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Review of Swan 44 B


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Swan 44 B is a large sailboat designed by the Argentine maritime architect Germán Frers in the late eighties. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Swan 44 B is built by the Finnish yard OY Nautor AB.

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Hull
Both the hull and the deck is made of hand laid fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of hand laid fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The hull is a double hull which improves the indoor climate. Especially when the water is colder than the air in the cabin, then the double hull insulates against cold water and reduce the condense water in the cabin.

Interior
The interior is like most other boats made of teak.
The boat is equipped with 3 cabins, 6-7 berths, a galley and toilet facility.

Rig
The boat equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Engine

The boat is typically equipped with an inboard Perkins diesel engine at 50.0 hp (37 kW), which gives a max speed about 6.3 knots.

The transmission is a shaft drive. A shaft drive will in the long run require less maintenence than other types of drive e.g. a sail drive.

The fuel tank which is made of stainless steel has a capacity of 265.0 liters (70 US gallons, 58 imperial gallons).


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 B is 1.90, 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 7.9 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 44 B is about 295 kg/cm, alternatively 1656 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 295 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1656 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 44 B is 30.4.

Low High 46% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Swan 44 B is 3.21.

Slim Wide 69% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 69% 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 44 B is 260 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 38% 0 50 100
38% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.


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
UsageLengthDiameter
Jib sheet 13.4 m(44.0 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet13.4 m(44.0 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet 33.5 m(109.9 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet29.5 m(96.7 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.

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 B 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