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Review of Swan 46 Mk I


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Swan 46 Mk I is a large sailboat designed by the Argentine maritime architect Germán Frers in the early eighties. Less than 100 boats have been produced. The Swan 46 Mk I is built by the Finnish yard OY Nautor AB.

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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.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.50 - 2.60 meter (8.20 - 8.50 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


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 I is 1.83, 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 8.2 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 I is about 340 kg/cm, alternatively 1906 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 340 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1906 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 I is 33.7.

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


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Swan 46 Mk I is 3.26.

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 46 Mk I is 256 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

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 60m2 (645 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

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 14.3 m(47.1 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet 14.3 m(47.1 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet 35.9 m(117.7 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet31.6 m(103.6 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 46 Mk I 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