Have the latest cruising yachts gone too far? ~ Swan 48 tour, too modern?

The only thing that I don't understand is that Swan has done away with a forward facing chart table. A real work space, where you will spend a good deal of time while cruising. And then they've put the table in the salon instead of at the bottom of the steps for ease of use.

Hello, thanks for the visit... I was the skipper of the first Swan 46 mkII for 3 years in 1990, the ancestor of this 48. In 1988 I skippered a swan65, sister ship of the famous Mexican "Sayula", I also skippered other Swan (53, 57,61) until the 2000s. Is true Swans are fantastics under sail ! But, For liveabord full time, I prefer...multihulls !!😁
Well when I see this 48, I would not exchange any of them with this 48, which has lost what largely made the reputation of the Nautor Swan. Boats designed for the high seas in all weathers! One thing to know from Swan, at the origins these boats where design for crews and gentlemens racers, so the deck plan is not a spéciality of Nautor for single handed!!
This 48, which must work well both close-hauled and downwind, I have no doubt about it, has nothing more seaworthy in terms of layout or deck plan! Today's boats have become day boats and for the most luxurious and (horribly) expensive, status boats and made for cocktails in the marina! sit close to the chart table, lie down in a central bed, take one of those right angles of the table in the hip. Nice floor to play ice hockey!! and the electronics screens intalled in flat position on the cockpit without protection,, nice for the rain and waves! Nautor. Like many manufacturers, throws a lot of dust in your eyes and lives on its legend that the old Swans wrote. Paying for a Swan 2 to 3 times the price of an equivalent boat is no longer justified... Sorry for my English I'm French... :))
Ps: Dyneema is strong and efficient, easy to change at sea and cheaper than Winchard stainless stuff ..

winchardwinchardwinchard

I mean, the advantage to dyneema sheets is pretty straightforward. Soft shackles are stronger and lighter and reduce chafe. But they don't last as long as the hard shackles. You can see the wear, so it shouldn't be a big deal. But it is a tradeoff.

For cruising, I don't think Dyneema is a good choice for standing rigging, maybe more so for cold climates, as the dyneema actually expands when it gets cold. And the coefficient of thermal expansion is large enough that you would lose all tension in the rig.

Dyneema loops and softchackles is the bomb, and with some tools and training you can make and repair them yourself.

I have raced boats with dyneema or PBO in the backstays for ages, it will last... and is light..

of course a lot of things are very cool for this money.They also should be.

It's amazing to read the comments on furling booms when I'm sure most have no experience with them. You don't need a hydraulic vang at all, most are manual spring loaded vangs, the booms on larger vessels are both carbon shell and carbon mandrel making them quite light and they are amazing and fast to reef. There's nothing slow about hoisting or lowering the sail of a furling boom it's determined by the speed of the halyard winch. They are certainly superior to in mast furling options except in pricing and a cleaner set up to slab reefing.

The galley is surprisingly good, the sink position is what makes it not too small and the position is great for draining on either tack. Funnily enough, they lost one of the trademark features that traditionally came with this location in a Swan: the drying cabinet. All Finnish homes have a cabinet on top of the sink that have a drying rack bottom and in older swans, this was one of the features that always got so many ooh's and aah's, it just makes sense reactions from non-finns who came on board swans..

So should I win the lottery, I'd have that on top of the sink, I'm sure it would require no explanation when demanded as an option :)

keel, rudder, safety features, watertight compartments, draft, sail area, engine, electric propulsion? regen ? just wondering about those

Great looking boat and good review but no discussion on hull shape (plumb bow, huge wide stern ... rudder and keel?), and the pros and cons of this type of design for cruising

Heard sustainability and immediately closed video. Woke simp clowns virtue signaling. So pathetic.

It’s made in Finnland 😍

Very very good review. Bravo. And the boat is, OMG what a nice boat. Wowww... I like Awan but this one is special really. Thanks a lot for this great review.

