Swan 54
Nautor Swan · German Frers · 2004
Updated
The Swan 54 is a 16.44 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by German Frers and built by Nautor Swan, first launched in 2004. It races in Class A. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 9% of the designs it races against. It comes alive as the breeze builds, and gives time away in the light.
Goes better than its own measurements promise, and does it better than 9% of the boats it races against.
42nd of 46 in its class.
Updated — First Race Edge for this design. Enough boats of this design have now been measured to rank it. It is strongest in medium air.
This design has been found in real race results — 64 starts across 9 events — not only in measurement files.
Length
16.44 m
53′ 11″
Beam
4.74 m
Draft
2.44 m
Displacement
22.0 t
Sail area
148 m²
On the podium
Where a Swan 54 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
12%
of 64 starts by 6 boats
Wins
5%
Read from 64 starts by 6 boats between 2019 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Swan 54 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Rolex Swan Cup2026- 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2026
- Trofeo Porto Carlo Riva2026
- 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2025
- Rolex Swan Cup2024
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: 5 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
14%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Swan 54 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Grand Soleil 39 (Maletto) (7 meetings), J/109 (4 meetings), X-35 (4 meetings), J/122 (3 meetings), X-41 (4 meetings), Grand Soleil 44 (Polli) (3 meetings), First 34.7 (3 meetings), Dufour 34 (4 meetings), First 40.7 (4 meetings), Grand Soleil 46 (Carkeek) (3 meetings), Elan 410 (4 meetings), Elan 450 (3 meetings), Grand Soleil 43 (Carkeek) (4 meetings), More 40 (5 meetings), Archambault 40 (3 meetings), First 31.7 (3 meetings), First 36.7 (3 meetings), Canard 41 (2 meetings), Dehler 36 (Stadt) (2 meetings), Eleva 50 (2 meetings), Stag 32 (2 meetings), Farr 30 (2 meetings), Sun Fast 3300 (Andrieu) (2 meetings), Comet 33 (2 meetings), Grand Soleil 43 (Maletto) (2 meetings), X-332 (2 meetings), Grand Soleil 47 (2 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Swan 54 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
6.45
38°
Beam reach
9.77
90°
Broad reach
10.47
135°
Downwind VMG
8.71
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 one is at home going to windward. Windward-leeward courses give it more of what it is good at than a coastal race does.
Where it gains
Its best ground is to windward in a strong breeze, where it does more than its size and sail area promise, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage on a reach as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short off the wind when it blows, 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 0.8 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a Swan 54
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.57 | 5.11 | 6.02 | 6.45 |
| 52° | 5.62 | 7.72 | 8.61 | 9.02 |
| 60° | 6.08 | 8.05 | 8.83 | 9.25 |
| 75° | 6.36 | 8.27 | 9.05 | 9.57 |
| 90° | 6.38 | 8.56 | 9.28 | 9.77 |
| 110° | 6.37 | 8.69 | 9.57 | 10.41 |
| 120° | 6.22 | 8.57 | 9.54 | 10.66 |
| 135° | 5.56 | 8.02 | 9.23 | 10.47 |
| 150° | 4.65 | 7.03 | 8.62 | 9.76 |
| Run VMG | 4.03 | 6.08 | 7.50 | 8.71 |
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 1100 kg.
Rigging
Swan 54 rig and sail dimensions
A Swan 54 carries 20.08 m of mainsail hoist on a 6.70 m boom, a forestay 20.98 m above the deck and a 6.50 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 8 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 203 to 264 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.