 27 is basic but clever for its size. Two settee berths extend aft as quarter berths with sitting headroom, while a V-berth forward squeezes two more. A heads sits under the aft end of the V-berth, and space beneath the companionway serves stowage or a fridge, with a small Isotherm locker also noted. Above deck the cockpit is genuinely spacious — room for up to eight — with a large open area behind the wheel bisected by the mainsheet track and a stowaway table that disappears for sailing. A small windscreen keeps water out and stows easily. The low cabin trunk limits standing room but preserves the clean profile that makes the boat a head-turner.

Equipment and Propulsion

The standard boat now carries an Aquamot 4.3kW electric motor with lithium battery, weighing less than half an equivalent diesel, though the tested example used a 4kW Torqeedo with a two-bladed folding prop. A diesel alternative remains available. Twin rudders are offered with the shallow keel, otherwise a single deep blade is fitted. Rig options include carbon in place of aluminum, and the shallow-draft keel brings the twin-rudder configuration for retained control in thin water.

The Verdict

The Saffier SE 27 Leisure succeeds as a modern performance daysailer that hides real cruising utility beneath a low, graceful profile. Its light vacuum-cored hull, lead-ballasted keel options, and all-controls-aft rig make it a solo sailor's delight and a small-crew racer, though the gentle helm and limited headroom will not suit everyone.

Pros