A year ago when I posted the first designs of this boat I could not be more enthusiastic about. It seemed to me that Swan had recovered the leadership in design that was its trademark some decades ago. Now that the boat is on the water it does look as good as in the drawings I am not not the only one being enthusiastic about it: Just look at the eyes of Toby Hodges (the boat tester from Yachting world) when he is talking about the boat, or sailing it. http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2015/10/swan-is-back-swan-50-club.html
This Swan is cruiser racer, more pointed to racing than cruising but even so the interior is almost as well designed as the hull, a very modern and zen one that will suit cruising in style for a small crew.
Two movies, one from the yachting world test sail other from Swan with interesting designs about the boat building (carbon). What a boat!!! One that will but the a smile on the face of anybody sailing it for the first time...and that is not what sailing is about? Pleasure?
7.5k speed with 5k trw? WOW!!!
7.5k speed with 5k trw? WOW!!!
Hi Paulo,
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Do you think this boat could really be sailed for cruising by a couple as claimed in Nautor's website? It would seem very race oriented but it is such an amazing boat that it would be great to be able to use it for (relatively spartan) cruising.
Giorgio
Hi and thanks for the welcome. Sure it can be sailed by two, most boats can, even bigger and more powerful ones (if they are rigged for that), but it remain to be seen at what level.
DeleteNo problem going fast upwind, assuming the sails are easy to reef (furler on the jib and automatic boom reefing on the main), or in weak winds, but going on a bean reach on a breeze, to go fast, the two have to be very experienced sailors (gusts and all) and downwind on that boat I am quite sure that two, even if experienced can only sail it conservatively.
And as when we talk about two, most think about themselves and their wife (that is normally not an experienced sailor) and then things become more complicated. The Skipper should be an experienced one, since reefing that beast with excess of wind and gusts demands competence. Also, except upwind and in weak winds,the boat would be sailed always far from the limits.
That is not different then what happens sailing any powerful sailboat. Mine, a Comet 41s, in its maiden test sail, with a full crew reached 18k, me and my wife never sailed over 13/14k and even so very rarely.
As I had said to another member that had asked me about solo boats the truth is that the average sailor (even if experienced) can go comparatively faster on a smaller boat, a boat that he is able to explore than on a bigger more powerful boat that is way out of his league, specially if it is not designed for solo sailing and surely the Comet isn't neither the Swan 50.
Of course that does not mean that sailing a beast like that Swan 50 (or even own one) should not be a blast even if one is only able to sail it a 50% of its potential. I would love to have a go at it ;-)
Also, the main reason I have a boat like mine is for the pleasure and efficiency of the upwind sailing and for the performance in light winds and I am quite sure that regarding those two points the performance of the Swan 50 should be amazing (7.5K speed with 5K TW) and for that you don't need a crew.