Overview
Introduced in 1979, the Orion 27 was one of Pacific Seacraft’s earlier boats and the last design by Henry Mohrschladt, one of the yard’s two co-founders. It carries the same reputation for careful, robust construction that defines the rest of the Pacific Seacraft line, and at least one has circumnavigated: Brec Morgan sailed his Orion 27, Otter, from 1998 to 2003, visiting more than 50 countries along the way.
Design and Construction
True to a Mohrschladt design, the lines are conservative: a long keel with a cutaway forefoot for reduced wetted area and better handling, and the traditional wine-glass hull section rather than anything aimed at speed. The design trades outright pace for stiffness, safety, and good manners heaving-to in rough conditions. A 6 ft 1 in bowsprit carries extra sail area, and the boat was offered in three rig configurations: sloop, yawl, and cutter, with the cutter, fitted with a self-tending staysail, best suited to serious distance sailing. The hull is hand-laid fiberglass with plywood-cored decks; the hull-to-deck joint is a double-flange design bedded in polyurethane adhesive and through-bolted with stainless steel, forming teak-capped bulwarks around the deck.
Under Sail
Independent sourcing corroborates the boat’s core reputation: sturdy, forgiving, and capable of real offshore distance, backed by Brec Morgan’s documented five-year circumnavigation aboard Otter. No further specific named ocean crossing beyond that one is on file for this model.
Buyers Notes
Pacific Seacraft offered two cabin layouts (A and C) along with tiller or wheel steering, wheel being the more common find on the used market today. A 1981 Mk II update brought a longer coachroof, two additional deck hatches, and an extra set of portlights. The A-layout, more common, has a roomy U-shaped dinette to port that converts to a double berth, with the galley and nav station to starboard. The C-layout, aimed at longer cruising, trades the dinette for a larger head-and-shower combo and more forward stowage, with a wet locker at the foot of the companionway. Confirm which rig, layout, and hull generation a specific boat actually has before comparing it to another listing.
