Recommendations for new R 27 owner

I'm in the process of purchasing a 2026 R 27 with twin 150's. We are a family of three with a 1 year old living in Central NY and will slip the boat on Oneida Lake in Brewerton, on the canal system. We have had a Rinker 320 FV in the past but are currently moving up from a Crownline E285 XS. I'm interested in getting recommendations from experienced owners on any particular equipment you'd recommend, particularly if you have any experience using/installing starlink. Thanks in advance!

NewTuggerNY said:

I'm in the process of purchasing a 2026 R 27 with twin 150's. We are a family of three with a 1 year old living in Central NY and will slip the boat on Oneida Lake in Brewerton, on the canal system. We have had a Rinker 320 FV in the past but are currently moving up from a Crownline E285 XS. I'm interested in getting recommendations from experienced owners on any particular equipment you'd recommend, particularly if you have any experience using/installing starlink. Thanks in advance!

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Check out my YouTube channel. Search for Starlink, we have several videos. As well top things for your boat, and many other videos.

Our website has a ton of information all about the R27 also.

I’ve got a mini with the Peakdo V2 battery and the Veritas Vans case with suction cups.

Haven’t used the suction cups yet but I plan on putting it on the cover of the electric grill while not underway - although they’re meant to drive down the highway on the top of your car so theoretically should be fine underway too.

This set up should provide cordless internet for 4ish hours between recharging the battery (which requires a 100w USB-C).

Here's two videos where I talk more about Starlink specifically. 🙂

Ultimate Guide to Boat Internet: My Experience​

Why the Starlink Mini isn't the right dish for our boat.​

Congratulations! We are entering year 3 with our 2023 R27 OB and binge watched Channel Surfing as we fit out our boat! That being said and considering our experiences cruising on our sailboats for 30+ years, we still needed to use our R27 to find what worked the best for us.

With Channel Surfing’s sage advice and some experimenting we now have a comfortable cruising home. We boat in New England and are now planning a trip to FL and back.

We are putting Starlink on the boat this year. We are going with the mini for power considerations. We keep Serendipity on a mooring.

Couple of key recommendations include: mattress topper for the V-berth, extra solar, fender covers (we made ours from a Sailrite kit), and cockpit sunshades. Martin and La Zina’s interior/ galley gadgets were also helpful.

While a personal preference, we had a cockpit enclosure made so that our cockpit was dry during inclement times at anchor/mooring. We do not operate with the enclosure up and only use it when stormy.

I also scoured the YouTube-verse for videos on Ranger Tugs. Enjoy the process as you three use the boat!

We 'installed' starlink a bit differently. I wasn't keen to punch a new hole in the boat and StarLink can be a little finicky on getting ideal alignment and maximum throughput.

I bought the Ram Mount Starlink plate https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJCB4LMH?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2, arm, and 'claw' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JQNRRVW?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1 and it works perfectly.

Depending on my mood I either attach it to the railing at the rear of the cockpit or up on the roof rack. Provides a super firm grip and allows me to align it perfectly to the maximized signal (this remains fixed when moored, but on anchor this would not be as precise).

I run the power supply to either an internal USBC outlet if the weather is good, but most of the time I run it straight to a power brick (I already had one of these Anker power stations https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D62PMB3R?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_4&th=1). The power draw on the StarLink is tiny...this power station has more than enough juice for the bandwidth we need (I'd guesstimate 12-16 hours).

In wet weather I keep the power station in our cockpit refrigerator (it's not turned on, but weather tight). The door gasket is enough to keep it weather proof.

So far works fantastic...takes 2-3 minutes to set up and I'm not committing myself to a permanent installation...tech changes and I personally don't want to end up needing to re-run power supply if I change platforms in the future or the hardware for StarLink changes in the future generations of the device.

Whole thing folds almost flat and gets stored on board when not in use...we're trying to be really conscious of getting AWAY from the internet entertainment complex while on the boat, so for us we don't need or want 24x7 internet on board. Evenings is just fine.

NewTuggerNY said:

I'm in the process of purchasing a 2026 R 27 with twin 150's. We are a family of three with a 1 year old living in Central NY and will slip the boat on Oneida Lake in Brewerton, on the canal system. We have had a Rinker 320 FV in the past but are currently moving up from a Crownline E285 XS. I'm interested in getting recommendations from experienced owners on any particular equipment you'd recommend, particularly if you have any experience using/installing starlink. Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

We did a DIY Star Link Mini that mounts in the Port Side Skylight Window. We plug it directly into the 110V power outlet at the Keurig off the inverter. We always run our inverter and it needs nothing to work perfect. Nancy does video calls and we have never had to aim it or anything for it to work great. No hole are drilled and it is all contained in the boat. We use the same unit as a backup at home and in the RV.

I bought the suction cups with the straps on Amazon. It fits up perfectly under the hinges and no fiberglass was harmed in the installation.