Review of Buckler
Basic specs.
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Both the hull and the deck is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season. And outside the sailing season, just bottom cleaning and perhaps anti-fouling painting once a year - a few hours of work, that's all.
The interior is like few other boats made in fibreglass.
The boat is equipped with 2 cabins, 5 berths, a galley, 55.0 liter fresh water capacity and toilet facility.
The Buckler is equipped with a ketch rig. A ketch rig is generally considered easier to handle, because the sails are smaller, and because it can sail on most points to the wind with one sail completely taken down for repair or while reefing. The sail configuration of a ketch allows for better comfort and stability when sailing downwind or on a broad reach.
The Buckler has been built with different keel alternatives.
Fin keel
One option is a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.
The keel is made of iron. Many people prefer lead keel in favour of iron. The main argument is that lead is much heavier than iron and a lead keel can therefore be made smaller which again result in less wet surface, i.e. less drag. In fact iron is quite heavy, just 30% less heavy than lead, so the advantage of a lead keel is often overstated. As the surface of a fin type keel is just a fraction of the total wet surface, the difference between an iron keel and a lead keel can in reality be ignored for cruising yachts.
The boat can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.07 - 1.17 meter (3.51 - 3.81 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
Bilge keel
Another option is a bilge keel. A bilge keel is a double keel, which allows the boat to be beached. Bilge keels are the most popular keel for tidal waters.
This keel is also made of iron.
Buckler can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 0.75 - 0.85 meter (2.46 - 2.76 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Petter 6 diesel engine at 10 hp (7 kW). Max speed is 7.0 knots.
The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenance than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.
The fuel tank has a capacity of 22.0 liters (5 US gallons, 4 imperial gallons).
Sailing characteristics
This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Buckler is 2.07, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 5.6 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Buckler is about 89 kg/cm, alternatively 498 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 89 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 498 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.
Sailing statistics
This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.
What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?
The Motion Comfort Ratio for Buckler is 19.0.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Buckler is 2.94.
The ballast ratio for Buckler is 30%.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Buckler is 333 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.
Maintenance
When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy.
The surface of the wet bottom is about 14m2 (150 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.
Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.
If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Jib sheet | 7.3 m | (24.1 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 7.3 m | (24.1 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 18.4 m | (60.2 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 16.1 m | (53.0 feet) | 10 mm | (3/8 inch) |
This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.
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Spectacular modification of the Buckler 24
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