Development & construction

Initially, Swede 55 was planned as International Onedesign 40 sqm Skerrycruiser with nominal 40 Squaremetres, accoarding to drawings by Reimers dated March 1974. During summer 74, the project became a slightly longer Onedesign 55 Squaremetre Class, as Reimers’ plans dated October 74 tell. Accoarding to Reimers’ drawings dated January 1975 and remarks on it, the general design was modified early 75 and more or less finished in summer 1975.

Detailed drawings by Reimers regarding keel construction (dated September 1976), accomodation and the revised sailplan are dated March 1977. Boat # 2 being covered in swedish magazine På Kryss & Tll Rors in 11/1976 with the first series of 15 boats being sold and under construction, series manufacture of Swede 55 seems to have been underway in autum 1976.

The prototype was built by Fisksätra Varv in Fisksätra, a village near Saltsjöbaden/Stockholm. Then the yard moved to the premises of a factory previously producing matches at Tändsticksvägen in Västervik at the east coast of Sweden. There the remaining 26 Swede 55s were built within a time span of three years. The last boats were delivered in spring 1980. I have seen about five Swede 55 and a fleet of her smaller sisters, the S30 with boxy superstructure in Västervik then.

Boat # 2 was covered in issue 11/1976 of swedish “På Kryss & Tll Rors” magazine. The artcles states that a series of 15 boats was already sold and under construction. So series manufacture of Swede 55 seems to have been well underway in autum 1976.

Facing the worldwide recession due to the oil crisis, the parent company Gylling withdrew from boatbuilding. The manufacture by Fisksätra Varv AB ceased in autumn 1979. Later seven boats (# 28 – 34) were constructed by ACVA Båt in Nyköping/Sweden and delivered as complete or semi-finished boats.