The design drew directly on IMP, a 1977 IOR racer that represented the United States in that year’s Admiral’s Cup and again in 1979. Nautor completed just 33 Swan 39s: 12 dedicated racing versions and 21 cruising versions. From the outset, this was a racer-cruiser rather than a pure cruising boat dressed up for competition.
Design and Construction
Nautor built the Swan 39 in Finland as a solid-fibreglass monohull with wood trim. The hull has a raked stem, reverse transom, fixed fin keel, and internally mounted spade rudder with wheel steering.
At 39.3 feet overall and 31.5 feet on the waterline, the Swan 39 has a length-to-beam ratio of 3.14. Its displacement-length ratio is 252, placing it among moderate racers rather than heavy-displacement cruisers.
The boat displaces 18,000 pounds, including 7,900 pounds of lead ballast. That produces a ballast-displacement ratio of 43.9 percent and explains much of the boat’s composure. Its capsize screening value is 1.92, below the threshold at which, by that formula alone, the boat would be accepted for ocean racing. A Motion Comfort Ratio of 27.7 reflects a hull tuned more for speed than for flat-water gentility.
Immersion is about 1,372 pounds per inch, so added cruising stores and equipment are quickly reflected in the waterline.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
The Swan 39 carries a masthead sloop on a Bermuda rig, with 761 square feet of sail area. A symmetrical spinnaker may be carried downwind.
Its PHRF handicap ranges from 78 to 87, quick for a 39-footer of its era. The theoretical hull speed is 7.5 knots, as expected for a displacement hull of this waterline length.
The spade rudder and wheel steering provide the precise control that suits a race-derived hull. Together, the fin keel, moderate beam, and high ballast ratio produce a boat that tracks like a racer while retaining the stability needed for cruising.
Accommodation
The cruising layout sleeps eight. The forward cabin contains a double V-berth, while the main cabin has two straight settees arranged around a drop-leaf table, plus two pilot berths. Two aft cabins provide one single berth each.
At the companionway, the straight galley lies to starboard and includes a three-burner stove, ice box, and sink. The navigation station is opposite, to port. The head is also to port, just aft of the forward cabin.
It’s a race-influenced interior, but one that still accommodates a family or short-handed crew without contortion.
Machinery, Maintenance, and Ownership
A Perkins 4-108 diesel provides power for docking and manoeuvring. It’s a robust period engine, but on most surviving boats it is now decades beyond its design life.
Only 33 Swan 39s were built, and production has ended. Any repair that requires a sister-ship part or hull-specific casting is therefore likely to involve custom work rather than an item from a chandlery shelf. The solid-fibreglass hull and wood trim must be assessed boat by boat as they age; the wood trim is the only non-glass component named by the sources.
Owning a Swan 39 means joining a very small cohort. That rarity, together with the Ron Holland design lineage, will appeal most to an owner who values race-derived handling over the convenience of broad production support.
The class also has a notable competitive result: an Italian Swan 39 named Black Swan won the overall title at the first Swan World Cup.
The Verdict
The Swan 39 is a limited-production Ron Holland design that brought IOR racing DNA into Nautor’s cruising range without sacrificing livability. It is quick, stable for its size, and rare enough to qualify as a collector’s cruiser-racer.
Pros
- First Ron Holland design built by Nautor, with direct lineage from the Admiral’s Cup racer IMP
- High ballast ratio and capsize screening suited to offshore and coastal sailing
- Eight-berth cruising layout with a proper navigation station and straight galley
Cons
- Only 33 built, so parts and hull-specific support are scarce
- Moderate-racer displacement-length ratio offers less load-carrying comfort than heavier cruisers
- The Perkins 4-108 now requires vigilant engine-life management
