Design Notes – The Reimagined Tartan 27

Our goal was to preserve the original boat’s quiet confidence: moderate displacement, balanced helm, useful accommodation, and a profile that looks right from every angle. The new Tartan 27 keeps the spirit of the classic pocket cruiser while improving stiffness, durability, ergonomics, and ease of ownership through contemporary construction and systems.

A compact auxiliary cruising yacht that combines the traditional sailing qualities of the original Tartan 27; she’s capable of confident coastal cruising, club racing, weekending, and shoal-water exploration while remaining manageable by one or two sailors.

A similar overall length to the original Sparkman & Stephens designed 27, the Tartan design team and Bill Prince Yacht Design have incorporated a longer 22’ 9” waterline, wider 9’ 3” beam carried aft, and draft of 5’2” in the new hydrodynamic keel design. With a displacement of 7,500 lbs and 2,790 lbs of ballast, the reimagined 27 can accommodate an increased upwind sail area of 440 sq ft and a downwind sail area of 535 sq ft on a near masthead rig. Featuring an 18hp diesel saildrive and a spacious, well-planned interior, the Tartan 27 sets a new benchmark for performance and class in an under 30 foot package, upholding the Tartan Yachts tradition.

The spooned bow, modest overhangs, angled transom, and clean coachroof geometry all echo the original Tartan 27 without freezing the design in time. A clean, open cockpit makes way to an opening transom for swimming or easy boarding from a tender or dock. Entrance to the well lit and ventilated cabin is through a large companionway opening.

Brightwork is used deliberately, with enough teak and varnished detail to give warmth and identity, but not so much that maintenance overwhelms the owner.

Her visual language is unmistakably Tartan: deliberate proportions, traditional cues, and the presence of a true small yacht rather than an enlarged daysailer. Contemporary details keep the design fresh while preserving its unmistakable Tartan identity.

The hull carries a fair, low sheer, restrained freeboard, modest overhangs, and a balanced distribution of volume. Sections are fuller and more stable than the 1961 hull, carrying its proportional beam aft, but while preserving her traditional motion, heeled waterline balance, and directional steadiness.

The design character is a yacht that tracks well, tacks easily, accelerates cleanly in moderate air, and remains comfortable in short coastal chop.
The standard 2,790 lb lead bulbed keel utilizes the proven Tartan keel and keel bolt engineering for a draft of 5’2”. An elliptical rudder hung on a carbon fiber rudder shaft provides an easy balance to the tiller steered yacht.

An optional fixed shoal keel with a high-aspect centerboard is a reinterpretation of the original full keel/centerboard arrangement using modern foil sections and structural detailing. This new shoal keel is designed to favor grounding tolerance, tracking, and cruising practicality while improving lift-to-drag performance and helm responsiveness.

The new Tartan 27 is constructed with advanced composites, vacuum-infused engineered laminates, structural foam cores, and bonded structural grids. The hull to deck joint is unmistakenly Tartan with an inward turning flange, infused aluminum backing plate and through bolted toe rail bonded with structural adhesives.

The structural grid is designed to carry and distribute the keel, mast, rigging and chainplate loads, while prioritizing stiffness in the way of her larger sisterships.

These materials and processes allow her to be stronger, stiffer, lighter, and more dimensionally consistent than earlier fiberglass construction while maintaining the solid, planted feel associated with her predecessor.

The rig is visually simple and easily handled, honoring the masthead sloop identity of the original Tartan 27 while benefiting from modern spar materials, standing rigging, sailcloth, and deck hardware. The sail plan is powerful enough to move the boat in light air, yet conservative enough for coastal cruising couples and small crews. Control lines, reefing, and headsail handling are arranged for singlehanded or shorthanded sailing without cluttering the deck.

The standard non-overlapping, self tacking jib is easily controlled and compliments the large, high aspect mainsail for the best upwind performance. Off the wind, a furling reacher or top down furler asymmetric spinnaker is tacked on a short bow sprit that also houses the easily deployed anchor.

The new Tartan 27 comes standard with an aluminum mast, with an optional carbon fiber mast available in a performance package.

The cockpit is designed as the working and social heart of the boat. It is secure, deep enough for confidence, long enough for comfort, and proportioned for tiller steering that preserves feedback from the rudder. An opening transom door provides ease of swimming and boarding, while providing a safe and dry cockpit when closed for sailing.

Cockpit seats and coaming provide good bracing, drainage and ergonomics whether sailing or sitting at anchor with a book or sun downer.

Deck hardware is placed with modern ergonomics in mind, but the overall impression remains uncluttered, purposeful, and traditional. Simplicity for shorthanded sailing and club racing are not mutually exclusive, and this is shown in the cockpit and working deck design.

The coachroof has a clean, low, traditional profile, with large windows for natural light and opening hatches for ventilation. Wide side decks provide easy movement from the cockpit to the foredeck.
Designed by sailors, for sailors, the sight lines are clean and unobstructed from the helm.

Below, the slight spring to the sheer and beam carried aft allows the interior to carry the volume expected in a Tartan. Descending the companionway stairs, an enclosed wet head is to starboard with an L-shaped galley to port. A small 2-burner induction stove, sink, and top loading refrigeration system keep things simple while still maintaining the comforts of a larger Tartan.

The proven intimate cruising layout with v-berth forward and double berth aft of the galley give privacy to a family for weekend cruising while still opening up the main salon spaces to a fold down centerline table and a port and starboard settee that can also be used as sleeping berths.

Modern lighting, ventilation, finishes, and systems make the space brighter and easier to maintain, while wood trim and tasteful joinery preserve the warmth expected of a Tartan.

The interior cabin is a comfortable and secure place to sit, read, cook, and rest underway.

The Tartan 27 is a boat for sailors who understand that tradition is not nostalgia; it is accumulated intelligence. By combining the original Tartan 27’s balanced proportions and cruising honesty with modern materials, refined hydrodynamics, and thoughtful systems, the new design honors the past while giving today’s sailor a compact yacht of lasting relevance.