Upgrading a Swede 55

The advantage of modern crusing square metre boats or Skärgårdskryssare like S30, Jubilee S40 or Swede 55 is that they are made of durable and nearly maintenace free fibreglass. You simply enjoy your precious time aboard. Added to this is the well thought-out construction of the largest model. The deck and superstructure of Swede 55 were made by Fisksaetra Varv as an advanced lightweight sandwich.

Clever construction of Swede 55

The deck laminate has 20 mm balsa core between the outer and inner skin. The cabin superstructure also consists of two shells. This makes the interior attractive and easy to clean. Now, so much gelcoat, a Treadmaster covering and the all-round aluminium footrail are not to everyone’s taste. Especially when the Treadmaster is getting old and needs repeated scrubbing..

Gamle Swede with Treadmaster covered deck and all around alloy footrail – Foto Swedesail

On Calypso and ES, see Swede 55 registry, the superstructure and centre cockpit have been painted and on ES the Treadmaster decking has been replaced with new teak. The top of the aluminium foot rail has been cut off and capped with mahogany. Previously, the Danish owner had refined a 30 sqm cruising boat type Lotus type in the same manner. The handsome upgrade matches the classic feel of the boats.

The price of upgrading and altering Swede 55

The price of the embellishment, apart from the considerable cost of the conversion and painting intervals of the exposed mahogany parts, is the extra weight. As described here, Swede 55 as a solid and correspondingly durable Fisksaetra construction with a rigid laminated hull and three other shells (hull inner shell, deck and deck inner shell). It already turned out heavier than expected. The beautiful appearance adds another 250 to 300 kilos to the boat, roughly speaking.

Swede 55 Calypso – Foto Lars Klok

Foto on top by Lars Klok: Calypso in Denmark.

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