Review of Swan 55 (S&S)
Basic specs.
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The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.
The Swan 55 (S&S) is 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.
The boat may be equipped with an inboard Volvo Penta MD21A diesel engine at 61 hp (45 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.3 knots
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.
What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?
The capsize screening value for Swan 55 (S&S) is 1.59, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.
What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?
The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 8.3 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.
The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level.
The immersion rate for Swan 55 (S&S) is about 340 kg/cm, alternatively 1905 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 340 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm.
Alternatively, if you load 1905 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.
What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?
The l/b ratio for Swan 55 (S&S) is 3.85.
What is Displacement Length Ratio?
The DL-ratio for Swan 55 (S&S) is 357 which categorizes this boat among 'heavy cruisers'.
What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?
The SA/D for Swan 55 (S&S) with ISO 8666 reference sail is 16.0, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 19.1.
Maintenance
Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.
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.
| Usage | Length | Diameter | ||
| Mainsail halyard | 44.7 m | (146.7 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Jib/genoa halyard | 44.7 m | (146.7 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Spinnaker halyard | 44.7 m | (146.7 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Jib sheet | 16.6 m | (54.6 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Genoa sheet | 16.6 m | (54.6 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Mainsheet | 41.6 m | (136.6 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Spinnaker sheet | 36.6 m | (120.2 feet) | 16 mm | (5/8 inch) |
| Cunningham | 6.2 m | (20.5 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Kickingstrap | 12.5 m | (41.0 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
| Clew-outhaul | 12.5 m | (41.0 feet) | 14 mm | (0.55 inch) |
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