Buccaneer 24 Builders Forum

Bruce. Great shots of your Tri (and your crew).
Regarding your high aspect ration CB. Are you still using it, or have you got your angled float boards in action yet. ?

 

plain old boards

OS, Due to time, budget, (carbon is expensive), and fear of my rating committee, I am still using the single long dagger board. I have one good a-board that I have experimented with, but it is too large and I have not yet built the smaller ones.
I have found the single main board to be "just" enough- it has to be ALL the way down and the bottom rotated as far forward as possible. The rear top of the board is cut away to allow it to rotate more vertical. It ends up raked aft about 10 degrees. The board is 84" overall and the top is just at the top of the trunk, so I have about 62" below the hull. Almost 6' of draft. I am sure it scares the local fish, and I know it scares me around shallow water- and our lake is going down every week. When everything is set and tuned, I am able to point with or out point all of the race boats under 30' while still maintaining speed. Fun!
My board thickness was limited by the stock Buc's trunk width of 1.25". If I were to ever rebuild or build new, I would install a trunk with no rake and make it at least 1.75" thick- it could always be filled with a spacer. and the board could have more thickness. Mine is limited to about an 8% foil and would probably be better with about 10%. I have a little over 5 sq' of board with 425 sq' of sail to weather, so the board is somewhat undersize and requires a careful hand to keep from stalling it. I think the a-boards and a smaller center dagger would be better and easier to sail with, while reducing the overall draft. The float daggers will also provide some lift and should be faster when I get the combination right. B

 

Sounds good Bruce.
Hope you can get it all together while summer is still with you.

 

bruce, have you made any further progress with your folding idea for the bucc?

 

The late Edmond Bruce is my sailing performance guru.
To anyone wanting to get the best performance out of their individual boat, his treatise--"Optimum sizes of Centreboards" in the AYRS book "Design for Fast Sailing" is a MUST read. This book is still available.

 

folding

Corley I built a full scale set of folding links for my Buc, but to really try them, I will have to cut the deck around the crossbeams. If I get time and decide to add a cabin on my boat ,I will try, and probably allow for folding, even if I don't get the parts built. The geometry is pretty straight forward, much like a f-boat or scarab. I will still rely on water stays so the folding links can be lighter than an f-boat. The clearance slots don't impact cabin or cockpit space very much if designed from the start, but they do require a different support system for the cabin and cockpit. The nice part is the Buc becomes self supporting without relying on the rig.
It will all have to wait until I haul the boat for the winter-I am having too much fun right now sailing to think about it. B

 

Hi Bruceb,

I owned a Buccaneer 24 years ago in New Zealand. I replaced the centreboard. The front and the back of the centrecase was wedged, and I ended up with a vertical foil that had a cord width of around maybe .400mm. x 1.800 metres depth. I cut a slot in the cabin top to remove the board. Boom had to come off to get it out of the boat. Same result as you're having - excellent upwind speed and pointing ability. I would recommend any builder of new Buccaneers to do the same thing.

Regards
Tony

 

Basil, you are absolutely right.
When I built my B24 it was for the Bermuda race in deep waters.
I designed a fixed fin keel for it and it worked fine.
Ultimately it was severely damaged in Toronto harbour and was replaced by a
daggerboard of rectangular planform and a 8% NACA 0008 section which was 1.25ft (375mm)
wide and protruded below the keel by 3ft (900mm) when fully down.
The top of the board box was supported laterally by 1" sheet plank to the hull side stringers and
formed a nice seat for the cook at the galley As a simple mod, it proved to be effective,
making the boat particularly fast and close winded.

 

same problem, same solution

Tony, Our boards sound almost the same. I don't have a cabin and I can rotate my mast and boom far enough to extract the board. I store it in the cockpit when I am not sailing and it stays nice and clean. B

 

sail area standard vs mods

Hi All,
I am learning the ropes with my B24, and have only had one good 'pucker' sail (15-25 kts 3' chop). Even then, with one reef in the main, the boat handled remarkably well, and rocketed across the bay. I have seen no tendency for the bows to submerge as has been demonstrated multiple times on SAMNZ's old boat. With BruceB posting pictures of a bow prod that could hold a huge sail, I am wondering what is a comfortable sail area for this boat given what we have learned from the stock sail plan, experience and modifications?

