Design and Construction
The Swan 50 MS was built predominantly of glassfibre with wood trim, carrying a fixed fin keel and a skeg-mounted rudder controlled by a wheel. At 49.58 feet overall on a 37.5-foot waterline, with a 15.08-foot beam and a 5.58-foot draft, the hull is a raked-stem, angled-transom monohull of substantial displacement — about 51,000 pounds, with 14,500 pounds of lead ballast. The ballast-to-displacement ratio of 28.43 and a comfort ratio near 51.7 describe a heavy, steady cruising hull rather than a light racer, and the 1.63 capsize screening value sits in the range expected of an offshore-capable keelboat.
Rig and Handling
The boat carries a masthead ketch rig, a configuration that splits the sail plan between mainmast and mizzen for easier short-handed handling of large areas compared with a single-masted equivalent. With 1,112 square feet of sail and a hull speed around 8.2 knots, the ketch layout suits the boat's 51,000-pound displacement. The skeg-hung rudder and wheel steering place the helm in the contemporary cruising idiom, and the fixed fin keel gives a moderate draft for a 50-foot hull of this era.
Accommodations
Sleeping space is laid out for nine. The bow cabin holds a double V-berth, while two mid cabins each contain two bunk beds. Aft, the port side carries both a double berth and a single bunk across its two cabins, an arrangement that favors a cruising crew split between private and shared quarters. The main salon centers on a U-shaped settee, and the galley sits to starboard just forward of the companionway ladder as a C-shaped workspace with a three-burner stove, an ice box, and a double sink. Two heads serve the plan: one just aft of the bow cabin on the port side, the other on the starboard side in the aft cabin. The nine-berth count against a 51,000-pound hull reads as a serious cruiser's interior rather than a charter pack.
The Verdict
The Swan 50 MS is a scarce, heavily built Finnish ketch from the Sparkman & Stephens era of Nautor's early glass production — nine hulls, solid glassfibre construction, lead-ballasted and ketch-rigged for manageable sail handling. The accommodations are unusually generous for the length, with nine berths and a practical C-shaped galley, though the port-aft double-plus-single pairing is an idiosyncratic use of space. As a nine-unit design it will reward the buyer who values rarity and period Nautor construction over breadth of fleet support.
Pros
- Solid glassfibre hull with wood trim and 14,500 lb lead ballast
- Masthead ketch rig eases handling of a 1,112 sq ft sail plan
- Sleeping for nine with bow V-berth, two mid bunk cabins, and aft doubles/single
- C-shaped starboard galley forward of the companionway with three-burner stove and double sink
Cons
- Only nine built, limiting fleet knowledge and spares commonality
- Fixed fin keel at 5.58 ft draft limits shoal-water access
- Port-side aft cabin layout mixes double and single berths awkwardly
