The Tartan 27 Yawl is a development of the Tartan 27 sloop, with a shorter main mast and the addition of a mizzen mast with a sail of 36.86 sq ft (3.424 m2) mounted in the lazarette. The Tartan 27 series was developed into the Tartan 27-2 in 1976.[1][2][5][6][7][8]
Darrell Nicholson of Practical Sailor, noted of the Tartan 27 Yawl, "a small number of 27s, for what we assume was quaintness rather than any practical reason, were rigged as yawls with handkerchief-sized mizzens on a mast stepped into the lazarette."[9]
The Tartan 27 Yawl is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with wood trim. It has a masthead yawl rig, a raked stem, an angled transom, a keel-mounted rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed modified long keel with a cutaway forefoot and a retractable centerboard. It displaces 7,400 lb (3,357 kg) and carries 2,400 lb (1,089 kg) of ballast.[1][2]
The design has a draft of 6.33 ft (1.93 m) with the centerboard extended and 3.17 ft (0.97 m) with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water or ground transportation on a trailer, when towed by a vehicle with enough power to safely accommodate the boat's weight.[1][2]
The design has a hull speed of 6.2 kn (11.5 km/h).[2]
Operational history
Robert and Virginia Manry onboard Curlew
Robert Manry, along with his wife Virginia, his son and daughter, a German shepherd dog and a cat, sailed his 1967 Tartan 27 Yawl, named Curlew from Cleveland, Ohio, across the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River, through the Gulf of Mexico to the Bahamas, north along the US east coast and then back to his point of departure, Cleveland. The voyage was accomplished from July 1967 until July 1968.[16]