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History

Un Amour de Swan is a Sparkman & Stephens Swan 44, hull 44/060, tall rig, launched in March 1974 and originally shipped to the United States under her first name, The System.

In 1976 she was sold to her second owner, who renamed her Hawk and kept her in Lake Forest, north of Chicago, IL. She remained in the same family for more than thirty years, until 2007, and was much loved and exceptionally well cared for. During those years she was used only for summer cruising on the Great Lakes, and every winter was laid up ashore, under cover.

Purchased by the current owner in 2007. At that time she was still remarkably original, apart from the installation in the early 2000s of electric self-tailing primary winches and a bow thruster. Since 2007 she has sailed under a British flag and bears her current name, Un Amour de Swan – a discreet reference to Proust.

Originality

What makes this Swan particularly rare is the degree to which she has remained original. In recognition of this, in 2021 she received the “Best Maintained Swan” award at the 9th S&S Swan Rendez-vous in Marciana Marina, Italy.

As an example, she still has

* Original Nautor mast and boom

* Original running backstays

* Original staysail set-up

* Original gelcoat throughout

* Original wooden, bakelite and alloy blocks and travellers

* Numerous original wooden and bakelite snatch blocks and deck fittings

* Original Babe Blake head, fully refurbished and re-chromed in 2023

* Original 1974 interior upholstery, still in remarkably good condition

* Interior exceptionally well preserved throughout

* Fresh-water pedal pumps in galley and heads restored and fully operational

The boat has always been maintained with the aim of preserving her original character. 

Major works

A selection of major works carried out during her ownership are the following:

Early 2000s

* installation of electric self-tailing primary winches

* installation of bow thruster

2010 Refit

* Complete new teak deck

* Coachroof and cockpit repainted in Awlgrip

* New boom vang

* New Holmatro hydraulic backstay adjuster

* New Harken halyard winch for Dyneema mainsail halyard

* Spinlock clutches added for the two spinnaker halyards and mainsail halyard

* Complete replacement of standing and wire rigging

Other Major Works

* 2017: original Perkins 4.108 replaced with a new Yanmar 4JH5E, 40 kW

* 2020: new Victron battery charger, solar charging system and smart shunts

* 2023: Baby Blake toilet fully refurbished and re-chromed

* 2025: both fresh-water tanks replaced

Sails

The boat is offered with an unusually complete and valuable sail inventory.

A set of modern sails include: Full-batten mainsail by North Sails in 3DL Marathon, 140% genoa by North Sails in 3DL Marathon, Gennaker by North Sails. Mainsail and genoa are approaching the end of their life and will need to be replaced. The gennaker is still in good working order.

In addition, the boat comes with a large and rare collection of original Murphy & Nye sails from the late 1970s, all in serviceable condition, including: 3 spinnakers, 1 Starcut headsail, 1 Blooper, 1 Reacher, 1 Drifter, 1 Tallboy, 1 Bigboy, 1 Mainsail, 1 Yankee.

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Sails

Overall, Un Amour de Swan is an extraordinarily original and much-loved Swan 44, carefully maintained over more than fifty years without compromising her character.

In 2021 she received the “Best Maintained Swan” award at the 9th S&S Swan Rendez-vous in Marciana Marina, Italy.

This reputation is well known within the Swan community, and the boat is occasionally cited as an example of one of the best-preserved classic Swan 44s.

She is offered for sale because the owner now spends increasing amounts of time abroad and can no longer enjoy and look after her as much as he would wish – or as a boat of this quality deserves.

The boat is available in Southern Tuscany for inspection by appointment.

Further photographs – including a complete photographic record of the 2010 teak deck refit – and additional information are available on request.

https://www.classicswan.org/pdf/UADS.44_060.pdf

For enquiries please contact: