The Swan 55 is a Finnish sailboat that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a cruiser-racer and first built in 1970.

The boat was variously sold as the Swan 55, Swan 53 and the Palmer Johnson 53.

Production
The design was built by Oy Nautor AB in Finland, from 1970 to 1974 with 16 boats built, but it is now out of production. Of those built, seven were the yawl rig version.

Design
The Swan 55 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of glassfibre, with wood trim. It has a masthead sloop or yawl rig, a raked stem, a skeg-mounted rudder controlled by a wheel and a fixed swept fin keel. It displaces  and carries  of lead ballast.

The boat has a draft of  with the standard keel.

The boat is fitted with a Swedish Volvo Penta MD21A diesel engine of  for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds  and the fresh water tank has a capacity of .

The design has sleeping accommodation for nine people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin, "L"-shaped and "U"-shaped settees in the main salon, a two straight settees and a pilot berth in the forward salon and two aft cabins each with a double berth. The galley is located on the port side just forward of the companionway ladder. The galley is "L"-shaped and is equipped with a three-burner stove, an ice box and a double sink. A navigation station is opposite the galley, on the starboard side. There are two heads, one just aft of the bow cabin on the port side and one on the starboard side, aft.

The design has a hull speed of  and a PHRF handicap of 48 to 57.

Variants
Sloop
This sloop-rigged model has a raised counter, reverse transom, a length overall of  and a waterline length of . For sailing downwind this model may be equipped with a symmetrical spinnaker of .
Yawl
This yawl-rigged model has a lengthened, raised counter, angled transom, a length overall of  and a waterline length of . For sailing downwind this model may be equipped with a symmetrical spinnaker of .

See also
List of sailing boat types

References

External links

Keelboats
1970s sailboat type designs
Sailing yachts
Sailboat type designs by Sparkman and Stephens
Sailboat types built by Nautor Swan