Swan 56
Nautor Swan · German Frers · 1998
Updated
The Swan 56 is a 17.18 m displacement racing yacht designed by German Frers and built by Nautor Swan, first launched in 1998. It races in Class 0. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 10% of the designs it races against.
Goes better than its own measurements promise, and does it better than 10% of the boats it races against.
10th of 11 in its class.
This design has been found in real race results — 37 starts across 7 events — not only in measurement files.
Length
17.18 m
56′ 4″
Beam
4.71 m
Draft
2.71 m
Displacement
20.1 t
Sail area
170 m²
On the podium
Where a Swan 56 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
8%
of 37 starts by 6 boats
Wins
0%
Read from 37 starts by 6 boats between 2015 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Swan 56 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Rolex Swan Cup2026
Rolex Middle Sea Race2025- Barcolana Maxi2024
- Rolex Swan Cup2024
Aegean 6002024
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: 3 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 56 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Swan 44 (Frers) (4 meetings), Swan 441 (4 meetings), Xp 44 (4 meetings), HH 42 (3 meetings), J/111 (2 meetings), J/122 (2 meetings), X-41 (2 meetings), First 45 (Briand) (2 meetings), Botin 56 (2 meetings), J/109 (2 meetings), Neo 430 (4 meetings), Vor 60 (2 meetings), Maxi 65 (2 meetings), King 40 (1 meeting), Landmark 43 (1 meeting), Grand Soleil 42 (Carkeek) (1 meeting), ILC 40 (1 meeting), Arcona 430 (1 meeting), J/46 (1 meeting), Sly 42 (1 meeting), Pogo 10.50 (1 meeting), Pac 52 (1 meeting), Sun Fast 3300 (Andrieu) (1 meeting), Sun Fast 3200 (1 meeting), JPK 10.30 (2 meetings), Irc 52 (1 meeting), TP 52 (Carkeek) (1 meeting), Comet 38 (Vallicelli) (1 meeting), Dufour 34 (1 meeting)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Swan 56 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
6.31
38°
Beam reach
10.00
90°
Broad reach
10.76
135°
Downwind VMG
8.97
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 to windward once it pipes up, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, 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 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 56
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 4.11 | 5.56 | 6.07 | 6.31 |
| 52° | 6.32 | 8.20 | 8.73 | 8.96 |
| 60° | 6.69 | 8.50 | 9.00 | 9.23 |
| 75° | 6.96 | 8.72 | 9.29 | 9.62 |
| 90° | 6.86 | 8.73 | 9.41 | 10.00 |
| 110° | 6.57 | 8.83 | 9.68 | 10.41 |
| 120° | 6.39 | 8.77 | 9.70 | 10.75 |
| 135° | 5.71 | 8.28 | 9.45 | 10.76 |
| 150° | 4.77 | 7.23 | 8.87 | 10.09 |
| Run VMG | 4.12 | 6.26 | 7.78 | 8.97 |
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 970 kg.
Rigging
Swan 56 rig and sail dimensions
A Swan 56 carries 20.30 m of mainsail hoist on a 6.65 m boom, a forestay 22.57 m above the deck and a 7.40 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 — 174 to 265 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.