Beneteau just announced that it’s building a totally new Swift Trawler 54 that will make its debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September before coming to the U.S.
The new boat, with three staterooms, two heads, and an unusual amount of glazing to provide light throughout the salon and the accommodations deck below, will be powered by two 550-hp diesels with a top speed of 20 knots, and a range of 800 nm at 9 knots. It has a new “fusion” hull by Bill Dixon that is supposed to be fuel efficient and seaworthy while providing more interior volume.
The new 54 replaces the old Swift Trawler 52; the Swift Trawler range now goes from 35 feet to 62 feet. The 54 starts with a high, reverse angle windshield that wraps around the front corners and is supported by thin mullions. Now, for the first time, the glazing extends down both sides and is repeated at the see-through transom.
The salon has doors on both sides that open to the port and starboard decks; in some of the smaller Swift Trawlers the starboard side deck is larger than the port one, in an asymmetrical layout. The deep bulwarks with stainless steel grab rails should make it easy and safe to move around the boat.
The cockpit is large with an aft-facing dinette and it has side gates for easy boarding. Gates aft lead down to the hydraulic swim platform, with a pop-up tender cradle.
The salon has an aft lounge to port and a midships galley, one step up. The helm is centered. On the lower deck, the owner’s cabin is full beam amidships with its own head; the two other cabins share a head.
The new 54 will be the first Swift Trawler to offer Vector fin stabilizers. It also will offer solar panels on the flybridge overhang and wind turbines on the flybridge hardtop to create enough power to run the hotel loads at anchor.
On a personal note, I’ve been a fan of Beneteau’s Swift Trawlers ever since George Sass, Sr., the photographer, and I took a 34 from the top of Lake Michigan down to Chicago and then to Hoppies, on the Mississippi below St. Louis, several years ago as part of the Great Loop. The boat was easy to live on and perfectly seaworthy, even in some not-so-great conditions on Lake Michigan.
Specs.: LOA: 56’2”; Beam: 16’3”; Draft: NA; Disp.: NA; Fuel: 925 gals.; Water: 211 gals.; Power: 2×550-hp diesels.
Read more: http://beneteau.com
