BUK Dragon Boats
19 Sep, 2008 by Tyrone Dragon BoatsBUK stands for “Boots und Kunststoffbau” or “Boots and Plastics”, a German company that manufacturers Dragon Boats. They have been constructing Dragon Boats since 1992 and have been at the top of their game. Most countries use BUK Dragon Boats and I am a bit biased but I think these are the best boats around today.
BUK has designed a Dragon Boat with great functionality and shows a high-level of workmanship. This can be seen when you hop into a boat and paddle with a crew, especially at International level where these boats perform extremely well!
What I have found within these boats is it provides lots of leg room and comfortable seating making the whole Dragon Boat paddling experience quite good. (Believe me, I have been on several boats and tried lots of different boats during my time in recreational and competitive dragon boating.) In the end I still prefer to sit in a BUK Dragon Boat.
Surprisingly the BUK weighs in at 250kg each and you may think wow, that is really heavy. But compare that to other dragon boats which can weigh up to 400kg, it’s actually lighter than most. What makes this boat also special is the way it is constructed giving it the rigidity and optimal durability in any condition. The BUK Dragon Boats are constructed with two shells (an inner and outer shell) like a sandwich. This way if anything gets damaged from the outer shell then it will not affect the inner shell and water should not get in.
Another great thing about the BUK Dragon Boats are the quick release hooks for putting on Drums, the tail, head and seats for the boats. This allows for the accessories to be dismantled and transported easily without getting damaged. Last thing I thought that was great, was the integrated carrying handles inside the boat allowing for 10 people to carry the boat on each side. No more getting splinters from wooden boats!
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- Inside BUK Dragon Boat
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- Drum
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- Easy, quick release hooks
Over the years, BUK have worked with Great White North and other dragonboat associations to design and manufacture this excellent Dragon Boat that has led it to the product it is today. Overall if I were to buy one for the club I would give it all my thumbs up!
Specifications of BUK:
| Length: | 12.49 m |
| Width: | 1.16 m |
| Weight: | max 250 kg |
| Material hulls: | fiberglass/polyester sandwich, two hull- construction, Micro- Balloon technology |
| Deck rail: | solid Mahogany |
| Material seats: | Marine ply wood Mahogany |
| Material drummer seat: | Marine ply wood Mahogany |
| Bolts: | stainless steel |
| Steering: | Ash |
| Head and Tail: | foam technology, painted fibreglass/ polyester, painted |
| Scales application: | transfer film, colour according to customer´s demand |
| inclusive: | drummer seat list of accessories. |
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Levi said,
Wrote on September 25, 2008 @ 10:05 pm
Your reviews are right on the mark and you really get what you pay for with BuK. Our western Canada club has 6 of these boats and just ordered 3 more for next spring. I raced in a Champion day one in Penang earlier this year and it just didn’t have a good “feel” to it. I can’t pin it down but my crew was significantly faster when we raced in the BuK on day two. Maybe it’s just the weight since Champion has basically copied the BuK look.
Tyrone said,
Wrote on September 26, 2008 @ 8:50 am
Hi Levi,
Thanks for your feedback. Yes I agree the BuK boats are one of the best to use around the world and I won’t recommend anything else. Well, Champion boats, as it’s manufactured in China they are very good at making “copies” of products already existing the market and this is why they look very similar to BuK boats. I’ve paddled in them myself and I still prefer the BuK personally!
Boots and Plastics? « said,
Wrote on August 18, 2009 @ 5:27 pm
[...] which translates to “Boots and Plastics”. Apparently, BuK boats are one of the most popular brands of dragon boats on the market. I’m not sure how much they cost, but you can probably be sure [...]
Tony Dyrsmid said,
Wrote on November 6, 2009 @ 5:34 am
Can anyone tell me what the design weight capacity for paddlers is. I was in a BUK the other day with maximum number of paddlers and the boat felt overloaded. We has several large paddlers on board. We were left with about 6-7 inches of freeboard and the boat felt unstable. Not a good situation for winter paddling.
Thanks you.