Swan 41
Nautor Swan · Sparkman & Stephens · 1973
Updated
The Swan 41 is a 12.47 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built by Nautor Swan, first launched in 1973. It races in Class C.
Length
12.47 m
40′ 11″
Beam
3.66 m
Draft
2.08 m
Displacement
10.8 t
Sail area
98 m²
On the podium
Where a Swan 41 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
7%
of 15 starts by 3 boats
Wins
0%
Read from 15 starts by 3 boats between 2023 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Swan 41 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Rolex Swan Cup2026
73° Loro Piana Giraglia2026- 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2025
- Rolex Swan Cup2024
- 56° Trofeo M.O.V.M Michele Fiorillo2023
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: 2 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
0%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Swan 41 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
X-332 (6 meetings), Salona 37 (5 meetings), X-35 (6 meetings), Sun Fast 3600 (5 meetings), First 34.7 (5 meetings), Comet 38 (Finot) (5 meetings), Dehler 30 OD (5 meetings), Oceanis 41 (5 meetings), Comet 38 (Vallicelli) (6 meetings), Elan S3 (5 meetings), Swan 65 (Stephens) (4 meetings), J/35 (4 meetings), Swan 38 (4 meetings), Swan 43 (Stephens) (4 meetings), Grand Soleil 43 (Maletto) (2 meetings), J/112 (2 meetings), Sinergia 40 (2 meetings), IMX 40 (2 meetings), Swan 45 (5 meetings), First 40.7 (3 meetings), Farr 30 (1 meeting), First 44.7 (1 meeting), XR 41 (2 meetings), Solaris 44 (1 meeting), Rodman 42 (1 meeting), J/122 (1 meeting), Jv 56 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 52 (1 meeting), Comet 45 (1 meeting), Farr 45 (1 meeting), First 45 (Briand) (3 meetings), Grand Soleil 40 (Polli) (1 meeting), Swan 42 (1 meeting), Cookson 50 (1 meeting)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Swan 41 has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
5.12
39°
Beam reach
7.96
90°
Broad reach
8.66
135°
Downwind VMG
7.77
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
This is a light-air boat. Early-season racing and morning breezes play to its strengths; once it pipes up the fleet comes back to it.
Where it gains
Its best ground is cracked off in the light stuff, where it does more than its size and sail area promise. It holds that advantage on the run as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short on a broad reach in a strong breeze, giving away time it never gets back. That is weight that has to be driven rather than released.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.4 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the broad reach.
How fast is a Swan 41
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.45 | 4.61 | 4.98 | 5.12 |
| 52° | 5.24 | 6.70 | 7.08 | 7.21 |
| 60° | 5.50 | 6.88 | 7.25 | 7.42 |
| 75° | 5.68 | 7.03 | 7.45 | 7.71 |
| 90° | 5.59 | 7.09 | 7.58 | 7.96 |
| 110° | 5.61 | 7.28 | 7.86 | 8.43 |
| 120° | 5.47 | 7.21 | 7.89 | 8.68 |
| 135° | 4.94 | 6.89 | 7.72 | 8.66 |
| 150° | 4.21 | 6.22 | 7.38 | 8.30 |
| Run VMG | 3.65 | 5.39 | 6.67 | 7.77 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 670 kg.
Rigging
Swan 41 rig and sail dimensions
A Swan 41 carries 14.68 m of mainsail hoist on a 4.44 m boom, a forestay 16.28 m above the deck and a 5.59 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 6 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 119 to 139 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.