The Leisure 27SL is actually a Mirage 270, built by Thames Marine and marketed by Boating Scene of Basildon, Essex under the Leisure name in 1989. The Leisure Owners Association has no record of the number built and a number of customers bought their boats to fit out for DIY finishing.
Leisure 27SL Sailing
The majority were twin keel. The Leisure 27SL is rigged as a masthead sloop, with an aluminium mast and boom. Standing rigging is conventional stainless steel wire, whilst the running rigging is Terylene rope. The yachts are often fitted with head-sail reefing systems. Sheet and halyard winches are fitted, with the latter on the coach roof. The main-sheet traveller is mounted on the bridge deck and so runs across the companionway entrance.
Interestingly, the Mirage 270/Leisure 27SL mainsail is 155 ft2, but the mainsail on the original Cobramold Leisure 27 is just 128 ft2.
The supplied plough anchor is normally stowed on the fore-deck. A boarding ladder is fitted to the transom and most boats are fitted with the optional stainless steel handrail on the coach roof to permit safe working around the mast.
The standard engine is a Volvo 2001 9.5 hp diesel with an option for a Volvo Penta 2002 18 hp, fitted to a shaft drive with a fixed propeller. Two batteries are normally fitted, charging from the engine alternator.
Accommodation
The standard is six berths in two cabins, with approximately 6 ft headroom. Only the interior design differs from the Mirage 270, which proved to be a roomy, well-balanced sailing yacht, despite having a waterline of just 21 feet. She actually measures 25 ft 6 ins from stem to stern. The ’27’ figure came from including the transom-hanging rudder in the measurement.
The galley is normally fitted with a gas cooker supplied by a gas bottle contained in a self-draining locker at the aft end of the cockpit. The fresh water supply is taken by pumps to the galley sink and a small basin in the separate toilet compartment where a marine toilet is fitted.
Specification Detail
| Length overall (including rudder) | 8.23 m |
| Length waterline | 6.4 m |
| Beam | 2.87 m |
| Draft | |
| twin keel | 1.07 m |
| fin | 1.52 m |
| Displacement twin | 2721 kg |
| Ballast (twin) | 1293 kg |
| Ballast ratio | 47% |
| Fuel | 10 gallons |
| Water | 25 gallons |
| Mainsail | 155 ft2 |
| No.1 Genoa | 270 ft2 |
| No. 2 Genoa | 210 ft2 |
| Working Jib | 128 ft2 |
Brochure
Practical Boat Owner Article
Performance
For cruising boats, The RYA has updated the Portsmouth Yardstick scheme with the National Handicap for Cruisers (NHC). More up to date information may be obtainable from the RYA NHC site and the Byron web site.
The only yardstick information we have is a Club Number (CN) from the Byron Software website:
| Keel | Engine | Propeller | Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twin | Inboard | Folding | CN1031 |