Anyone familiar with Bucaneer boat

[sailaway78]

I have become friends with a guy who is looking for a boat. He first called about my old S2, which was already gone. Has found a Bucaneer 30, which looks pretty good in the pics, and has a ton of equipment. Anyone have any experience with or know anything about build quality on these boats. Seems to me that it was built by Bayliner, who bought out Chrysler. But I have now developed CRS, and just don't remember.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

I too have been diagnosed with CRS

If its the boat I am thinking about, it is not a well built boat and looks kinda like an easter egg.If there are any bucaneer owners out there, I sure hope I am remembering the wrong boat.Reminds me of a joke. A guy walks into a psychiatrist's office dressed like a pirate. You know, the hat, the eye patch, the whole deal. Anyway, the psychiatrist asks him "And what are you supposed to be?".The man replies "I'm a pirate". The psychiatrist then asks "If you are a pirate , where are your bucaneers?" and the man replies "right under my buckin' hat"Tony B

 

[Andy1237]

Chrysler maybe

I think the Buccaneer sailboats were built by Chrysler. I have no idea whether this is K-car famed Chrysler or not. Seems to me that maybe they had this grand plan of building boats and installing inboard motors (yeah, its got a hemi!) and then branched into sailboats.

 

[Rick D]

Memories....

Yes: Chrysler made a Buccaneer. It was a day sailor. I had one. Bayliner made a line of Buccaneer sailboats in two generations. The first were big trailerable boats. They had max interior room and and a shoal keel. They did look a little inflated, but probably had an undeserved rap as to quality. Mostly it was about looks and pointing ability (pointing like a blimp). However, the 30-ish models were a whole different ballgame as with most manufacturers and should not be thought of the same way as the trailerables as they had a whole different design objective, even if there was a family resemblance. Then, there was a second generation of Buccaneers which had IOR hulls of a then-contemporary design. They were reasonably fast even with the IOR pinched ends and were a hansom boat of the era. At least, that's what I think I remember. Rick D.

 

[sailaway78]

This boat is

This boat is a 1977 Bucaneer 305. Says it is a Bill Garden design.

 

[Rick D]

Check Yahoo Images

...there is a line drawing and a couple for sale with photos. Looks like a decent enough boat with a decent enough builder but looks best suited to shoal water given the smallish keel and rudder.

 

[Joseph Shirley]

The Buccaneer 30 that I knew was not the one with the IOR pinched ends

and it was a terrible performer. It was under canvassed, slow, tender, and quick to round up in a breeze. It had a lot of headroom and nice accommodations but even under power it had a lot of freeboard.We had one in my club owned by an old couple who would only come down and sit on it. He wanted a sailboat and she didn't want to sail so they never went anywhere. If I remember correctly they have a shoal draft keel that was placed well aft. I think they were designed with a large lee helm to balance the weather couple which tended to produce weather helm and round them up. If your friend wants a boat that sails reasonably well, to have some sailing fun with, I would say don't buy it.Good LuckJoe S

 

[AXEL]

How much$

I owned a Buccaneer 21 for about 10 years back in the 80's. I sailed it only on the bay. I remember for it's size it had a huge amount of room inside (bigger than some 25 footers). It was a heavy boat which I liked, it could handle the weather on the bay. Agreed it wasn't the best sailing boat but it served my needs at the time. I thought it was put together pretty well, I never had any problems. If your friend is getting it dirt cheap and has no plans to race, it might be a good buy. But remember if he wants to move up it will be a hard boat to sell.

 

[Jadedcrew]

Bayliner Buccaneer

Bayliner began building sail boats during the gas crunch of the 70's. The first models were 'Butt' ugly (lots of windows, and looked like a power boat morphed into a sail boat). Their designs eventually evolved into the IOR design mentioned by Rick, and were eventually bought by US Yachts who produced them into the 80's. I always liked the look of the US Yachts 25. The Buccaneer's had typical Bayliner quality.

 

[Steve O.]

Buccaneer 18

Let's not forget the Buccaneer 18, a super fast planing hull daysailor made by Chrysler. I had one for my first boat.They also made a 15 foot version. I think it was called the Privateer.

 

[Sailgunner]

Run Away

Run away, fast, don't look back.

 

[Landsend]

horrid boat...It's a big floating Clorox bottle

nm

 

[biorapper]

never seen a clorox bottle sail...

I don't know about the buccaneers...but having had my boat analogized to a clorox bottle, even though it outsails many other more expensive production boats in most conditions (5-15 winds; and does pretty damn good after that reefed)), has gotten me to many a beautiful anchorage and has been so good to me I will be a sailor for the rest of my life...I have become a bit vigilant in busting this absurd, innapropriate, exaggerated at best analogy.

