Class CHeavy displacementCruiser/Racer

Finn Flyer 27

POLIMAR · EivindStill · 1978

Updated

The Finn Flyer 27 is a 8.20 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by EivindStill and built by POLIMAR, first launched in 1978. It races in Class C.

Finn Flyer 27 - EivindStill - POLIMARP 8.76 mLOA 8.20 m

Length

8.20 m

26′ 11″

Beam

2.80 m

Draft

1.54 m

Displacement

2.3 t

Sail area

34 m²

This design does not carry a Race Edge. The speeds below still come from measured boats.

On the podium

Where a Finn Flyer 27 finishes when she goes racing.

Not enough data yet to show how this design finishes. It has not been found in the race results we have collected so far.

Recent regattas

The latest events where a Finn Flyer 27 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.

No regattas found yet.

Raced one we are missing?

Report a regatta

Round the buoys, or offshore

A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.

Round the buoys

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Not enough data yet: no races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.

Offshore & coastal

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Not enough data yet: no races over 10 NM carry a published distance.

Who she races against

The designs a Finn Flyer 27 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.

Not enough data yet to say who this design races against. No result we have collected puts it on the water beside another design we track.

Speed at every angle

The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.

3630°60°90°120°150°WIND7.5

Upwind VMG

4.42

38°

Beam reach

6.93

90°

Broad reach

7.31

135°

Downwind VMG

6.57

170°

Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.

Where it wins and where it pays

Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.

This one is at home going to windward. Windward-leeward courses give it more of what it is good at than a coastal race does.

Where it gains

Its best ground is upwind in light air, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, and by a margin worth having.

Where it pays

It falls short on a broad reach in a strong breeze, giving away time it never gets back. That is weight that has to be driven rather than released.

Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.

True wind
Upwind+0.20 kn
Beam reach+0.05 kn
Broad reach-0.06 kn
Downwind-0.07 kn

Full width is 0.4 kn either way.

At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the upwind.

How fast is a Finn Flyer 27

Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.

Angle6 kn10 kn14 kn20 kn
Beat VMG2.903.934.364.42
52°4.405.666.046.17
60°4.625.816.196.36
75°4.765.946.346.67
90°4.726.066.546.93
110°4.696.086.677.44
120°4.505.986.617.51
135°4.005.696.407.31
150°3.425.176.146.97
Run VMG2.974.515.676.57

How they are set up

The range each sail spans across the fleet.

Mainsail17 m² – 18 m²
Headsail17 m²
Spinnaker31 m² – 34 m²

Nearly all carry a folding propeller. Crew weight is declared around 330 kg.

Rigging

Finn Flyer 27 rig and sail dimensions

A Finn Flyer 27 carries 8.78 m of mainsail hoist on a 3.33 m boom, a forestay 8.50 m above the deck. Typical figures across the 2 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.

Rig

Mainsail hoistP8.78 m8.76 – 8.80
Boom lengthE3.33 m3.24 – 3.42
Forestay heightIG8.50 m8.30 – 8.70
Fore triangle baseJ2.62 m2.62 – 2.62
Spinnaker hoistISP8.52 m8.30 – 8.73
Boom above deckBAS1.30 m1.30 – 1.30

Sails

Mainsail17.4 m²16.8 – 18.0
Headsail16.8 m²16.6 – 16.9
Spinnaker32.4 m²30.5 – 34.2

The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 31 to 34 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.