07 Sep OWNER’S EXPERIENCE – Sailing on board Swan 48 Ambra
A performance cruiser with lifestyle on board!
We were so excited and couldn’t wait any more after the extended winter period for our new sailing dream a Swan 48, SY Ambra. Swan kept us in the loop and sent pictures from the factory and progress of the build. Finally, the boat was finished in spring sitting at the factory waiting for the delivery to the med. We decided to start our voyage in the med, since we had already sailed from the Baltic sea to the med onour previous boat. Everything worked out and we traveled to France on the 15th of June, the re/opening day of the borders in Europe.
Ambra arrived safely a few days earlier via Sleepy Yacht Transport, who documented the trip from Finland to France via road and ferries. The Swan Service Team in Villefranche-Sur-mer under the leadership of Yves, welcomed Ambra in the med and launched the boat.
We had plenty of time to organise all the things we will need for Ambra over the winter and accumulated a lot of parts and equipment to take on board.
The sales process with Britta and Thorsten Flack was professional and fun. We highly recommend to visit the factory and meet the experts to discuss all options on-site. Britta and Thorsten organized the factory visit and were the perfect hosts and supported us with their experience. Thorsten came to the launch in France as well and stayed with us, to discover and test all the features during the handover. Thank you to the perfect sales team for all your advice and pictures.
Why Swan 48?
We looked for a performance cruiser with lifestyle onboard. The combination of the experience in performance boat building by Nautor Swan in Finland and the Italian design influence has made the Swan 48 for us the ideal choice. Being a small crew we decided on the Swan 48 for many more reasons. We can handle the boat without additional crew,we like the design and Swan offers all the features which are important to us.
The performance under sail is amazing and confirmed our decision. The Swan 48 is not only fast, but well balanced and agile. You do not need to heel, the best performance comes with the right sail trim at max 20 degree healing angle, which is a convenient way to enjoy sailing.
We decided on a furling mast and Elvstrom sails to make it easier for us. The profile of the sails and performance is absolutely a great combination. As another speed kicker, we have a light furling reacher sail in pink. The sail has not only a fresh color but is so much fun and easy to handle, even by the two of us. The steering with the two ruder blades offers perfect control. Our concern to maneuver the Swan 48 in a small marina has not been an issue. Going backwards we use less the steering and prefer the bow thruster to direct the boat.
We decided for electric winches to handle the setup and they make it easier to optimize the trim.
The combination of systems such as a watermaker, lithium batteries, solar panels and a genset make Ambra the perfect and independent performance blue water cruiser. We prefer to stay on anchor and enjoy the freedom and nature.
The cockpit is spacious and offers plenty of seating options while cruising or to rest. In addition, there is a sunbathing area on the foredeck. It is a perfect hide away to enjoy the scenery or read a book.
Coming from a centre cockpit yacht, our initial concern was do we feel safe with an open aft cockpit? We confirm, so far we have never had that feeling and enjoy the spacious cockpit area.
The dinghy garage is a key storage area for all our water sport activities gear and other items you don‘t want to take into the boat. On longer trips we store our dinghy with the aluminium floor there as well. The dinghy area is accessible from the transom door and from the top which is helpful to access fenders or lines.
Below deck offers so much light from the large hull windows. We enjoy the sunrise in bed with a coffee and view over the water outside.
We invite you to follow Mr and Mrs Krumm’s experience on: Worldcruisingstories.com