Growth of more than 50% forecast for 2019

At its boot Düsseldorf press conference last week, Finnish yacht-builder Nautor’s Swan said that the renewal of its product range has contributed to enhancing its financial performance.

Turnover has risen 26% following the renewal of the range, which currently sees six new models in build. This has resulted in an active order book in excess of €110m, with 11 yachts being delivered in 2018 and over 20 anticipated this year. The new line comprises the Swan 48, 65, 98 and 120, together with the ClubSwan 36 and 125, the former of which features an inboard version of Torqeedo’s Cruise 10.0 electric drive system.

German Frers at Dusseldorf

Naval architect Germán Frers, the heart of Swan design since the 1980’s, was on hand at Dusseldorf for the launch of his latest models.  Nautor Swan has produced more than 700 yachts from Frers’ designs.

With six new models in construction, Nautor’s Swan is confirming its leadership across a wide range – from 10m-40m (39ft-131ft). Three distinct divisions, Swan Yachts, ClubSwan Yachts and the Maxi Swan Division, enable Nautor to respond to all market needs.

The current range also includes the best-selling racing One Design ClubSwan 50, the new Swan 78, the Swan 60 and the blue-water Swan 54 which, with 16 units sold over three years in Europe, the US, Asia and Australia, has proved to have genuine worldwide appeal.

Another contributor to the group’s strong results was the relocation of three manufacturing plants in the first quarter of 2019 to the new Boatbuilding Technology Centre at Pietarsaari.

Nautor’s Swan says it will now benefit from greater control of the manufacturing process, product quality and build efficiencies. This integration will be finalised with a total investment in excess of €10m. This will include a state-of-the-art composite clean room which is fully operative, allowing the internally developed latest pre-preg technology.

A new logistics centre will deploy all materials to the different departments of lamination, assembly and painting, the engineering department will be side-by-side to the manufacturing departments, and the joinery linked just-in-time to the assembly. All this will maximise the interaction among naval architect, engineers, and boatbuilders, says Nautor.

The recently inaugurated Spray Booth and oven measure 40m x 12m x 8m, with air circulation up to 448k m3/h and digital humidity control. The composite shop and clean room with its vacuum tables is a state-of-the-art facility for pre-preg lamination.

Technological partnerships on composites with SRG and electrical propulsion by Torqeedo/BMW for the ClubSwan 36 have also been signed up.

To improve the Nautor Swan customer experience, the Med Service project is now completed. This is thanks to the new partnership with EMV which has seen Nautor’s Swan relaunch its Palma Customer Care base and added Badalona to its refit yards. The network among all directly-controlled service centres and the authorised service centres will be further developed in 2019. The Customer Care competence centre of Pietarsaari will be further upgraded.

In respect of Nautor’s Racing programme, further developments are planned to maximise the ClubSwan experience. Thanks to a dedicated race officer, Ariane Mainemare, there will be an improvement in the quality of Nautor’s on-water race management. This will include:

  • Introduced fleet performance analysis with drone and tracking for Swan One Design events is being implemented
  • A new winter series is planned in Scarlino to optimize the Swan One Design training
  • Specific Customer Care and Refit program defined for the Swan One Design Classes during winter and the 2019 racing season

Topics