27 Family Cruiser picture search

[ben2go]

Does anyone have pics of a 27' Family cruiser with the interior liner removed? I'd like to see the hull interior without the liner. There was a boat not to far south of me that had been butchered internally. I could probably get the hull for peanuts if I buy a trailer to haul it on.

[Sprig1]

Here you go not the best but when I redid my interior.

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[ben2go]

Thanks. I didn't think there was any wood coring in the FC. Just the stiffeners in the rear of the main hull.

[Sprig1]

Mines an 84. No real coring in hull just a small square of plywood where thru halls go thru. Everything else pretty much cored on mine. I've pretty much rebuilt the whole boat. Good luck

[ben2go]

Mines an 84. No real coring in hull just a small square of plywood where thru halls go thru. Everything else pretty much cored on mine. I've pretty much rebuilt the whole boat. Good luck

Thanks for posting. You confirm what some of my research has turned up.

[tego]

Ben2, My '87FC IS cored! From the gunnel down to the top of the keel. The keel is not cored-- solid 3/8" fiberglass. Terry Compton did a major redesign job on the 27FC and the changes were incorporated in '87. My hull is 1/4" fiberglass on the outside followed by 1/8"+ end grain balsa and then 1/8"+ fiberglass on the inner surface of the hull. Same goes for the transom. The balsa is so thin though that I can't even dent it with my fingernail because the resin almost fully saturated it. I imagine that it did save some weight though. The stringers on mine are much heavier too - 2 3/4" thick X about 10" tall to better carry the higher HP engines that would be going in later. Ben

[ben2go]

Ben2, My '87FC IS cored! From the gunnel down to the top of the keel. The keel is not cored-- solid 3/8" fiberglass. Terry Compton did a major redesign job on the 27FC and the changes were incorporated in '87. My hull is 1/4" fiberglass on the outside followed by 1/8"+ end grain balsa and then 1/8"+ fiberglass on the inner surface of the hull. Same goes for the transom. The balsa is so thin though that I can't even dent it with my fingernail because the resin almost fully saturated it. I imagine that it did save some weight though. The stringers on mine are much heavier too - 2 3/4" thick X about 10" tall to better carry the higher HP engines that would be going in later. Ben

Thanks for that bit of info. That helps to further clear up some of my cornfusion.

[JT48348]

My '87FC IS cored! From the gunnel down to the top of the keel. The keel is not cored-- solid 3/8" fiberglass. Terry Compton did a major redesign job on the 27FC and the changes were incorporated in '87.....The stringers on mine are much heavier too - 2 3/4" thick X about 10" tall....

??
Please provide some supporting documentation. Photos of the stringers would be a good place to start. Photos of the coring would also be helpful. What are these “mayor design changes”?

How do you know Terry Compton was involved in the production of the Albin 27? Your information does not match anything I’ve uncovered from any of my interviews or research.

I’ve documented the Albin 27 hull coring question on my website extensively. I’m always open to updating my research but you have to provide some actual evidence. I feel it’s really misleading and/or inaccurate to say “coring”. The deck and pilot house are “cored”. The construction of the hill is not the same and it is not cored.

Lastly, It would also be helpful to explain why someone in 1987 would “core” a boat with 1/8” balsa so thin it absorbs resin to the point of becoming hard, if you’re trying to save weight? I’ve never seen 1/8” balsa used like this in marine construction.

[tego]

Joe, You have stated that you don't have any sign of coring if you remove your ER vent. I DO! My transom is cored exactly the same where I have cut a plug for my A/C cooling water discharge 4" above the waterline. My intake thruhull I installed in the ER 4" fwd of the aft ER bulkhead is cored exactly the same. I can see the layup throughout the entire hull. I have worked in the marine industry for a long time and in several locations, from building megayachts (Intermarine Savannah) to my retirement from carpentry shop foreman at Rybovich in West Palm Beach (Google it). I am simply stating what I can see on my boat. My helm station tilts away from the bulkhead for easier access, the cabinet in my head has the corner cut away at a 45* angle for more room to sit on the throne, My pilothouse has a fiberglass flange around it and is attached every 6" with ss screws and 5200 instead of the rinky teak strip around it doing the job like on the earlier models. My bulkheads are cut precisely and fully tabbed to the hull on both sides of the bulkhead. My hull does not flex like the earlier models I have worked on. If you go on yachtworld, you can see stringers like mine on post '87 models with the Nissan or any other engine. The engine does not sit on the stringers themselves, but on 1/2" thick aluminum angle iron 4x4" mounts bolted on the inboard side of the actual stringer, unlike the earlier '86 and early "87 model FC with the Nissan engine. My driveshaft is 1 1/2" ss - no intermediate bearing. I consider these to be significant improvements! As for pictures, I'm a much better shipwright than a computer geek, hence the two finger typing etc. I'm on the computer only to access AOG and Trawler Forum. My kid, grandkids and great grandkids love this contraption but I don't! Maybe I'll try to learn how to post pictures someday, otherwise, c'mon down and I'll show you one of the nicest 27FC's on the planet. I love this boat! Ben

[JT48348]

The old-guy-shipwright-grandkids-no-photo-hate-computers-I-love-this-boat response. I never saw it coming.

Seriously, I’ll just go back to my original comment which is: I’ve documented the Albin 27 hull coring question extensively on my website. But If you or anyone else ever come across photos, or (any) supporting documentation for these questions please email me direct.

[ben2go]

If a plywood gusset or support is glassed onto the inside of the hull properly for a through hull fitting or mounting of something to the hull, it would appear to be cored when it's not a true wood core. I have seen this many times throughout my many years of working on boats. I can't say that the 27FC is cored or not. Most research I have done over the past few weeks seem to support that at least most of the FC main hulls are solid fiberglass. Some seem to have rear sections of the hull laminated with some sort of wood. The thinnest coring I have ever run into on a large hull was 3/8ths inch balsa. On some cabins and drop in liners, I have seen as thin as 3/16ths to 1/4 inch. Some had no coring at all.

[sail149]

Ben (Tego) , thanks so much for you info. I always assumed the A27 got some major upgrades about '87 ,a mark 2 if you like.
Everything you point out is all good stuff. The early boats were defiantly built in a hurry and to a low price. The later boats I looked at did seem to be better built , I wish I had not been so cheap and bought an older fix er upper , although I did not know it at the time!
If you have any actually documentations it would be great .
3/8" thick keel, wow , I put a drain in mine and it was barely 1/8" thick chop strand and I'm being generous!
Cheers Warren