Swan 42 Standard

Sailboat specifications

The Swan 42 is a 42’ (12.8m) cruiser-racer sailboat designed by Ron Holland Design (Canada). She was built between 1980 and 1985 by Nautor's Swan (Finland) with 38 hulls completed.

The Swan 42 is as well listed, on Boat-Specs.com, in Shoal draft version (see all the versions compared).

Swan 42's main features

Model: Swan 42
Version: Standard
Hull type: Monohull
Category: Offshore cruiser-racer sailboat
Sailboat builder: Nautor's Swan
Sailboat designer: Ron Holland Design
Country: Finland
Construction: Hull and deck: GRP (glass reinforced polyester)
Number of hulls built: 38
First built hull: 1980
Last built hull: 1985
Appendages: Keel : fin without bulb
Helm: Single helm wheel
Rudder: Single spade rudder
Unsinkable: No
Trailerable: No
Standard public price ex. VAT (indicative only): N/A €

Swan 42's main dimensions

Hull length: 42’12.8 m
Waterline length: 33’ 11”10.33 m
Beam (width): 13’3.95 m
Draft: 7’ 11”2.4 m
Light displacement (M_LC): 20944 lb9500 kg
Ballast weight: 9039 lb4100 kg
Ballast type: Lead

Swan 42's rig and sails

Upwind sail area: 1029 ft²95.6 m²
Downwind sail area: 1990 ft²184.9 m²
Mainsail area: 343 ft²31.9 m²
Genoa area: 686 ft²63.7 m²
Symmetric spinnaker area: 1647 ft²153 m²
I iFore triangle height (from mast foot to fore stay top attachment): 54’ 11”16.73 m
J iFore triangle base (from mast foot to bottom of forestay): 16’ 8”5.08 m
P iMainsail hoist measurement (from tack to head): 48’ 10”14.86 m
E iMainsail foot measurement (from tack to clew): 14’ 1”4.29 m
Rigging type: Sloop Marconi masthead
Mast configuration: Keel stepped mast
Rotating spars: No
Number of levels of spreaders: 2
Spreaders angle: 0 °
Spars construction: Aluminum spars
Standing rigging: 1x19 strand wire

Swan 42's performances

IOR rating iIOR, or International Offshore Rule, was a measurement rule system used internationally for ocean racing. It allows boats of different sizes and designs to race each other fairly. Therefore, by comparing these values, we can have an indication of the relative speed of 2 boats.: 32.0
Upwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size. Upwind: under 18 the ratio indicates a cruise oriented sailboat with limited performances especially in light wind, while over 25 it indicates a fast sailboat.: 229 ft²/T21.31 m²/T
Downwind sail area to displacement iThe ratio sail area to displacement is obtained by dividing the sail area by the boat's displaced volume to the power two-thirds. The ratio sail area to displacement can be used to compare the relative sail plan of different sailboats no matter what their size.: 444 ft²/T41.22 m²/T
Displacement-length ratio (DLR) iThe Displacement Length Ratio (DLR) is a figure that points out the boat's weight compared to its waterline length. The DLR is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement in tons by the cube of one one-hundredth of the waterline length (in feet). The DLR can be used to compare the relative mass of different sailboats no matter what their length: a DLR less than 180 is indicative of a really light sailboat (race boat made for planning), while a DLR greater than 300 is indicative of a heavy cruising sailboat.: 244
Ballast ratio iThe Ballast ratio is an indicator of stability; it is obtained by dividing the boat's displacement by the mass of the ballast. Since the stability depends also of the hull shapes and the position of the center of gravity, only the boats with similar ballast arrangements and hull shapes should be compared. The higher the ballast ratio is, the greater is the stability.: 43 %
Critical hull speed iAs a ship moves in the water, it creates standing waves that oppose its movement. This effect increases dramatically the resistance when the boat reaches a speed-length ratio (speed-length ratio is the ratio between the speed in knots and the square root of the waterline length in feet) of about 1.2 (corresponding to a Froude Number of 0.35) . This very sharp rise in resistance, between speed-length ratio of 1.2 to 1.5, is insurmountable for heavy sailboats and so becomes an apparent barrier. This leads to the concept of "hull speed". The hull speed is obtained by multiplying the square root of the waterline length (in feet) by 1.34.: 7.80 knots