 

[CharlieCobra]

bio, it's real simple

It's not necessarily the boat, it's the sailor. I know folks that could sail a bar of soap and win. It's the same with any machinery, some have, some don't. I will agree, the Bayliner Buccaneer is NOT my cup of tea but then, neither are a few boats.

 

[bffatcat]

The Buccaneer

This is a dog with fleas. Short stumpy mast: too shallow draft: too much freeboard: Linolium on the floors. Made by Bayliner. Later on they made a line of IOR boats called US yachts that were better. They sold the molds to pearsonsometime in the mid 80`s Avoid the buc.

 

[Chris Burti]

even ugly babies...

...are loved by somebody...Information abounds...From the 48 Degrees North website, I quote:Bayliner/U.S. Yacht Website Please advise your readers that information on the Bayliner Buccaneer and U.S. Yacht series of sailboats is available at a non-commercial website. The address is www.geocities.com/buccaneersailboats.  While everyone may have different priorities (speed, handling vs. floating condo) and different budgets, we all love the water. The website features specs, photos, projects, and a registry where viewers can read comments, both good and bad, by the people who own and sail Buccaneers. As a 285 owner, I enjoy the roominess of a center cockpit, the safety, reliability and economy of a diesel, and the creature comforts of a larger boat, in a vessel that is easily financially accessable. Sure, I may not be the first one around the marks on race day, but when I am anchored off that beautiful secluded beach, I may be the only one. With a draft of three feet I can get to the unspoiled treasures of skinny water that most guys can't. I would be happy to include a link to your magazine. It is a joy to read. I would appricate a reciprocal link in your associations section for the Bayliner Buccaneer. Fair winds, Jollymon Jeff, Webmaster Buccaneer's Homeport

 

[BobM]

I followed the link...

...in the previous post and it contains a Practical Sailor review of the 295 and 305. Based upon perusing that, I'd say that the prospective owner should be aware that the hull to deck joint bears close inspection as it is secured with screws every six inches and not through bolted. My last boat, a Lancer 25, was constructed in this fashion and a previous owner had obviously done some work on it...probably removing the toe rail, re-sealing (leaking is a big issue with a weak joint), and then resecuring it. In some cases, it was obvious that larger screws had been used.The aft keel placement is odd, but the four foot draft isn't too unusual for a shoal draft boat. My Lancer had an odd wide keel that you actually walked inside when you were in the cabin. The prospective owner just has to accept that he is going to point a little less closely to the wind that everybody else. Is that the end of the world? It depends. For the price ($1000) I was very happy with my Lancer, but I kind of outgrew her. The limited cabin space was a big issue that your friend won't face as the 305 is quite roomy. Was the upwind performance frustrating? Yes, but it equated to probably one bout of frustration every other year. Once I tried to tack out of the harbor directly into the wind with very limited success. I ultimately gave up. The other times were mostly in light air, but hey, I was / am fairly inexperienced. As someone said, some people could sail a bar of soap better than others could sail a J105.I'd say that if the price is right, she is well equiped and the survey is pretty clean...go for it...but recognize that resale will be more challenging than for more popular models.My approach was a little different. I really wanted a keeper this time. Something built well enough to restore and sail until I wear out the hull. I was amazed at how poorly maintained many 30 footers in the 10-15K range were so I ended up spending more money in the hopes of avoiding major repairs. What I learned is that a good deal is a different thing to different people.Bob

 

[Cap'n Ron]

Pretttty funnnnny tony

under me buckin t'ree pinter mate!Yeah, dunno much but had one for a neighbor for a couple years in Gas House Cove SF. A bit of a drinker, the fellow had this Bucaneer up for ssil for several years.He would charge folks 75.00 ( I think) for "testing" her out and would do many of his tests per day as he would get backpacker touristas from the international hostel up the hill interested in 'buying' his Buccaneer.I remember it being a very roomy livaboard for him, had a nice bar, chess set and was a really fun kinda colorful character and spoke seereeusly of his tests too.Not much of a race/sailboat but okay to have fun in the bay with, and why knot hey?I am agreeing with bffcat, still....all of us are entitled to have fun sailing the bay, even non-sailors who cannot afford a Hansy or a Hylas.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Capt Ron!!!

How you be?I'm offshore this week, at work.Have some spare time to play on internet, but not a lot.I know you have crossed the gulf a time or two, have you ever been over Mississipppi Canyon? Lots of very very large sea life here.Tony B

 

[New Sailer]

about the 305 1977 bucaneer

hi my name is monte and I'm the guy who was thinking of this buccaneer I found on ablboats.com. the boat is loaded and very roomy and everything Iv'e wanted. I'm not that big on looks as long as comfort and most of all dependable. The picture of the boat makes a guy wonder the way the rudder has a 3 inch gap. The people are the original owners and lived on it for 22 years in the bahamma's. So what do you think sir?