16/01/2020
Hi Mike, good questions…The Swede is a funny boat, but one of the big pluses is that it has huge amounts of storage space. You need to think of it as having the interior space of a classic 38 foot boat but with the storage of a 50ft boat.– it has a nice V-birth, decent head, salon with nice settees and two fold out bunks that are very wide, a good sized galley and nav table and the pilot berth behind that. It’s fairly narrow, so there isn’t tons of space to move around but for a couple of folks it’s fine. The foldout table is comfortable and the galley has lots of room to cook.
The aft cabin is pretty strange. I suppose it works well if you need extra room for occasional guests, but I wouldn’t really want to spend much time sleeping back there – maybe I’m just a pansy. It is great for storage though, and pretty large. It also means that you can sit in comfort and work on the steering gear if needed. It’s easy to install autopilots etc, without standing on your head. If you decided to not use the aft cabin it would be great for extra storage of all sails, suba gear, bikes, etc etc.
Behind the aft cabin is a huge lazerette. It’s large enough that you can lie down in it. It’s large enough to fit a folded up dinghy, engine, fenders, lines, spare anchor, more sails, or what ever other crap you have.
The boat also has a pretty large anchor locker. It’s plenty large enough for two anchors, and line, perhaps a spare sail or two etc. I can fit in it just fine sitting down…Like I said, tons of storage space all around.
My boat has an added 125ltr bladder fresh water tank under the V-birth. I haven’t used it yet, but that and the 20 gallon tank under the pilot berth should be plenty of water. I know that some have also built water tanks into the bilge of the boat – it’s very deep. If you wanted to you could easily add more tanks under the aft cabin. I’m guessing you could fit another 30 gallons of tanks below the floor boards. You need to remember that the engine is pretty small – my boat still has the original 22hp Volvo which uses very little fuel. I would think that you wouldn’t need anymore than 50 gallons of fuel to go anywhere. My engine uses around ½ a gallon per hour at 6.5 knots. That’s 100 hours of running time at 6.5 knots which is 650 miles – more motoring than I would want to do. She’s also a fast boat under sail, especially down wind. When most cruisers would be motoring in 8 knots of breeze downwind you would be sailing at 6 knots or so.
As for construction the boat seems pretty solid. The hull is solid glass – no core, and when I cut out a hole for a spedo it was 1” thick! That’s pretty serious. It also looked well constructed – lots of glass and not excess resin. Mine’s 30 years old and all the floors etc show no signs of problems. Because the hull is solid glass it seems like you do get some flex (oil canning) that can be fixed with stringers glassed it. I have heard that the front v-birth can get broken loose from the hull, but mine hasn’t had that problem. I would assume that the cabin sole is original in mine and it’s starting to delaminate. This winter I will be replacing the whole thing. 30 years isn’t bad for the original though. The bulkheads and everything else seem solid with no issues.
The boat does have a cored deck, so you need to watch for wet balsa. Mine’s pretty dry so I’m not worried, but it could be an issue on other boats. The stanchions go through solid glass which is good, and the hull joint seems very well engineered.
All this makes for a very tough boat, but I do wish mine was a bit lighter. From all reports when the boat is made lighter it really transforms it into a machine – both the cold molded one in Maine and the new ones in Sweden are much lighter – it means the boat can have more keel and a taller rig while staying lighter – good for racing. For cruising I think you will be very happy with the robust hull and deck!
Sorry for the long reply, but I wanted to cover all the bases. Earlier in the summer I had considered selling mine, but after I have sailed it for the last few months I realize it’s a very cool boat – it looks amazing, draws lots of compliments, goes fast and it very easy to sail. Like I said in my last message, you can leave the wheel for minutes on end while doing 7 knots and she just sails herself.
Mine is now out of the water up in Vermont, but you are welcome to come look at it if you want to get a feel for the boat in person. I’m starting a whole bunch of work on it – new cabin sole and reworking the cockpit controls. I’m putting in a really nice traveler and reworking the halyard control system.
Slow.
