Swan 48 1973
History
The Swan 48 was the 6th design developed for Nautor of Finland. The boat was developed to rate under the I.O.R. Rule and yet be a great cruising boat. She was introduced in 1971. 46 boats were built during the production run that ended in 1975.
Principal Dimensions
- LOA 47′-11″
- LWL 37′-4″
- Beam 13′-7″
- Draft 7′-10″
- Displacement 36,000 lbs
- Ballast 14,100 lbs
- Sail Area 1,059 sq ft
The Project
When we got the Swan 48 at our yard we talked with the owner about doing a very special project. Make a nice open day/ weekend sailor out of the Swan 48 hull. So we first stripped the complete ship back to a empty hull. Biggest job was dismounting the aluminium corroded toe-rail with its hundreds bolds. We redid the deck-hull connection and made this stronger and stiffer. We took the entrance out and placed it seven centimetres to the left because it was not symmetrical. We took off all unnecessary stuff in the cockpit so it would get the nice clean look we where going for. We designed a new spray-bar made out of foam/ composites and teak.
We placed a new teak-deck on the yacht. We made the new windows flush and glued them into a recess. We designed a special carbon with aluminium hatch with one of a kind hinges. There are no hatches who can cover this much deck rounding so we had to come up with something new. in front of the spraybar there is a big glass panel to get a lot of extra light in the boat. The entry hatch is also custom with a big glass panel. The complete deck plan was re engineered, the yacht is fitted with a longer than standard carbon rig.
The bow of the yacht has two aluminium lockers. In one of the lockers there is a anchor installation which you only see when you actually anchor. We engineered a new system of scepters where the scepter is flush on the deck. This gives the yacht a very nice and clean look. There is a new designed aluminium pedestal installed with a nice big steering wheel.
After the complete interior was removed we made a new plan to make the ship as open as possible fitting it with a longitudinal slats through the whole ship. Before this we fitted new thrushes and coated the entire hull with carbon sheets to make the hull a lot stiffer and give it a industrial look en finish. We created a very big bed in the owners cabin, at the widest it is 2.8 metres. All furnature is made out Corian completely and is hanging free from the bulkheads. So it looks like it is floating in the cabins. The yacht is fitted with complete new installations, engine and navcom.
Before and after
Article in Jachtbouw Nederland about the built of the Swan 48
Only available in Dutch
Comments on This Post
Reza
Beautiful work! What was the budget for this project?
Maru
Its lovely your restoration/rebuild/re-imagination…thank you for sharing the pictures