A27 Lift Rails

[SkipRocks]

I'm about to install lift rails on my A27 Express (or Sport).

Back story: I need a new engine. The engine in my boat - Volvo Penta TAMD31P - is a 150 hp diesel. It was in the boat when I purchased it 10 years ago. It cruises at an economical 8-knots or I can quintiple the fuel burn and maybe manage an additional 2 knots. The Volvo failed me this summer, swallowed/broke a valve which knocked the heck out of the #1 piston. Given that the volvo is 24 years old & has 2500+ hours, I wasn't up for just repairing one piston. Volvo parts for older engines aren't cheap and the 3 quotes I received to rebuild it were in the same ballpark as purchasing a new engine. Hello 0 hour reconditioned Cummins Marine 4BT. There are two A27s that I know of here in FL with the Cummins 4BT and a surprising number in commercial downeaster lobster boats in the NE. I've been on one with limited insulation that rattled like crazy and one that was amazingly smooth and quiet - except at idle... I don't know exactly why, but every 4BT I've ever been around vibrates at idle, that includes auto, gen-set and marine applications.

Now for the lift rails. They used to be popular 30-40 years ago in older lobster boats with a mostly displacement hull, rounded chines, etc (sounds like an A27 hull to me). The last year or two that Albin made the A27 they installed them as well. I saw a '91 or '92 A27 with factory lift rails in Missouri and another one was discussed on this board (A27 top speed) that has a photo of them. There are some detailed discussions on the downeastboatforum.com Stay tuned... I'll let you know how it turns out.

[SkipRocks]

It's taken a while, but we're getting much closer. The engine & lift rails have been installed. I wanted to post a few pictures. The first photo is a comparison with the only other Albin I've seen that had lift rails. It's a '92 and was delivered new with them installed. The '92 Albin's lift rails were made of wood. The ones I installed are composite and made by Barbour Marine / Integrity Marine, part # R1059. Kind of flying blind here, but they are the exact same size & this is the lift rail that has been installed on quite a few down easters that I found on the Downeast Boat Forum. I'm glad I had the photo of them installed on the '92 A27 hull, because I would have thought they would go a bit lower on the curve of the hull. Per everything I've learned though, the top of the rail should be 2" below the water line when the boat is at rest.