A27 Pilot House modification?

[JT48348]

I'm considering options for the pilot/house hardtop combo. Would like to know what you think looks best.

Aesthetically if there's one thing I find slightly off about the A27 I think it would be the fwd angle of the aft sides of the pilot house. Is it me or is it just not....shipley? Can't say I would undertake to change it. But if I did, do any of these get a vote?


Option 1 is leave the pilot house alone and add a hardtop with supports that match the pilothouse angle. Been done very successfully on many A27s. Considered a standard mod with variations in angle and type of hardtop supports.

Option 2 is modify the pilot house so the aft wall angle is verticle. The windows would also be made to have an aft verticle angle. This would require a new piece of aft glass, add some coosa board to the pilothouse and adjust window trim. This would also allow an enclosure of the cockpit and fed cabin. The hardtop support would match the old pilothouse angle.

Option 3: modify pilot house to verticle, and hardtop support angle matches aft cabin angle.


There may be more options if you have other ideas.

[don123]

I agree the side window angle could use some 'improvement'

The square 90 degree Option 2 doesn't look right though - You need to be careful with perfect squares on a boat . . . . especially a boat which has none of them. Adding one can look really out of place - Even worse than what you have now

But . . . . beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder - As they say, anything which brings a smile to the owners face as he looks back while rowing away from it in the dink is a good thing - And I agree

Don

[tego]

Howdy JT, I kinda like the old look, but the second option would make it easier to enclose the wheelhouse if you decide to do that. The third option looks like it should do 25 or 30 knots easily! Like Don said, if you like it, that's the crux of the matter. You obviously have good taste, you bought an Albin 27 didn't you? Ben

[smacksman]

Option 1 looks best for me and I would go with Don's pipe edge which I have seen 'in the flesh' and it looks really good.

[JT48348]

Option 1 seems to be popular and is leading the poll. Less work for me.

But how about Option 4? Any takers on that. I do like the red hull color.

[tego]

JT, I like #4. It would eliminate the weak point of the pilothouse roof. Several boats I looked at before I found mine (or it found me) had cracks in the roof at that corner because some lard butt got on top of the roof. I plan to reinforce mine with a teak beam eventually. I think #4 is a definite improvement overall. Ben

[don123]

I like #4 also!

The only problem with painting a hull a dark color like red or blue is that every scratch shows up as a bright white scar from a mile away - The look great when you leave the paint booth but after a few years of scrapes and bruises, they look really bad

Don

[JT48348]

On the pirate ship we go by the 10ft rule. If it looks good from 10ft away it's ok by me. We carry touch up paint and field day like the Navy

"French industrial" theme remember?

[smacksman]

My 1983 A27 has the fillet moulded in. Maybe they broke the mould because it is much stronger that way. Also, the aft edge of the coachroof has a moulded upstand which stiffens the edge. My 200lb on the roof doesn't budge it a bit. Don123's 1984 model doesn't have it and we were both suprised to see the change (for the worse in our opinions)
I change my vote to design #4 and demand a re-count of the vote!



fibreglass moulded fillet in the corner



matching teak trim on the inside



my homemade side screens ( from Walmart shower curtains - don't laugh!) show the raked angle aft almost matching the deckhouse

[JT48348]

On a road trip to northern Michigan I spot this A27 at the marina in Petoskey,MI. Man that's a good looking boat and stands out in the marina.

Example of what a plumb edge would look like.

I'm leaning towards #4 myself. I think the fillet would add a nice line or two

[sail149]

Looked at a 27fc January '84 on Saturday and it does not have the fillet at the roof. Roof also appeared to be fairly flexible and only reinforced with a piece of coated 1/2" plywood.
My May 84 has no fillet and a much stronger roof.
I bring up the differences in dates as there was a transition from the '83 models to the '84 and on.
The '83 were built by the designer, joe Puccini, under contract to Albin. ( the first approx 100?)
There are quite a few design changes between 83 and 84.

I would not worry about the 'fillet' it could be a strength thing but really mainly cosmetic and could be added later either way. I like #4 as it's less work but I think you should make sure the roof goes far enough back to cover an open rear hatch.
Warren

[don123]

My '84 had a very flimsy roof. No support at all at the rear edge, cored with 1/2 inch of end grain balsa with a very thin skin above and below the balsa coring. No doubt in my mind I could have jumped right through the center of it with little effort

When I extended the hardtop, I added a vertical brace in the center just aft of the engine bay doors and another one running at a 30 degree angle down to the dash which gave me a 'pipe' to run all my antenna cables through. Anchor light and steaming light wiring, TV antenna, shorty sailboat VHF antenna, WiFi antenna and Cel phone antenna all reside on the fold down mast with all the wiring running down the 1 inch stainless tube to the dash, where all the electronics are mounted on the aft wall of the hanging locker

A big plus done yesterday and today - I got the lions share of my bow thruster installed!! Cutting the very odd oval shaped hole to fit the round fiberglass thruster tube was quite an experience. The forward hull at that point is a solid lay-up of glass about 3/8ths thick if anyone was curious

Don

[SkipRocks]

Don, start another thread w your bow thruster... I'm (almost) right behind you! Looks great!

[JT48348]

The Big Fillet

Saw this in Traverse City, MI. Coast Guard signal boat. Some wicked fillets on the side, potential model minus the high gunnel?

[Nancy]

I don't care for The Big Fillet at all. Nothing looks in proportion or like a cohesive design.