Cut Loose Racing

The first Swan 60, then named Highland Fling, heeled upwind with her crew on the rail

The Boat

Swan 60 · Hull no. 1 · 1994

Designed by German Frers and built by Nautor in Finland, she was commissioned in 1994 by Irvine Laidlaw as Highland Fling, the first Swan built for grand prix racing.

She keeps the Swan essentials, a seaworthy hull and a full teak interior, and saves weight everywhere else: a 6 mm teak deck, foam-sandwich joinery and a fractional rig. At about 51,000 lb she is nearly 11,000 lb lighter than the cruising Swan 60.

In 1994 she won five straight races at Cork Week and the Swan World Cup in Sardinia, then raced Key West Race Week and the SORC.

“A race boat dressed up like a Swan.”
Jerry Kirby, America’s Cup sailor, 1995

LOA: 61′10″
Beam: 17′6″
Draft: 11′6″
Displ.: 51,800 lb
Mast: 82′
Sail: 2,478 ft²

Sources: Yachting, January 1995; The New York Times, August 24, 1995.

Coming soon