Review of Swan 44

Basic specs.

The Swan 44 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 44 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.

Keel

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.26 - 2.36 meter (7.41 - 7.71 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Perkins diesel engine at 49.0 hp (36 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 44 is 1.73, 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 44 is about 342 kg/cm, alternatively 1916 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 342 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1916 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 44 is 3.54.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 69% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Swan 44 is 45%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 86% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly above average.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

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

The SA/D for Swan 44 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.9, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 20.3.

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

Over- / underrigged

The Swan 44 has more rig than 21% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly underrigged.

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	38.2 m	(125.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	38.2 m	(125.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	38.2 m	(125.5 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet	13.4 m	(44.1 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet	13.4 m	(44.1 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet	33.6 m	(110.2 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	29.6 m	(97.0 feet)	16 mm	(5/8 inch)
Cunningham	4.6 m	(15.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap	9.1 m	(30.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul	9.1 m	(30.0 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

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

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what to look for.

Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Swan 44 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.