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Old 16-03-2008, 15:03   #1
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S2 27' - Any experiences or opinions?

I'm looking at buying a first boat for great lakes cruising. A major concern is staying budget conscious, so I have been looking at early to mid 80's hunters, catamarans, etc. between 25'-30'. I came across an S2 27' boat that seemed to be in great shape. Much of the interior was just redone and the deck showed very few signs of wear and tear. Also, all of the rigging and deck hardware seemed almost brand new. The guy selling it said he recommends that anyone getting a boat gets a survey done (something I already knew), and said he has no doubt that this boat would show to be in great condition.

Anyways, my question is more about peoples experience with the S2 27'. Has anyone had one? Did they enjoy it? Would they recommend it? Any help or advice would really be appreciated!

Thanks,
Chris
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Old 16-03-2008, 16:18   #2
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As I recall, the 27 was a G&S design, not as well known as the 26 but a good looking boat that sails quickly. Any of the racing series, like the 27, were well built and good sailors.
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Old 16-03-2008, 17:38   #3
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Try members.aol/s2owners/s2home.htm for more details, but I nearly bought a 30 ft S2 prior to finding my Newport 30. It was well-built from my personal survey; I was told that the company morphed over to sailboats after producing power boat hulls. They quit after a few years, but again, I was told what they produced was high-quality. Good luck!
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Old 16-03-2008, 17:58   #4
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My old broker had the 30. Club raced it every week for a decade of more and it was in great shape. Chainplates were beefy, construction seemed solid. All in all a great (and fast) boat to use on the lakes.
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Old 16-03-2008, 19:15   #5
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When Slickcraft was sold to AMF the Slicker's Family started S2 yachts in Holland Michigan. S2 is alive and well making Tiara yachts and Pursuit. They no longer build sailboats. Everything that I have ever heard about S2 sailboats was quite good. If the surveyor says it is a good boat ,and you like it ,I would not be afraid to buy it.
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Old 17-03-2008, 01:50   #6
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“S2" marketed the 27 footer (26'-7" LOA) as a “Performance Cruiser”, of which they built 85 examples from 1985 to 1987, when Sailboat production was ended. All S2 cruising sailboats, including the 27', featured a solid fiberglass hull, and a balsa cored deck. They were avail;able in both deep & shoal draft versions.
I've heard the joke that "S2" stood for "slowly sideways", referring to the mediocre performance of the early (1970s) models.

Some “S2" 27' owner reviews at:


Review of the S2 27 by Jim on January 31, 2006:
Owner review of the S2 27 by Jim

Review of the S2 27 by Jeff on September 08, 2005:
Owner review of the S2 27 by Jeff
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Old 17-03-2008, 07:46   #7
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S@ 27

Having owned 3 S2's (2 7.9's and a 10.3) and toured their plant a couple of times I will say that the boats are built very strong and the facility was state of the art. The performance of my boats was exceptional and I believe that if the 27 wasn't a G&S design it was strongly influenced by the racing boats and most likely a strong performer. One thing I would check thoroughly (if it is balsa cored) is the hull below the waterline. All my boats where from 82-83 and 2 out of the 3 had localized issues with the cored bottom. This was when they first started using the balsa coring and maybe hadn’t figured it all out yet (J boats had similar problems when they started). Later boats had fewer problems as far as I know (I was in the S2 hot-bed by Holland, MI where they were built). I believe that was one of the last boats they introduced before they ceased building sailboats to concentrate on the Tiara line of powerboats.
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Old 17-03-2008, 09:23   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tropic1 View Post
Having owned 3 S2's (2 7.9's and a 10.3) and toured their plant a couple of times I will say that the boats are built very strong and the facility was state of the art. The performance of my boats was exceptional and I believe that if the 27 wasn't a G&S design it was strongly influenced by the racing boats and most likely a strong performer. One thing I would check thoroughly (if it is balsa cored) is the hull below the waterline. All my boats where from 82-83 and 2 out of the 3 had localized issues with the cored bottom. This was when they first started using the balsa coring and maybe hadn’t figured it all out yet (J boats had similar problems when they started). Later boats had fewer problems as far as I know (I was in the S2 hot-bed by Holland, MI where they were built). I believe that was one of the last boats they introduced before they ceased building sailboats to concentrate on the Tiara line of powerboats.
Wasn't the 27 the production version of Little Feet? Granted that was a lot of miles, years, and beers ago, hard to remember. The 7.9 and 9.1 were G&S designs and the 27 sure looks like a 7.9 with a keel. Wonder what ever happend to Graham and Schlageter?
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Old 17-03-2008, 10:58   #9
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Tropic,

Thanks, this is definitely the type of feedback I am looking for. I have read everything I can find online and was hoping for some first hand experiences.

The boat seemed to be in excellent shape from a quick visual inspection. I guess it was out of the water for a year while the owner was cleaning it up and working on it. As for more serious problems that require more careful inspection to find, I will mostly leave that up to a professional surveyor.

Thanks for everyones feedback. If anyone knows anything else about these boats I'd appreciate it!

Chris
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Old 12-05-2009, 06:59   #10
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Great Boat

I'm guessing I'm very late here, but I had to echo the previous posts in saying that that the S2 27 is a great boat. We were the original owners of hull #49. The glass work on the hull was some of the best I've seen. Our hull was balsa-cored, I believe (though I'm not positive). Most S2s you look at these days have exceptionally fair hulls 20+ years later. Crazing on the decks was also acceptable for boats of this age. She was a little tender, but very fast (great phrf racer) and could handle rough weather fairly well. We sailed ours in waters between bllock island and Annapolis with little trouble. The interior as you've probably discovered is quite spacious for a 27' boat. Ours had a 1cyl Yanmar which was a little underpowered but was sufficient. The transom-mounted rudder was a liittle ugly, but made for a very responsive boat that could turn on a dime and handled well in reverse under power. Definitely a boat worth taking a look at.
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