Swan 55 (Frers)
Nautor Swan · German Frers · 2022
Updated
The Swan 55 (Frers) is a 16.58 m displacement racing yacht designed by German Frers and built by Nautor Swan, first launched in 2022. It races in Class A.
Length
16.58 m
54′ 5″
Beam
5.02 m
Draft
2.51 m
Displacement
23.4 t
Sail area
170 m²
On the podium
Where a Swan 55 (Frers) finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
13%
of 38 starts by 7 boats
Wins
5%
Read from 38 starts by 7 boats between 2024 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Swan 55 (Frers) was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Rolex Swan Cup2026- 151 Miglia - Trofeo Cetilar2026
- 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
9%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Swan 55 (Frers) actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Grand Soleil 40 (Paperini) (2 meetings), Elan 400 (2 meetings), First 40.7 (4 meetings), Dufour 44 (2 meetings), Dufour 40 (2 meetings), First 45 (Briand) (2 meetings), X-332 (1 meeting), Advanced A 44 (1 meeting), Solaris 44 (1 meeting), First 50 (1 meeting), First 53 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 43 (Carkeek) (1 meeting), Dufour 455 (1 meeting), Sun Fast 3600 (1 meeting), First 35 (Berret) (1 meeting), X-34 (1 meeting), Solaris 50 (1 meeting), Elan 410 (1 meeting), Elan 450 (1 meeting), Marten 49 (1 meeting), JOD 35 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 40 (Carkeek) (1 meeting), Dehler 39 (Judel/Vrolijk) (1 meeting), Comet 41 (2 meetings), First 34.7 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 46.3 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 39 (Jézéquel) (1 meeting), IMX 40 (1 meeting), Hanse 400 (1 meeting)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Swan 55 (Frers) 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
6.11
41°
Beam reach
10.19
90°
Broad reach
11.13
135°
Downwind VMG
9.15
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.
Soft conditions suit it. In the light it does more than its numbers promise, and gives some of that back when the wind arrives.
Where it gains
Its best ground is on a reach in a working breeze, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short on a broad reach once it pipes up, giving away time it never gets back. That is a displacement hull working to its designed speed.
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 55 (Frers)
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.80 | 5.34 | 5.86 | 6.11 |
| 52° | 6.06 | 8.00 | 8.66 | 8.95 |
| 60° | 6.52 | 8.35 | 9.02 | 9.28 |
| 75° | 6.97 | 8.68 | 9.41 | 9.74 |
| 90° | 7.09 | 8.91 | 9.48 | 10.19 |
| 110° | 6.73 | 8.96 | 9.78 | 10.68 |
| 120° | 6.57 | 8.96 | 9.91 | 10.98 |
| 135° | 5.93 | 8.46 | 9.69 | 11.13 |
| 150° | 4.96 | 7.41 | 9.06 | 10.33 |
| Run VMG | 4.29 | 6.42 | 7.88 | 9.15 |
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 750 kg.
Rigging
Swan 55 (Frers) rig and sail dimensions
A Swan 55 (Frers) carries 22.20 m of mainsail hoist on a 7.03 m boom, a forestay 23.22 m above the deck and a 8.38 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 7 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 222 to 289 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.
Other designs under the same name
The name has been carried by more than one design. They are different boats.