Burgess Atlantic Buyer's Guide
The Burgess Atlantic on the used market is a 30-foot fractional sloop designed by W. Starling Burgess in 1928 and built first as a wooden one-design, then from the 1950s onward in fiberglass using hull #27 Rumour as the plug. Because the class protects its one-design features and continues to promote and expand the class, nearly every boat you meet will trace to the same hull lineage and rulebook rather than a loose interpretation, which makes a used Atlantic less a specimen hunt than a condition and generation check.
Layouts on the Used Market
Used Atlantics divide broadly by construction generation rather than by interior plan, since the boat was always a one-design racer with an open cockpit that creates plenty of space for sail handling and racing. The earliest used examples are wooden hulls planked with mahogany on oak ribs, built in production-line style by Abeking and Rasmussen; a later used cohort is the fiberglass boat developed from Rumour, and a third generation starting with hull #101 came from a new mold that included the keel. The narrow 6 foot 6 inch beam and 30 foot 6 inch length define a daysailer-racer layout, not a cabin cruiser, so buyers should expect cockpit-forward space and minimal belowdeck accommodation regardless of year.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
The standard Atlantic includes standing and running rigging, spinnaker gear including a pole with one bridle, two Lewmar jib sheet winches with handles, and standard anti-fouling bottom paint. The class permitted aluminum spars in 1969, adopted a higher-shouldered spinnaker in 1965, made the jib a deck-sweeper in 1973, and allowed adjustable backstays in 1984, so boats refitted to modern class legal spec will show those rig changes. A North Sails mainsail, jib or spinnaker is an option rather than standard, and an Edson bilge pump 18 with thru hull discharge, a Windex on the masthead, and a telescoping and removable tiller extension appear as options. The “Bare Boat” configuration excludes the Dwyer mast and boom, standing rigging, all winches, cleats, traveler, spinnaker pole, and teak trim, so a bare-boat example on the market is a foundation needing complete rig and deck fit-out.
What to Inspect
The one documented systemic issue belongs to the wooden generation: by the early 1950s, many of the original wooden Atlantics required a good deal of bailing while racing, so any surviving wood hull should be inspected for plank and rib leakage paths and persistent damp. The fiberglass conversion addressed this class of problem, but buyers should still confirm the hull traces to the Rumour plug or the later keel-inclusive mold and that the deck is the solid fiberglass deck with teak trim specified for the modern boat. Because the design plans were rumored to have been destroyed when Abeking and Rasmussen was bombed during World War II, verify class documentation and hull number rather than relying on builder drawings.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
Fleet racing continues today in the northeast, and strong fleets continue to race along Long Island Sound, which is where the used-boat pool is most concentrated. A used Atlantic is best checked by generation and class compliance: confirm generation, confirm one-design rig compliance, and budget for the missing pieces if a Bare Boat example is encountered.
- Confirm wooden vs fiberglass generation and inspect wood hulls for bailing-level leaks
- Verify hull number against Rumour plug or hull #101 third-generation mold
- Check for class-legal rig: Dwyer spar, 1965 spinnaker, 1969 aluminum, 1973 jib, 1984 backstay
- Treat any Bare Boat listing as incomplete mast, rigging, and deck hardware