The birth of Nautor Swan: from a passion for sailing to the creation of a shipyard

The Finnish shipyard Nautor Swan has been synonymous with excellence in high-end sailing yachts for almost 60 years. Founded in 1966 by Pekka Koskenkyla. Indeed, he built his own boat in his father-in-law’s garage. Therefore, Pekka Koskenkyla decided to use his own funds to start a small production facility. Being convinced of the advantages of polyester, which was becoming more and more common in boat building, he decided to concentrate on the production of fast cruising yachts.

The first successes of the Nautor Swan shipyard

The shipyard quickly became successful with the Swan 36, designed in collaboration with Sparkman and Stephens. This fast cruising yacht, equipped with a long keel and a fiberglass hull. Ninety examples were built between 1969 and 1971.

The reputation of Nautor Swan was confirmed in 1973. In particular, when the Swan 65 (named Sayula 2) won the first Whitbread, a crewed round-the-world race. The Swan 65 was the largest fiberglass yacht ever built at the time.

This victory established Nautor Swan’s reputation as a builder of fast, well-built yachts. Since then, the Finnish shipyard has maintained this reputation by producing top-of-the-line yachts for racing and cruising.

Nautor Swan’s successful collaboration with leading racing yacht designers

The Finnish shipyard collaborates with leading names in naval architecture such as Sparkman & Stephens, Ron Holland and German Frers.

Thanks to the collaboration with Sparkman & Stephens, almost 1000 boats have been built. The Swan 38 and 47 yachts were very successful in regattas.

From 1978 to 1981, the famous architect Ron Holland designed the Swan 37, Swan 39 and Swan 42. These models were produced in about 300 units.

In the 1980s, Nautor worked with the architect German Frers to design the majority of the models.

Thanks to Nautor Swan’s collaboration with renowned architects, the Finnish shipyard remains competitive with the competition.

Nautor Swan boats today

Today, Nautor Swan offers a wide range of choices for sailing and motoring enthusiasts. The four ranges include boats designed for competition and for leisure.

The Swan Yacht range includes 6 models manufactured in series:

• Swan 48 Mikii
• Swan 54
• Swan 55
• Swan 58
• Swan 65
• Swan 78

The Swan Maxi range offers semi-custom models:

• Swan 88
• Swan 98
• Swan 108
• Swan 120
• Swan 128

The ClubSwan range includes one-designs:

• ClubSwan 36
• ClubSwan 43
• ClubSwan 50
• ClubSwan 80
• ClubSwan 125

Since 2021, Nautor has launched two 42-foot motor dayboats. They are the Swan Shadow and the Overshadow. They have been designed with the inspiration of sailboat models to offer an exceptional sailing experience.

Nautor Swan’s most popular pre-owned boats

Nautor Swan’s most popular pre-owned boats are :

• Swan 44
• Swan 46
• Swan 47
• Swan 55

These models have earned a reputation for strength, reliability and performance in racing and cruising.

Find all our used boats.

If you own a Nautor Swan boat and you want to estimate the price, contact us now. You will get an accurate and fair estimate of the value of your boat for free!