I worked for Macwester Marine from 1972 to 1978, on the sales staff. I owned a MkII 27 for 20 years until 2019.

I remember seeing the name Nora Harfield on that 27, but a senior moment as to the name of the first owners.

As I recollect, one of the issues that was addressed with the development of the updated MkII 27, which had a completely reworked deck moulding, was to eliminate that slight dishing of the rather large flat surface under the mast step.
Perhaps other early MW 27 owners can reply with photos. That could confirm that the moulds were not perfect.

As Chris Nixon has already replied, a survey should flag up any indication of a weakness in the structure. If there is no suspicion that the bolts fixing the tabernacle have had been retightened to take up any collapse in the reinforcement, no star cracks in the gel coat around the tabernacle, nor any sign of movement of the grp reinforcements bonding between the bulkhead and deck roof, it looks like the moulds were to blame.

Just a last comment: as Macwesters have moderate sail areas and a rig with very wide spreaders (pretty well the same as the beam) and on early models, with lower shrouds going out to chainplates fitted to the hull, the stays are not at all overstressed.  They don’t need to be tightened up to sing a middle C when plucked, like on racing yachts.
All the best.

Bob Tuffnell. Rochefort, France

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Hello! My parents Mike and Nora Coleman ( nee Harfield and for whom the yacht was named) were the original owners in 1972. I’d love to know her location now as it would be great to see her and relive past adventures. Can anyone please tell me where she is now berthed? Many thanks. Richard</p>

Hi there i am new here and have just purchased a 27.. I wondered if you could tell me whether its a mk1 or 2?

Hi Paul

Could I suggest that you start a new thread on the forum for the solar panels question, please.

Briefly, my opinion is that the MW27 already  tends to be a bit stern-heavy, especially if you have a big Diesel engine ( the original specifications, and standard practice in the end of the ‘60’s for cruising boats was to fit a Stuart Turner 10 hp 2 stroke petrol engine, which  weighed only about 50 kg.) .

Too much weight aft means that the transom will be partially immerged , creating a lot of drag to the detriment of sailing and motoring performance. Addition of a gantry for solar panels would aggravate that considerably.