Given how dangerous and prone to failure furling jibs are, the thought of a furling mainsail fills me with dread.

Engine compartment?

the helm area looks to exposed in open ocean heavy weather

I got the impression from the title that you were going to rip Swan a new one. Quite the opposite. I think you were very good to Swan for probably good reason. They build a good boat. I can't understand why so many reviewers are so hard on these production boats. I haven't seen many truly new ones. But from what I can see. These boats are modern day wonders. Thanks for the nice video.

Good Vid man, thank you. What is the biggest Swan please ?

Some Bungee cord would tame those hanging blocks and some pretty sharp corners in the interior furniture.

Please work on your spelling, hard to understand for non english speakers as mother language. thanks

No, no, no, those are just show pieces for their owners. 'Dressed to impress' with a tux, while pretending to sail.

Around $1.5 million US.

I sailed a swan 44 from 1973 recently. Chartered her for a week. it’s basically 4 feet shorter overall but the difference modern hull shape gives in interior volume is just insane

The interior of the 44 would be equivalent to a quarter of what you see in this boat. Boggles the mind.

My comments can definitely be seen as a bit to guess in Cheek, gi en how badly I Lusted after a Swan Sailboat Decades ago, but then again I have learned more and even forgotten more than I ever thought possible, and to me most bui
Dersingham of Sailboats today, apart to have totally missed the Point, and have been utterly distracted by the Rather Stupid and Meaningless Words - Blue Water Cruiser, given that pretty much any boat can be made Safe enough to Cross Oceans in . 🤔 What exactly is the point of Sticking very Tall Masts made out of Carbon on a Sailboat, given anyone with a Survivalminstinct hurls a Carbon Flysishing Rod well clear of their bodies at the first hint that there is Any Lightning around ? Yes in Mast Furling has become pretty much indispensable for protecting Sailcloth from horrific And rapid Sailcloth damage by UV exposure,many Not just in the Tropics, and Selden do make perfectly good in Mast Furling Masts out of Aluminium ? For maximum Access, entry and departure from the Widest range of places, demands Shallow Draft and a very low Height Air Draft Mast, and it isca very safe bet that this Swan Fails miserably at both Necessities ? Why drool over a bloody Ultra Anchor by the Way ? I have seen them Fail at their job far toonoften , but will they actually Failmat the right time to save the Boat from being pushed over so far that it was on the brink of capsizing? My oversized Lewmar Delta sets fast, but when my boat was hit by an extremely powerful Tornado on the Starboard side, and the VHF Aerialmon top of the Mast was buried under water on the Port Side, water was over the side decks and was up to the lip of the Cockpit, and With a Bang, the boat popped upright like a Cork as the wonderful Anchor got Pushed out Sideways saving the boat, and saving me from a Swim in the Harbour. Withbthe Anchor alarm screaming, all I had to do was start the engine, glance behind and pick a route between the boats to get into Clear water, put it in neutral for the Anchor and Chain to settle, then put it in Reverse and revving hard, it set instantly, and the boat didn't budge despite being hit by a half dozen or more Tornadoes during the rest of the night. Guess ehat my Main Anchorbis going to be on my next Sailboat? Hint : it won't be a bloody Ultra Will it . 🤔 Best Wishes Bob, who also won't be buying a bloody ridiculous Swan. 👍

I'm sure some salty old guys would say it's too modern, but I think it's beautiful

You can tell that Swan is now an Italian company, all about design, looks to impress. This boat is not intended for blue water cruising but to show off wealth in marinas. The older Swans were made for cruising, guess that's out of fashion nowadays.

No main traveler and what happens to that stainless pedestal when you ease the mainsheet? Not sure why you'd have wire backstays rather than some kind of high strength rope like Dyneema that'd save 10s of pounds aloft.
The two sided nav table is nice because people will want to work onboard so it give a lot of useful space for that. I wonder if the table drops so that area can be an additional settee/berth. He didn't point out that there's a vent fan over the stove (which I assume vents outside) which I've never seen on a boat but that's great for getting cooking smells and heat out of the boat. I'd prefer an electric stove and there's no provision on the outside for placing solar panels which is a miss on a proper cruising boat.

