Design and Construction
The 27P began life as a custom hull built atop the existing Watkins 27 hull and deck, with the prototype then used to create a mould for the pilothouse. Watkins put the boat into series production to square off against Morgan Yachts and Pearson Yachts. The hull and deck are polyester resin-based fiberglass, with teak wood trim throughout and all interior woodwork in teak — bulkheads, cabin accents, and cabinets that are teak veneer over plywood, sitting on a teak parquet sole. Plywood coring stiffens the cabin roof, deck, seats, and cockpit sole. The boat carries 3,500 pounds of iron ballast inside a 7,500-pound displacement and draws 3.67 feet on its shoal-draft fin keel, with a skeg-mounted rudder under wheel steering and a raked stem over a vertical transom.
Rig and Handling
Scott’s revision of the 27 into the P shortened the mast and raised the boom to clear the new pilothouse, adjusting the sailplan accordingly while keeping the masthead sloop configuration on 6061-T6 aluminum spars. The sail area measures 272 square feet. With a length on the waterline of 23.25 feet inside the 27-foot overall length and a beam of 10 feet, the design settles into a hull speed of 6.46 knots. The shoal keel and skeg-hung rudder suit sheltered cruising grounds where draft is a constraint rather than a performance liability.
Accommodations
The pilothouse is the defining accommodation shift from the parent 27, and below it the layout sleeps five: a bow V-berth, a main cabin settee berth, and a double quarter berth. The head is fully enclosed to port aft of the forward cabin, while the galley sits aft to starboard with an icebox and a gimbaled two-burner alcohol or gas stove. Six opening ports ventilate the interior, and the main cabin stands 74 inches tall. Teak everywhere gives the small volume a coherent, warm finish rather than a mix of materials.
Ownership and Class Support
Only seven were built and all in a single 1981 batch, with four reported still in existence by 2008. The boat is backed by an active class club, the Watkins Owners, which gives a tiny production run a continuing community and a place to source pilothouse-specific knowledge.
The Verdict
The Watkins 27P is a curious, low-volume offshoot: a pilothouse variant of a proven 27-foot hull, built in a single seven-boat run and rarely seen. Its appeal lies in the sheltered helm and teak-lined interior, not in numbers or resale depth.
Pros
- Pilothouse added to a known Watkins 27 hull for weather protection
- All-teak interior with plywood-cored stiffness in key structures
- Shallow 3.67-foot draft widens gunkholing range
Cons
- Only seven built; four known extant by 2008 limits spares and comparables
- Mast shortened and boom raised alter the parent sailplan
- Single-year production means no evolutionary improvements
