In 1982, Californian sailor Jim Walton won the San Francisco-Hawaii Race with his Swede 55 Temptress. Together with his bold crew he finished the regatta with a thrilling spinnaker run, reaching top speeds of up to 20 knots. It was the last edition of this race successfully completed with a series production boat. Thereafter, custom-built sleds dominated the competition.
The return journey, with a long upwind leg in choppy seas, was more arduous than the outward leg for Temptress. So Walton considered a wider and significantly heavier boat. The same boat again, but slightly different. Every sailor is familiar with these thoughts.
Tempress featured in Sail Magazine October 1982
Walton wanted a boat that would handle waves in upwind sailing better than his Swede 55, thanks to more weight, power, and beam – offering more hull stability. He shared his idea with Olof Hildebrand, the Swede 55’s developer, who in turn commissioned yacht designer Peter Norlin to create the Super Swede 53. The “53” refers to the boat’s length in feet.
The boat, with a planned displacement of 12 tons, became significantly heavier, hence the considerably larger sail area. Its 70 m2 mainsail is barely manageable. Even the jib, at 48 m2, had more area than the Swede 55’s mainsail. With the mainsail and Genoa I, the boat sails upwind with 150 m2, roughly double the upwind sail area of the Swede 55.
Super Swede 53: Wider and Heavier Successor to the Swede 55
Just two years after Swede 55 manufacture by the Swedish Fisksätra yard ceased, Swede 55 developer Olof Hildebrand arranged the construction of two boats, one for Walton and one for a Swedish client. On behalf of Hildebrand, Peter Norlin designed the Super Swede 53 in two versions: one with the modern, forward-sloping transom shown here and the other with a traditionally raked stern.
The construction was undertaken by a newly founded company named Swede Hergla Yachts near Sousse in Tunisia. The idea was to take advantage of the favourable wages compared to Sweden, as well as the warm and dry climate in North Africa. However, the collaboration between Hildebrand and a local Tunisian businessman failed.
One of the two sandwich-hulled boats was completed for a previous Swede 55 sailor and prominent Swedish businessman. It was the version with the conventional counter shown on top. In 1984, I visited the place north of Sousse, with the upside-down hull under construction, and later saw the finished boat, named Prillan, at its berth in the outer Stockholm Skärgård. In 1998, I found a German owner for the boat, who moored it in Travemünde at the Baltic Sea.
The Concept and Appeal of the Super Swede 53
Similar to the Swede 55, the so-called partial rig, where the headstay is attached significantly below the masthead, offers the experienced sailor interesting bending options to flatten the mainsail with pulling the backstay. The mast length allows for 118 square meters of sail area upwind. This was intended to compensate for the displacement in light winds. Handling the mast with backstays and check stays was common on racing boats and seemed acceptable for cruising at the time. Today, boats with such rigs are not easily sold. The leeward backstays and check stays must be temporarily tied forward when setting the mainsail or reefing. This is a minor issue, but one that is becoming decreasingly accepted.
Specifications Super Swede 53
Length overall (modern raked transom)
16 m
52 ft 6 in
Length overall (traditional transom)
16.38 m
53 ft 8 in
Beam
3.70 m
12 ft 2 in
Draft
2.43 m
7 ft 12 in
Planned displacement*
12 t
26,455 lb
Actual displacement (weighed)
14.55 t
32,077 lb
Ballast
6.5 t
14,330 lb
Ballast ratio*
54%
Volvo Penta MD30A 4-cylinder with Saildrive
40 HP
Diesel tank
90 l
24 gals
Length-to-beam ratio
4,4
Sail area to displacement ratio
4,8
Commissioned May 1986, Sail number 1993 S 6861
Rig dimensions and sail sizes Super Swede 53
P (Luff mainsail)
20 m
65 ft 7 in
E (Foot mainsail)
6.40 m
20 ft 12 in
I (headsail height)
18 m
59 ft 1/2 in
J (headsail base)
5.80 m
19 ft 1/3 in
Großsegel
70 m2
753 ft2
Self tacking jib
48 m2
516 ft2
Genoa I
80 m2
861 ft2
Storm jib
27 m2
290 ft2
Up wind sail area
118 m2
1,270 ft2
Spinnaker
190 m2
2,045 ft2
Gennaker
150 m2
1,614 ft2
Cruising Spinnaker
120 m2
1,291 ft2
The owner experienced a shake down sailing from Menorca to Sardinia in sound Mistral conditions. In 1990, the Super Swede 53 Prillan completed the Gotland Round Regatta as the sixth boat out of 220 participants. The side view reveals the elegance of a remarkable and rare example of Scandinavian yacht design. The bow’s rake with its subtle spoon bow, the sheer line, the low cabin superstructure, and the elegant stern beneath the substantial rig are noteworthy. The Super Swede 53 is a simple and elegant boat by Peter Norlin, his finest design.
Photo above by Swedesail: Super Swede 53, later named Prillan, with a traditional raked transom, under construction in summer 1984 at Swede Hergla Yachts near Sousse, Tunisia. Published March 25, 2026, updated March 26, 2026.→ Subscribe to the newsletter, and you won’t miss future articles.