Would have been nice to see the motor ect

Price ..... ??

Beautiful boat ❤

Top range yachts are carbon copies of each other these days ( excuse the pun ). We look after a number of Solaris yachts which are almost identical.

When swans become floating condos you know to start looking at older boats.

I’m so happy I don’t have to be jealous that I can’t afford one. Looks like a fucking Hanse, yuck.

I’d prefer some sheer frankly.

Flush hatches.....not working forever

Words fail me.

I'm very pro dynima. But I've sailed with cruisers who aren't. Firstly, on old boats they often play badly with the existing winches, causing slipping lines etc, which means that older boats tend to use over speced line. This can lead to damagingvdeck harsware, as the weak link is no longer cgeap poly line, but expensive toe rails/ blocks.

"Has [x brand gone too far]?"
Proceeds to give the most branch shilling segment imaginable. Oh influensers, never change.

You should mention a rough price range when you do these reviews. Otherwise very good quick review.

I think dyneema is fantastic. The more bits of steel you can take off the boat, the lower the cost of maintenance will be, and the higher the chance is that the maintenance will actually be done when it should be.

Before everything was held together with steel it was held together with rope. I think it's good that we're going back, now that we've got better rope.

Nice, apart from the now-obligatory giant rectangular picture windows in the hull. I don't want to know about the glue specs, the testing, the certification, the reinforcement of the surrounding edge, the oblating of corners. Just give me a complete hull please.

it's all nice but the price

I have an Ultra which came with the boat. It's good but not as good as the Spade on my last boat.
I also have doubts about rod rigging for cruising. I viewed a 6 year old X-Yacht, never raced, which a bit of research showed had been dismasted in the English Channel in moderate (F5) conditions because the rigging failed catastrophically. Never heard of wire failing at that age.
Very good review, though. Thanks.

In our harbour is a Swan 1974. 43 ft. In excellent condition. Obviously a 2024 Swan will not last more than 20 years.😮

An advantage of boom furling is, it lowers the center of gravity when the sales are not in use. A big plus in rough weather. Also , you can slowly extend your sails so you can inspect them..

Amazing boat. Truly magnificent in all details.
So many detractors in the comments. IT"S NOT BLUE WATER. TWIN RUDDERS are garbage. BOOM FURLING IS TOO HEAVY< UNRELIABLE. ITS JUST A DOCK QUEEN.... holy crap... People are so tied to a viewpoint they can't let go of. It's almost like politics with these people. I can't even begin to understand how they are so married to a frankly very old position that's completely devoid of real facts. Every time you show a modern boat these people chime in with their "OPINIONS" that fail in the face of reality. So if they're to be believed the only TRUE boats are double enders with full encapsulated keels with skeg hung rudders, with super narrowm dark, and cramped accomodations, hank on sails, etc, etc, etc,. Gets old. Must be the greedy boat companies forcing everyone to buy these boats that are super unsafe and status symbols. Can you imagine Ferrari or Porche getting this same kind of feedback? Every upgrade and technological improvement would be poo pooed. Drum brakes are way simpler and last longer than these fancy pants "disc" brakes. And this translates into even the most bare bones automobile. So much better than a 70's 80's or 90's cars in every measurable way, yet these people all love those same years in boats. It's nuts.

Practical Sailor Mag, (USA) recently had an article about dylemma (spelling?) rigging, The material's own manufacture, located in the Netherlands, explained that due to UV radiation, the material lost 40% of its strength in 5 years. In the Chesapeake Bay area of the US, the UV is 2.5 times more powerful as the Netherlands and in my home of coastal GA(USA) its 3.5 times stronger.

Great video! Excellent information! Thank you! What a yacht!!