Hi You all and greetings from Finland!
I've been a
member of this group for awhile but not an active one... So here's my contribution to this great forum. One of the best I've ever visited!
I've been sailing all my life; started with dinghies and bought my first 24"
keel boat at the age of 26. It was right after I've finished my studies and a dream come true at that time. Of course it was deeply against my parents will... but my (then becoming) wife accepted it. I deeply appreciate her broadminded acceptance.
Years passed by and after gaining a lot of experience of restoring old boats to a condition like new I was facing a big question - should I stay with my
current Yacht, or is it finally time to buy the dream Yacht? I chose the dream Yacht after I my 50'th birthday had just passed by.
My
current Yacht has offered me more than I could ask for, thousands of trouble free miles with my
family and some Yachting also singlehanded. From
Finland to
Mediterranean and back etc. It was a great yacht and in very capable hands after selling her one year ago. I was looking for an Avance 40, designed by S&S and made in
Finland quite near the Nautor Yard. After being not successful in my search I broadened it a bit and started looking for a looked after
classic Swan with graceful lines and sailing capabilities above the standard.
There were some
for sale here in Finland and in
Germany but their condition was, should I say, challenging. At ClassicSwan.org I finally found the most proper one available. It was a S&S Swan 431 with all the new
rigging (new rods,
dyneema ropes), new
sails, new
teak decking,
engine, propshaft, el.windlass, ... etc. Her awlgripped
hull shines like new and after a very careful
survey (*) I decided to leave an offer which was soon accepted.
(*) I've been a
surveyor at the yacht Club level for over 2 decades.
We live in Finland and the Yacht CAID is located in
Italy near Venice. I did'n find the distance as a big problem, just have to spend on the road a bit more (20 hours...) when traveling to do the spring preparations. I was there twice during the spring and spent some 20 very long days doing the next installations with a friend of mine (Juhani is also a S&S Swan owner): new
electrical Lewmar ST54:s were installed to serve as primaries, new ST30 for the main
sheets,
Victron Phoenix 50A/1200W charger/pure sine-inverter, new Pioneer stereos and subwoofers with support to
iPhone and other iDevices,
Raymarine E7,
Ais Class B, Sailor
VHF, etc, etc...
After two and a half months of cruising at the
Adriatic I was very pleased to find out that I actually made the right decision. The Yacht
sails like a dream in a lightest of winds, which was a surprise after she's quite a heavy Yacht. She' very stiff (50% at the keel) and handles very well in the rougher
weather too. We did'nt have more than 30...40 knots of
head wind but with two reef at the radial main and some rolls at the 3DL genua she was sailed with one hand at the
steering wheel with confidence. This was a huge difference in the Yacht's behavior compared to my previous more modern Yachts. But I was happy with them also and didn't know of this kind of handling capabilities the Swan offers.
My
advice to You having similar dreams of classics: Buy it now, but only the best one You find and afford!
Here are some Youtube clips of our cruises from the last summer.
Launch:
First trip:
Second trip:
Enjoy!
IHe, Finland