I've sailed Carpe Diem now for six seasons and am pretty darned pleased with her handling under sail as well as with her aprés sail comforts below.  Aloha 8.2's  handle elegantly in winds up to 15 knots without reefing before weather helm becomes at all noticeable. Choke down the foresail a bit and carry right on. They're also light enough so you can sail them in 5 knot winds and still have fun. Carpe Diem steers herself close hauled in 10 knot winds long enough for me to duck below and grab things. The cockpit is 5 feet long, and the traveler is forward at the companionway ~ so you can reach your halyards, hold the mainsheet in gusts, switch the headsail sheets tacking and still have enough room for three adults to sit comfortably in the cockpit. There is also lots of room to sit on the cabin roof while underway.

The hull itself is very strongly built - almost like a Tanzer - and practically blister proof. I've found a few  'cosmetic' blisters along the waterline and ignored them. Incidentally, the Aloha 27 is actually 3 inches short of being 27 feet long. Whoops. Anyway, the hefty displacement makes up for that.The fin keel gives 8.2's  great maneuverability in tight quarters under power. With my sail drive chugging over slow, and the tiller hard over, I can pivot Carpe Diem about her keel.

A Robert Perry design, the Aloha 8.2 hull looks a lot like his Mirage line, particularly with the bronze toe rail, the low sloping cabin roof forward and the slim entry bow and full beam further aft. Instead of a transom mounted rudder like the Mirage 25 and 26 you have a spade rudder like the Mirage 27. On the Aloha 8.2, there is also a 6 inch skeg which provides additional rudder support.  Another difference from Mirage is that the keel ballast is enclosed in the hull fiberglass. There is no bolted-on keel and no place for the Mirage "smile" to develop. It is said that water can accumulate in the Aloha keel. In this case, the remedy is simple: drill a small hole and let it drain in the fall.

The Aloha 8.2 is a fractional rig (the forestay fastens part way down the mast, giving you a shorter jib luff and a lower head sail profile). This means your mainsail is proportionately larger and provides more of the power than in a masthead rig. I have noticed one quirk with Carpe Diem, though: close hauled in 20+ knot winds under mainsail alone, she will not turn downwind. Too much Dacron too far back, I guess. (We had to put up a small jib to complete the turn. Equally, we could have reefed the main.) The halyards are rope with no wire and are run inside the mast - a very tidy arrangement. The boom also has internal lines for the outhaul and jiffy reef line. Carpe Diem has two snub winches over the cabin top and a pair of Barient genoa winches. There are separate tracks on deck for the cars carrying the jib and genoa sheet blocks. The blocks on Carpe Diem are the original factory issue and are doing just fine with regular maintenance.

The standing rigging is stout: 7/32 inch 1X19 stainless. The lower and upper shrouds hook to the spreader roots and mast respectively with stem balls and T-balls rather than eyes. Expensive little critters as I found out this year when I replaced my 20 year old shrouds - $100 CDN per shroud. The backstay is adjustable, as you'd expect on a fractional rig. The chain plates are anchored into mahogany knees which are in turn glassed in under the deck. The glassed in knees are in turn hidden behind joinery panels, tempting you not to inspect them annually. On the deck side, however, the chain plates are easy to caulk and inspect. 

Below decks, we find ample standing headroom ( 6 foot 1 inch ) and a lot more teak than in a Mirage, particularly in the older sail numbers where the joinery was spectacular. In Carpe Diem, built in 1985, there is still more than enough real wood to give the boat a warm feeling. The bulkheads and table are teak ply and solid wood. The standard teak and holly sole gives the interior another touch of warmth - and class. Its also very easy to take care of.

The galley on the port side aft has a two burner Origo stove and a nice deep ice box. The chart table on the starboard side aft folds down to give extra storage space. I really like the curved "nook" bench on the port side. A smaller adult can sleep comfortably on it - I certainly have. On the "Projects" page, I show the sliding teak plywood doors I installed in Carpe Diem. Earlier Aloha 8.2's had various types of solid panel mounted doors, but later models seem to have come with lighter sliding doors that often got broken.

A removable mahogany ladder leading up to the companionway door sits in front of the diesel access hatch. You can also get at the diesel from the large cockpit lockers, which is very handy. Most Aloha 8.2's came with a diesel. I am told that the BMW 7 hp units didn't have much power and that the builder Quyang went to a 10 hp Westerbeke. Carpe Diem has a Bukh 10 hp - same as the Laser 28 - and it does what's needed. Some Aloha 8.2's were fitted with outboards. (Some were even fitted with wheel steering.)

The fold down table is, in my humble opinion, the pièce de résistance! It can be rigged single or double leaf and even hides a cupboard that doubles as a wine glass rack in Carpe Diem. Rigged single leaf, you still have passage fore and aft. Folded out, four adults can easily sit down to a "formal" dinner.

The forward area is spacious with a head opposite a hanging locker. A thick teak plywood door can be swung out to isolate the head / forepeak from the main cabin area. The head tank is located under the forepeak bunks under a large cover so that vent lines and hoses are easily accessible. With two opening ports in the head and hanging locker area, a large hatch over the forepeak and two dorade vents over the main cabin, ventilation below decks is quite good.

The electrical panels and main switch are located under the companionway door and provide ample spare circuits for add-ons like auto pilot. After 20 years, the wiring is telling me to replace it or at least get it better organized. Carpe Diem came with square white plastic RV type light fixtures. They worked fine, but, being a fussbudget, I changed them out for the round, mahogany trimmed halogen units that look a lot more "tiddley". 

The Aloha 8.2 is a solidly built boat that handles well in stiff breezes or light winds. She's both sporty and responsive. Below, she takes care of three or four adults in a bit of style and comfort.  A great weekend racer / cruiser and coastal explorer.