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Buchanan Sailboats

Explore Buchanan sailboats and the details behind each model. If you are shopping for a Buchanan sailboat, we keep an eye out for Used Buchanan Sailboats.

Model ↕Listings ↓Year Built ↕LOA (ft) ↕Beam (ft) ↕Draft (ft) ↕Disp. (lbs) ↕Hull ↕Designer ↕Rig ↕Keel ↕
Buchanan Nantucket Clipper 325 for sale197031.67 ft9.16 ft4.25 ft8,290 lbsMonohullAlan BuchananYawlLong
Buchanan Viking 303 for sale196030.25 ft9 ft4.75 ft18,000 lbsMonohullAlan BuchananMasthead SloopLong
Buchanan Queen 381 for sale196539 ft9.5 ft6.25 ft15,212 lbsMonohullAlan BuchananMasthead SloopLong
Buchanan Dragonfly—196918.33 ft6.92 ft2.75 ft2,000 lbsMonohullAlan BuchananMasthead SloopFin
Buchanan Spartan-1—195523 ft6.5 ft4 ft5,500 lbsMonohullAlan BuchananFractional SloopLong
Buchanan Spartan-2—195523 ft6.5 ft4 ft5,500 lbsMonohullAlan BuchananFractional SloopLong

Buchanan sailboats: one designer's name, built by many yards

"Buchanan" on a sailboat is a design credit, not a company. Alan Buchanan was a British naval architect credited with upwards of 2,400 designs over his career, and those designs were built under contract by a scattering of independent yards rather than by any single "Buchanan" factory - a buyer encountering the name is buying into one man's drafting hand, not one builder's construction standard.

Origins and ownership

Buchanan trained as an aircraft engineer and began his working life as a draughtsman at the De Havilland aircraft factory before setting up as a boat designer, originally based in Burnham-on-Crouch; he moved his design office to Jersey in the 1960s. Yachting World's obituary credits him with designing the first glassfibre yacht in Europe, and singles out his own 31ft Bermudan sloop, Taeping - runner-up in the East Anglian Offshore Individual Championship in her first season - as the design he's probably best known for. In 1979 the Royal Institution of Naval Architects' Small Craft Group awarded him its medal in recognition of his career. He was known for refusing to retire, drawing yachts well into his eighties, and died peacefully in Jersey on 26 January 2015.

Construction through the eras

The clearest picture of how a Buchanan design actually got built comes from the East Anglian Restricted Class, drawn to a specification set by a committee of East Coast yachtsmen who wanted an affordable class for local club racing and cruising. These carvel mahogany, masthead sloops - quite a few still in commission - numbered over a hundred, mostly built at William King's of Burnham-on-Crouch starting with the first hull in 1957, with others coming from Dixon's and Kerley's of Maldon until 1971; a Mk II variant followed in 1965. Buchanan's contract-yard pattern reached beyond the UK too: his Viking design was built as far away as Tasmania, where the 1967 yacht Katandra was launched rather than at a UK yard.

Lines and generations

His broader design record includes the Nantucket Clipper 32 - individual hulls of which continued to be registered into the 1970s - alongside the Saxon, Brabant, Prior 37, and Halcyon 27 classes. Buchanan's catalog also spans the Viking 30, Queen 38, Dragonfly, and a pair of Spartan boats from 1955, together covering a lineup that spans 1955 to 1970.

Who Buchanan is for

A buyer drawn to the Buchanan name is drawn to Alan Buchanan's own design career rather than to any single yard's reputation - the East Anglian's William King's-built hulls, a Tasmanian-built Viking, and every named class in between all trace back to the same drafting table, not the same production line.

Frequently asked questions

01Who built Buchanan sailboats?+
No single yard did. Alan Buchanan was a naval architect, not a builder, and his designs were built under contract by independent yards. The East Anglian Restricted Class was built mostly at William King's of Burnham-on-Crouch from 1957, with others from Dixon's and Kerley's of Maldon until 1971, while his Viking design turned up as far away as Tasmania, where the 1967 yacht Katandra was built.
02Who was Alan Buchanan?+
A British naval architect who trained as an aircraft engineer and worked as a draughtsman at the De Havilland aircraft factory before turning to boat design. Based originally in Burnham-on-Crouch, he moved his design office to Jersey in the 1960s, was credited with upwards of 2,400 designs over his career, and died peacefully in Jersey on 26 January 2015.
03What is Alan Buchanan's best-known design?+
Yachting World's obituary singles out the 31ft Taeping, Buchanan's own Bermudan sloop and runner-up in the East Anglian Offshore Individual Championship in her first season, as the design he's probably best known for.
04What is the East Anglian Restricted Class?+
A carvel mahogany, masthead sloop drawn to a specification set by a committee of East Coast yachtsmen who wanted an affordable class for local club racing and cruising. Over a hundred were built, starting in 1957, and quite a few remain in commission; a Mk II variant followed in 1965.
05Did Buchanan design boats built outside Britain?+
Yes. His Viking design was built as far away as Tasmania - the 1967 yacht Katandra was built there rather than at a UK yard, showing his designs reached well beyond the East Coast yards most associated with his name.