Buccaneer240
Description
The Buccaneer 240 is an American trailerable cruiser sailboat, designed for family day sailing, weekend overnights, or casual coastal hopping on lakes, bays, or sheltered waters. At 24 feet, this fiberglass masthead sloop offers generous interior space and stability in a compact, towable package, making it feel like a "floating apartment" for relaxed cruising. Its boxy "wedding cake" profile provides ample headroom and volume but trades off upwind performance due to a shallow keel and modest sail power—ideal for downwind drifts or motoring, less so for racing. Built during the 1970s fuel crisis, it's a budget-friendly entry for beginners or families, with a loyal following among vintage boat owners who appreciate its simplicity and low costs. Designed by Australian naval architect Alan Payne (creator of the Soling and other classics) for Bayliner Marine Corporation's Buccaneer division, the Buccaneer 240 launched in 1975 as a stretched evolution of the Columbia T-23 hull tooling, shared with the smaller Buccaneer 200 and 210. Bayliner, a powerboat giant founded by J. Orin Edson in 1955, entered sailboats to capitalize on rising fuel prices, producing affordable "wedding cake" designs with high freeboards and roomy cabins to attract non-racers. The 240 variant was outboard-powered; its sibling, the Buccaneer 245, added a diesel inboard for those preferring auxiliary reliability. Production ran until 1979, with hundreds built before Bayliner sold the division (later rebranded US Yachts).
Construction Details
| Designer | Alan Payne |
|---|---|
| Builder | Buccaneer Yachts |
| Length | 24.000 ft |
| LOA | 23.670 ft |
| LWL | 20.330 ft |
| Beam | 8.000 ft |
| Displacement | 4000 lb |
| Max Draft | 2.500 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 26.21 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 9.33 ft |
| p | 22.25 ft |
| e | 8.75 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26.21 ft | 9.33 ft | 22.25 ft | 8.75 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 22.25 ft - (6782 mm) |
| Foot | * 8.75 ft - (2667 mm) |
| Leech | * 23.43 ft - (7141 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diagonal | * 23.62 ft - (7199 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 4 in - (102 mm) |
| Area | * 100.5 ft² |
| Sail Type | JIBSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 23.75 ft - (7239 mm) |
| Foot | 11.42 ft - (3481 mm) |
| Leech | 21.5 ft - (6553 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 110.61 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 10.32 ft - (3146 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 5.75 ° |
| Area | * 122.56 ft² |
| Sail Type | JIBSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 22.26 ft - (6785 mm) |
| Foot | * 12.6 ft - (3840 mm) |
| Leech | * 18.98 ft - (5785 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 115.01 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 10.73 ft - (3271 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 12.02 ° |
| Area | * 119.43 ft² |
| Sail Type | GENOA |
|---|---|
| Luff | 26.43 ft - (8056 mm) |
| Foot | * 15.28 ft - (4657 mm) |
| Leech | * 24.67 ft - (7519 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150.05 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 14 ft - (4267 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4.01 ° |
| Area | * 185.03 ft² |
| Sail Type | ASYMMETRICAL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 27 ft - (8230 mm) |
| Foot | 16 ft - (4877 mm) |
| Leech | 25.5 ft - (7772 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 165 % |
| Area | * 324 ft² |
| Sail Type | SPINNAKER |
|---|---|
| Stays | * 26.43 ft - (8056 mm) |
| MidGirth | * 16.79 ft - (5118 mm) |
| Foot | * 16.79 ft - (5118 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 180 % |
| Area | * 377 ft² |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.