Udkik.dk

Review of Swan 441


Swan 441
Swan 441 anno 1980.

Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Swan 441 is a large sailboat designed by the New Zealander maritime architect Ron Holland in the late seventies. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Swan 441 is built by the Finnish yard Oy Nautor AB.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Swan 441 or similar boat for sale

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.


Interior

The boat is equipped with 378.0 liter fresh water capacity.


Rig
Rig
Rig of Swan 441 anno 1980.

The Swan 441 is built 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.


Keel

The Swan 441 has been built with different keel alternatives.

Unknown keel type

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.40 - 2.50 meter (7.87 - 8.17 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Fin keel

The Swan 441 is built with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

Swan 441 can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.98 - 2.08 meter (6.50 - 6.80 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Perkins 4.108 M diesel engine at 40 hp (29 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.6 knots

The fuel tank has a capacity of 189.0 liters (49 US gallons, 41 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 441 is 1.84, 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 8.0 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 441 is about 294 kg/cm, alternatively 1651 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 294 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1651 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 441 is 31.4.

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 441 is 3.31.

Slim Wide 58% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 58% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Swan 441 is 45%.

Low High 86% 0 50 100
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.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Swan 441 is 248 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 46% 0 50 100
46% 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.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

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

The SA/D for Swan 441 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 18.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 21.9.

Low High 54% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 54% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 21% 0 50 100
The Swan 441 has more rig than 21% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly underrigged.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 52m2 (559 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.


Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications headsail specifications

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
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 42.5 m(139.3 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard42.5 m(139.3 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard42.5 m(139.3 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet 13.5 m(44.4 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet13.5 m(44.4 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet 33.8 m(110.9 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet29.7 m(97.6 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Cunningham4.4 m(14.5 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap8.8 m(29.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul8.8 m(29.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

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

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

Swan 441
Swan 441 anno 1980. Flush hatch is a good improvement.




Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Swan 441 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