Design and Construction
The Buccaneer 40 stretches 12.34 meters on the LOA with a remarkable 8.38-meter beam, a width that gives the trimaran its enormous living and cockpit footprint but also explains the demountable construction. The boat uses aluminum beams to join the hulls for disassembly, a practical solution for a 27.5-foot-wide vessel built in an era before easy wide-load transport. Hull material is listed as fiberglass or plywood composite, and the hull type is a trimaran with daggerboard — a configuration that trades the fixed keel's permanence for shoal-water access, with the board yielding a minimum draft of 1.07 meters and a maximum of 1.83 meters. Displacement is 4,309 kilograms, consistent with a plywood-cored, glass-skinned multihull.
Rig and Handling
The masthead sloop rig carries 99.59 square meters of sail area, producing a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 38.37. With a capsize screening value of 5.20, the design sits well above the 2.0 threshold used to gauge offshore stability in monohulls, reflecting the inherent form stability of a wide trimaran. The daggerboard lets the boat pivot up for 3.5-foot shoal drafting or drop for 6-foot lateral resistance, giving the skipper a draft range that suits both gunkholing and windward work.
Accommodations
The nine-boat production run suggests that each Buccaneer 40 was finished to owner specification from plans rather than to a single production standard. The 8.38-meter beam across three hulls affords volume atypical of a monohull of the same length, and the specific arrangement of that space must be assessed hull by hull.
The Verdict
The Buccaneer 40 is a rare, purpose-built Crowther trimaran whose appeal lies in its light weight, broad beam, and demountable aluminum-beam structure. For a buyer comfortable with a one-year, nine-unit design and the variability of plan-built finishing, it offers a distinctive multihull experience with shoal-draft flexibility and strong sail-area-to-weight performance.
Pros
- Demountable hulls with aluminum beams ease transport and storage
- Daggerboard gives 3.5–6 foot draft range for shoal or offshore use
- High sail-area-to-displacement ratio (38.37) and capsize screen (5.20) indicate lively, stable platform
- Exceptional 27.5-foot beam for volume and cockpit space
Cons
- Only nine built in a single 1972 production year — sparse support and parts commonality
- Plan-built from various yards — finishing and systems vary by example
