Swan 43, buy best or restore ?

My dream yacht since a child has been the Swan 38 (I first set foot on one at the London boat show of 76?) The sales poster was on my wall until I left the family home in 1988.

On my last trip home to Guernsey my first love was forgotten when I discovered a Swan 43!

Searching the net I have found several examples from $50 to $170,000.

I would prefer to restore but I would like to hear from people who have already taken this path with this boat, pitfalls, expence and updates recommended.

Thanks in advance,

Chris.

Dear Chris,

that's up to you, if you buy a good and well mantained boat, you are likely to spend some money on top of the purchasing price even if at the first sight she looks a very good one, if you buy a "wreck", you know exactly what she's going to cost you, and you are doing the restoration exactly as you want. Of course this is a time (and nerve) consuming task...

Anyway, the 43 is a fantastic boat, congratulation to your taste!

Matteo (38/067 Only You)

Thanks Matteo,

the teak on the resto needs replacing, if it's removed, glassed and painted would it still be feasable to fit teak again later?

Also ,are the 70's Swans susseptable to osmosis?

chris

Dear Chris

if you glass, prime and paint it and after some years you decide to get teack plankings, you have to get rid of all the previous works, nothing is impossible, just expensive...

Some old Swans had osmosis problem, not a big problem nowdays to be fixed, just expensive and time consuming

Fair Wind!

Matteo (37/067 Only You)

Hi Chris,

No experience with the 43s (yes they are beautiful) but experience with a 40. I bought a 40 in bad shape in 97 and have been in restore mode ever since.. I do the majority of the work myself so it takes longer. Anyway, my suggestion unless you want to spend the early part of your ownership in repair mode only is to buy the best you can find. You will still be repairing her but repairs will not dominate your life. They are over 30 years old and repairing is a fact of life. Many feel that by buying in rough shape one can save money. The reality is you spend more but have newer gear such as electronics. Another plus is you really get to know your boat and have the satisfaction of saving one of these beauties. So to make it short a hard choice I have waffled back and forth (depending on the the job at hand) but in the end I am just happy with the boat I have.
Osmosis: None on mine.
If you are handy have time and like tinkering buy and restore otherwise pick the best and get her in top form.

All the best

Mike. Storm Svale

Hello Chris:

I own Swan 43 (#46) and have been very happy with the boat.  These boats are built very well with outstanding build quality and first rate equipment and materials.  There are no real issues at all with the 43s that I am aware of. I am probably the 5th owner of my boat and when I purchased her in 1988 she was in OK condition.  The boat was not used very much towards the last 5 years of previous ownership and needed upgrading and general maintenance.  I have been steadily repairing, upgrading and maintaining my boat ever since I purchased her.  The 43s sail very well and can still be raced and cruised with rewarding results.

As Matteo and others have noted in the forum the condition of the boat based on the maintenance and upkeep programs by previous owners will dictate whether a restored or unrestored boat is worth considering.  As I noted above my boat was in OK condition. 

I have done the following major repairs and upgrades: complete osmosis repair below waterline in winter of 2003/2004 (not unreasonable when considering the baot was built in 1969-1970); overhaul and upgrade of original Nautor mast with new halyards, winches, standing rigging; repaired rudder slop (I did the work); overhauled transmission (I did the work); updated electronics ( I did the work); replaced all wiring and circuit breaker panel with new (I did the work).

I have teak decks on my boat.  These were apparently replaced back in the 1980s.  A sisteship in Massachusetts removed their teak decks and re-finished the deck with ant-skid broadcasted into the painted finish.  Another boat here in tyhe New York area has the same finish.  I would think that a new teak deck could eventually be put down again with out any issues.

Matteo has been kind enough to post the Swan 43 owner's maintenance book on this web site and you can and see what we 43 owners have been doing on our boats.  Many of us perform the work ourselves and I personally find that repair on these boats are actually very straight forward and in many cases possible because of the first rate materials and equipment used.

Since I have owned my 43 it has done 3 Newport Bermuda races and returns as well as numerous coastal races and cruises with not a single issue. They are safe, good sailing, reliable boats with excellent support from the factory for any technical issues, drawings and recommendations.  Not too many sailboats and sailboat manufacturers today can do this.  Nautor has been around since the 1960s, not bad. 

Hope this helps a little.  Don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any.

Good Luck,

Hiro

Thanks Mike and Hiro, all my previous boats apart from the first 211 day boat I have here in Dubai, have been projects; I keep having to invent things to change/do on this boat. I think If I buy a perfect Swan, I will not be happy. So I'm searching for a fix-me-upper in sail away condition.

I will let you know if I find her.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Hope you find a good one and that we can welcome you to the association. You will find lots of good advice on this site (in particular the Professor) and from the sounds of it you will be able to add to the knowledge base!!

Have a good search!! This is always an exciting period.

Fair Winds
Mike
Storm Svale

Hi Chris,

Good question, buy best or restore, we are 75% through the restoration of a Swan 40 (#29) which had been neglected for a number of years. We found her in a farmyard in Dorset where the previous owner had started to “restore” her but had left many bits half disassembled. Anyway she was pretty rough but I fell in love with the shape, and much more importantly so did my wife, so we bought her and so far have spent many hours plus ten’s of thousands of pounds getting the structure sorted properly.

So far we have had a full hot vac osmosis treatment, topsides stripped back to the gel coat and then a quality 2 pack paintjob of the hull and superstructure. We have also overhauled the engine including new bearers and stern gear etc, all hatches / windows out, new mast and rigging, sails, electronics etc.

Would I have done it the same way with hindsight, yes probably, I am pretty handy and have done much of the work myself but I think you need to have plenty time and cash to throw at the jobs where it counts. You will eventually end up paying as much as if you had bought a “good one”, but we didn’t see any “good ones” which wouldn’t have needed as much work within 3-4 years, so we thought you would end up paying twice.

If you go for the restoration i think it’s a good idea to have a plan to get her sailing in a period you are happy with, if it drags on and you don’t get her sailing you may become disheartened and then it’s not fun anymore. For me this is a better judge of how viable a restoration is than a purely monetary one.

Well best of luck what ever you choose, and if you need some information please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

Jason

I have to agree Jason , the journey has to be as enjoyable as the destination.

I thought "barn finds" were confined to vintage bikes and cars! Good luck for the rest of the journey.

Chris

Dear all

About barn finds - a rather extreme example is Swan 36-002, for which the separate hull and deck mouldings as well as keel and rig and lots of uninstalled parts were discovered in a barn some 20 years after delivery. Apparently Pekka Koskenkyla swapped the parts against polyester resin, and the polyester supplier did not assemble the yacht, and forgot the whole thing.

Somebody else discovered the secret in the barn, and finally the whole set was sold, and the yacht was finally put together.

Lars