Elan
Swan 48
KEY POINTS ■ 148% overlap headsail
figuration means that running backstays are
■ Keel – conventional lead keel. ■ Symmetrical spinnaker and conventional
essential, especially in heavy weather and big seas.
■ Alloy mast spinnaker pole
■ Cockpit area primarily for sail sheeting
■ Rod rigging ■ Crew No: 13
■ Halyards and pit work organised around
■ Feathering three-bladed prop ■ In-line spreaders and tall masthead rig con-
the mast area.
Heavy-displacement cruiser
2009 RESULTS
German Offshore Yacht of Year 2008
1st Swan European Championships 2009
1st Nautor’s Swan Baltic Sea Challenge 2009
Some boats perform well from the word go and
continue to provide the basis for good solid
performances through several generations. One such
example of an evergreen racing design that refuses to
act her age is the Swan 48.
This classic Sparkman & Stephens cruiser/racer
was first launched in 1971 and during the four years
the boat was in production 46 were built.
Today, she’s very much at the heavy-displacement
end of the scale, but as Elan’s owner Harald Baum and
his crew demonstrated, she’s still a competitive boat
and Elan was voted German Offshore Yacht of 2008 by
the Hamburg Senate in recognition of her
achievements against much faster, more sportier and
significantly newer competition.
Winning the Swan Europeans and the Baltic Sea
Challenge in 2009 drove the message home.
Although Elan carries more or less the same
displacement as Ran II and has a three-spreader rig,
clearly the similarities end there. The Swan is 7.3m
(24ft) shorter, sports an alloy mast, rod rigging, a giant
148 per cent overlapping headsail and a conventional
symmetrical spinnaker.
But for those who might jump to the conclusion that
an old, heavy boat will always do well on corrected
time, bear in mind that in the Swan European
Championships, she and her crew took line honours in
five of the eight races.
Sometimes even age can’t hold a good boat down.
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