Review of Swan 48

Basic specs.

The Swan 48 is a large sailboat designed by the American maritime architect bureau Sparkman & Stephens in the early seventies. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Swan 48 is built by the Finnish yard OY Nautor AB.

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Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Interior

The interior is like most other boats made of teak. Teak has the advantage of being naturally very oily and therefore water-repellent, which is suitable on boats.
The boat is equipped with a galley and toilet facility.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with various Volvo Penta engines at 36.0 hp (26 kW).

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.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Swan 48 is 1.75, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Swan 48 is about 407 kg/cm, alternatively 2279 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 407 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 2279 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.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Swan 48 is 3.53.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 58% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Swan 48 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 17.7, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 21.3.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 31% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail.

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

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.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	42.5 m	(139.3 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	42.5 m	(139.3 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	42.5 m	(139.3 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	14.6 m	(48.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	14.6 m	(48.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	36.6 m	(120.1 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	32.2 m	(105.7 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	5.2 m	(17.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	10.4 m	(34.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	10.4 m	(34.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

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Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Swan 48 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.