Review of Swan 46 Mk III

Basic specs.

The Swan 46 Mk III is a large sailboat designed by the Argentine maritime architect Germán Frers in the mid 2000.

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Hull

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.

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 46 Mk III is 1.76, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 8.4 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.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Swan 46 Mk III is about 345 kg/cm, alternatively 1933 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 345 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1933 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.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Swan 46 Mk III is 35.4.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 58% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just above average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Swan 46 Mk III is 3.33.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 62% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Swan 46 Mk III is 232 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

50% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. This boat has a precise average ratio between displacement and length!

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)
Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind:
- Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15
- Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20
- Racers have ratios above 20
- High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24
Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 18.07

Maintenance

Rig

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
Jib sheet	14.2 m	(46.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	14.2 m	(46.6 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	35.5 m	(116.5 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	31.2 m	(102.5 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section shown boat owner's changes, improvements, etc. Here you might find inspiration for your boat.

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Finally

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References

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