I believe I have a stock main sail (154 ft2), and a slightly undersized jib (110 ft2). if I start to add sails to my inventory which direction should I head in? It seems like a screecher from a prod might be the easiest way to add sail area and increase performance in the 5-15 kt true wind speed.

I am not racing (well ok, if there is a boat in the area, I am), but I do want to get the most out of the boat that I can and I am willing to experiment.

http://www.sailritesails.com/ShowAd.aspx?id=5029&sourceid=5
at the above site the suggested sails for the B24 are:
main = 154 ft2 (14318mm2)
jib1 = 210 ft2 (19586mm2)
spinnaker = 843ft2 (78318mm2)
jib2 = 126 ft2 (11748mm2)

thanks in advance!

 

If you want the best out of your Buc you should have the full set of sails.
However if you install a roller furling Genoa you don't need the smaller jibs. For light airs an assymetric spinnaker is recommended, but set it off a prodder rather than a spinnaker pole for easier handling.
How do the Sailrite prices compare with the Lee Sails from Hong Kong, taking the shipping prices into consideration. ?

 

sails for buc

HH, I have all "pre enjoyed" sails, and I see decent ones advertized regularly. The Buc can take a LOT more sail area, and with the right combination, is really fast in light air. I have a 260 sq' main, taller and longer, that is a power sail all by its self but it does start to overpower the boat above about 18 kts. Deep reefs are necessary, I had reefs and full battens added to a used Elliot 7.70 main.
My newest addition is an old J-24 150% that I had cut down (just the leach) to fit as a 155%. 12'8" LP. I sheet it way inboard about 26" off centerline almost at the rear crossbeam. It is on a roller furler and has become my go to sail in under 15 kts true, it works great close hauled, and is effective as a close reacher and it was almost free. My competition hates it, I haven't been beaten up wind by anything since I got it
My fore triangle is almost the same as a stock Buc, and I have a couple of small chutes and a halyard just above the forestay. The larger of the two has a 20' foot and a 30' luff (A-chute) that is good for higher wind and close reaches. Light to medium air I use a Melges 24 class chute (20' foot, 38' luff) on a halyard almost at the masthead. (about 600 sq') I have "enough" power with it, but in under 15kts, I am sure I could use one about "Capricorn" size. (I think around 800sq') Maybe a 39' hoist and a 24' foot? Bigger IS better. The 7' prod helps- it opens up the slot and the boat stays very well balanced and is easy to control. I would like to install a top or middle spinnaker furler, but haven't wanted to spend the money for a proper furler. If I drop the chute in the water again, maybe I will change my mind.
I got caught in a thunder storm recently, at night and racing, with a full main and the 155%. probably 20-25 kts for a little while. I rolled most of the jib and luffed the main and we were still sailing almost close hauled at 12-14kts on the GPS. Yes it was exciting I now have even more faith in the Buc.
Your local racing fleets are a good place to find used sails. Several of the current sport boats use fore sails about the same size as the Buc, and any thing that makes them go, makes the Buc go faster. Often, cutting the stretched leach off a sail leaves a fast shape about the right size for a Buc. Mains aren't as easy to find, but you can have reefs and battens added if you find a suitable sized sail. On a stock mast, a square headed main with lots of roach would make sense. B

 

just to put it in perspective my mainsail was 270 ft2
Jib 170 ft2
Gennaker 850ft2

we only ever reefed the boat once (in 50 races) and it was averaging 30+ knots

the boat didnt have a tendency to nosedive, I had a tendency to overpower it!!!

 

Was that the race where the auxiliary errrrr.... disassociated itself from the rest of the boat? I seem to recall a piccie taken that day of Capricorn reefed - looked like she was honkin....would be a good one to post here.

 

sail area

Thanks BruceB and SAMNZ! Clearly the standard rig has room to grow on this boat. Looks like the 150% jib provides upwind performance improvements, how about down wind, what is you 'go to sail'?

If the numbers are in the same units, it looks like you can double or triple the sail area of the designed area. Were there class constraints that held back the original design, or have people been enlarging B24 rigs since first introduced?