The Buccaneer 18, also called the Buccaneer dinghy and the Gloucester 18, is an American planing

sailing dinghy Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls: * the sails * the foils (i.e. the daggerboard or centreboard and rudder and sometimes lifting foils as found on the Moth) * the trim (forward/rear angle o ...

that was designed in 1966 by Rod Macalpine-Downie and Dick Gibbs as a one-design racer and

day sailer A daysailer, day sailer, or dayboat is a small sailboat with or without sleeping accommodations but which is larger than a dinghy. Dayboats can be monohull or multihull, and are typically trailer-able. Many dayboats have a small cabin or "cud ...

. The prototype was first shown in 1967 at

Yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, ...

's "One of a Kind" Regatta, in which it placed second.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 90-91. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Production

The design has built by a long line of companies in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. About 5,000 boats had been built by the time production ended in 2020. The design was initially built by

Chrysler Marine Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

, a division of the Chrysler Corporation, in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. History European settlers came to the area near ...

, starting in 1968. The company completed just over 4,000 boats, during the period 1968-1980. As a result of a government bailout of Chrysler Marine's car manufacturing parent company, the marine division was sold in 1980 to a consortium of six former Chrysler Marine executives who formed Texas Marine International Inc. ( Texas Marine Industries), retaining the location in Plano, Texas. Texas Marine built about 700 boats in 1981-1982. Wellcraft Marine Corporation's Starwind division built the design from 1982-1984, completing about 250 boats. From 1985-1986 Gloucester Yachts, part of Lockley Newport Boats, built 59 boats under the name Gloucester 18, before the company went out of business in 1988. Cardinal Yachts took over production from 1987-2000, building 28 boats over 13 years. In 2008 Nickels Boatworks became the official builder. That company merged with WindRider LLC in 2015 and production continued at their

Burton, Michigan Burton is a city in Genesee County in the state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 29,999 at the 2010 census, making Burton the second largest city in Genesee County. Neighborhoods * Belsay is on Belsay Road at the rail trac ...

plant, under the WindRider name until 2020.

Design

The Buccaneer 18 is a recreational

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminolo ...

, built predominantly of vinylester resin

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, with wooden trim. It has a fractional sloop rig with foam-filled

anodized Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. The process is called ''anodizing'' because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electr ...

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

spars. The hull has a spooned

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a slightly

reverse transom A transom is the vertical reinforcement which strengthens the stern of a boat. This flat termination of the stern is typically above the waterline. The term was used as far back as Middle English in the 1300s, having come from Latin ''transvers ...

, a transom-hung, kick-up

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...

and a kick-up centerboard. It displaces and has positive flotation for safety. The boat has a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of with the centerboard extended and with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. For sailing the design may be equipped with a spinnaker of . It has adjustable

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

fairleads and jib

roller furling Roller furling is a method of furling (i.e. reefing) a yacht's staysail by rolling the sail around a stay. Roller furling is typically used for foresails such as jibs or genoas. A mainsail may also be furled by a similar system, whereby the ...

. A

boom vang A boom vang (US) or kicking strap (UK) (often shortened to "vang" or "kicker") is a line or piston system on a sailboat used to exert downward force on the boom and thus control the shape of the sail. The Collins English Dictionary defines it ...

, jib hauler and spinnaker launching tube are optional. For stowage it has a

lazarette The lazarette (also spelled lazaret) of a boat is an area near or aft of the cockpit. The word is similar to and probably derived from lazaretto. A lazarette is usually a storage locker used for gear or equipment a sailor or boatswain would us ...

and compartment under the covered foredeck. The design has a

Portsmouth Yardstick The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing. The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the han ...

racing average handicap of 87.9 and is raced with a minimum crew of two

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

s, although it can accommodate six people.

Operational history

The type is supported by a type club, the Buccaneer 18 Class Association, that regulates the boat design and holds races. In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote that the, "Buccaneer, originally built by Chrysler, is a big boat with a 7-foot 3-inch cockpit, seating six. The boat was designed to be easy to sail and maintain. The hull is planing, with the wide beam well aft and a lean bow."

References

External links

Official website archives
on

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Sailing dinghies and skiffs Dinghies 1960s sailboat type designs Two-person sailboats Sailboat type designs by Dick Gibbs Sailboat type designs by Rod Macalpine-Downie Sailboat types built by Gloucester Yachts Sailboat types built by Chrysler Marine Sailboat types built by WindRider LLC Sailboat types built by Nickels Boat Works Sailboat types built by Cardinal Yachts Sailboat types built by Texas Marine Industries

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links