need help (Kerry 27)

[Felix Berlin]

Dear British and Irish sailors.

I am writing to you from Germany.
You may be our last hope for information.

We bought a sailboat. A Kerry 27 (sloop 27 feet). It was built by George O'Brien Kennedy.

However, we cannot find any information about this boat anywhere.

We are desperate - no one has any information on this boat. We almost think we're the only owners of a Kerry in the world ...

Are there any Kerry owners here? Do you have any information or even manuals? We are interested in all information.

I would be very happy to hear from you - with best regards from Berlin, Felix

[psk125]

You haven't checked Google? :
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/kerry-27-9t
The site suggests that 26 of these boats were built, starting in 1971. Not a lot, even if they're all still afloat.

[Felix Berlin]

Thank you for your answer. Yes, of course I know the link. I was able to research a few things. It's just really little. More information from Kerry sailors would of course be valuable. Of course you shouldn't be surprised if there are so few boats ...
I still have hope. In theory there must be 25 other Kerry owners.

[skenn_ie]

Hi Felix. I thought that i had replied.
I am Brien Kennedy's youngest son.

[TrentePieds]

Guten Abend, Felix, und willkommen auf CF :-)

I see that you have been a member of CF for a while but have only just begun to post.

Your little Kerry 27 is, I judge by the data sheet, a very excellent little boat for a beginner. A great many of us got our start in 27-footers :-)

All 27-footers are, of necessity, very much alike, so whatever questions you may have, we'll in all likelihood be able to answer for you even if we haven't been near in 27-footer for years. So ask away :-)!

Perhaps this will help for staters: The two basic numbers are very good, the Sail Area to displacement ratio of 16 or so, and the Displacement/Length ratio of 260 or so, so she will sail quite well. She has a stern hung rudder of a full keel which I find preferable to the "modern" fin keel and spade rudder, so she will be a very well behaved boat that doesn't require constant helming. Tiller steering, as she has, is the way to go until you get into boats so large that a man cannot comfortably handle the loads on the tiller.
The layout is "traditional" because given the dimensions of the human body there is really no other way to arrange a 27-footer:-)

The rigging will be very conventional also, and it is to be hoped that she still has 'hank-on" sails rather than the "modern" roller furling which tends to be nothing more than a nuisance in so small a boat.

As far as the "systems" (lighting, cooking, etc.) go, they will be rudimentary, and that is good. Small sailboats are all about getting close to nature.

So since you are in Germany, where do you plan to sail her? On the Pomeranian coast? In the Wattenmeer? Up into the Scandinavian archipelago? Or where?

As I said, any specific question you may have, I'm sure we can help you with, so ask away :-)!

Viel Glück

TrentePieds

[Felix Berlin]

Dear sailing friends - I haven't been here for so long because I thought no one would answer.
In addition, every free minute went into restoring my Kerry 27. The boat is almost finished - the interior work (galley and anchor locker) and some clever fittings on deck are still missing.
We renewed the deck, completely rebuilt the underwater hull, replaced all the old wood, renewed all the ropes and changed a lot of things inside the cabin. If you want, you can watch it on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dieblauebootschaft/
We did a few tours on the Pomeranian coast before the refit. Around Rügen and Hiddensee. And we want to go to Denmark and Sweden this summer. Sometimes with family (the children love the boat too.)
I hope we sail all the way to Ireland someday.
I'm still in love with this ship - since the first day I saw it in an eBay ad. It has the beautiful sixties shapes, a smart underwater hull and it sails amazingly well and fast (although we still need new sails). Nevertheless, we have changed a lot of things, renewed them and maybe even improved them a bit. Now it is very well adapted to our needs. The work was hard, but also beautiful. The best way to spend what little free time you have - apart from sailing of course...
I got hold of George O'Brian Kennedy's autobiography and translated all the pages relating to Kerry as best I could. Of course the entire book is exciting...
A sailor from Holland wrote to me - thank you. And a sailor from Dublin - he sent me some pictures of old blueprints. That was extremely interesting and it helped a lot with the refit...
So if anyone has a few informative photos or interesting information - I'm always (!) happy to hear from you. There are still a few Kerrys on the way...
I greet everyone - Felix from Berlin