Design and Construction
Both hull and deck are hand-laid fiberglass in a sandwich construction, and the yard offered the 50 with different keel alternatives — a fin keel and a wing keel, the lead fin keel cast in lead anchor. The fin-keel draft runs about 8.53 to 8.83 feet dependent on load, while the wing-keel version draws roughly 6.50 to 6.80 feet, a meaningful cruise-range difference that lets the shoaler boat reach smaller harbours without surrendering the Norlin-Ostmann hull form. At 31,500 pounds displacement with 12,800 pounds of lead ballast, the boat carries a 41% ballast ratio and a displacement-length ratio near 202, figures that place her firmly in the heavy, seakindly end of the cruising spectrum rather than the light-displacement performance camp.
Rig and Handling
The 50 is a masthead sloop, and the rigging schedule is thorough: mainsail, jib/genoa, and spinnaker halyards each run 46.0 metres at 14 mm diameter anchor, while the working sheets — jib, genoa, and mainsheet — are 16 mm, the mainsheet alone 38.1 metres long. Those dimensions tell the story of a boat sized for full-length ocean sails and a crew that expects to handle them without gear anxiety. Under power, a Volvo Penta TMD 31 diesel with shaft drive gives a calculated maximum of about 8.5 knots, essentially matching the 8.6-knot theoretical hull speed of a displacement vessel her length. The capsize screening value of 1.80 and a Motion Comfort Ratio of 32.4 reinforce the picture of a stable, upright cruiser built to carry load and weather comfortably rather than to race.
Accommodations
Below, the Sweden Yachts 50 is laid out with four cabins and berths for six to eight, a galley, and toilet facility, the mahogany interior finished in mahogany like many of her contemporaries from the yard anchor. The 14.25-foot beam and 3.51 length-beam ratio give the accommodation volume a measured breadth without pushing into the slab-sided extremes of later production cruisers. A 66-square-metre wetted surface and 367 kg/cm immersion rate mean she sits heavily and changes trim slowly under stores and water — predictable, but a consideration for any owner loading for extended cruising.
The Verdict
The Sweden Yachts 50 is a thoughtfully engineered late-1980s cruiser whose sandwich fiberglass construction, lead-ballasted keel options, and thorough masthead rig define a boat built for distance and load rather than speed alone. Her modest production run of nineteen keeps her uncommon, but the specification is coherent and sober, a yacht for the sailor who values a stiff, comfortable hull and a proper ocean rig over market ubiquity.
Pros
- Lead fin or wing keel options let the buyer choose between deep-water stability and shoal draft
- 41% ballast ratio and 1.80 capsize screening value describe a stiff, bluewater-capable hull
- Four cabins with six to eight berths and mahogany interior suit extended liveaboard cruising
- Full-size masthead rig with documented halyard and sheet dimensions ready for offshore sail plans
Cons
- Fin-keel draft of 8.5-plus feet restricts her to major marinas
- Heavy displacement and 202 displacement-length ratio mean modest light-air acceleration
- Only nineteen built, so spares and knowledgeable surveyors are less common than for high-volume marques
