Overview
The Halcyon 27 is an Alan Buchanan design from 1968, built in the UK by Offshore Yachts until 1975. Atom puts production at about 200 boats. The Yachtsnet archive describes the design as a development of the earlier Diamond II.
Design and Construction
The hull has a full keel with a slightly cut-away forefoot and a transom-hung rudder. Displacement is 6,720 lb with 3,000 lb of ballast and a 4 ft draft. There is about 6 ft of headroom under the doghouse, more than most folkboat derivatives such as the Contessa 26. The standard layout has a vee-berth forecabin, a heads with hanging locker opposite, two settee berths in the saloon, and the galley and chart table by the companionway. A few boats were fitted out with six berths, including a batch built for the Joint Services Sailing Centre with two quarterberths aft and the galley forward.
Under Sail
The masthead sloop carries about 290 sq ft on a 20 ft 3 in waterline. Owners describe a reassuring, powerful sea boat to windward, if a bit wet. Opinions differ on stiffness: some found her tender, while one explains that the narrow hull heels at first and then stiffens, with close to half her weight in ballast. Expect 5 to 6 knots in a decent breeze; one owner suggests planning passages at 4 knots. Owners report boats crossing the Atlantic and one circumnavigation.
Buyers Notes
Few are available outside the UK. Yachtsnet notes that many boats still have the original Sabb single-cylinder engine, a low-revving heavy flywheel design that is very long-lived. Most were first fitted with a variable pitch reversing prop that kept turning in neutral, and it is not uncommon for it to have been changed for a normal gearbox.
