Swift Trawler 44 Review and Used Buyer's Guide

How the Swift Trawler 44 fixed the 42

The Swift Trawler 44 is a second draft. Beneteau's original Swift Trawler 42, which Motor Boat & Yachting tested in 2004, had a hull that testers loved and an interior and fuel bill that disappointed. For the 44 Beneteau kept that Joubert-Nivelt hull unchanged, which Power and Motoryacht called a good thing since it was a fine design, and reworked almost everything above it with designer Pierre Frutschi.

Power and Motoryacht listed the 42's American problems: too little stowage in the saloon, a small and cramped galley and a guest cabin with bunks. Motor Boat & Yachting added that the old galley was cut in two by the port sliding door. The 44 answered all of them, and the market responded. When it debuted at the Paris show, Power and Motoryacht reported, the first year's production sold out quickly. YachtBuyer dates the run from 2011 to 2020, and the Swift Trawler 41 was its replacement.

Lopsided side decks and a vertical windscreen

The key move was borrowed from the smaller Swift Trawler 34: asymmetric side decks. Power and Motoryacht measured the port deck at about a foot wide and set higher, and the starboard deck at 14.5 in, reached from the helm by a side door and from the dock by a midships boarding gate. Narrowing the port side let Beneteau line the saloon with cabinets, turn the old island galley into a usable U-shape and enlarge the guest cabin enough for a queen-size bed. Motor Boat & Yachting, initially wary, became a fan, noting that the wide starboard deck, sliding door and bulwark gate make berthing easy.

The other visible change is the near vertical, wraparound windscreen without mullions. Motor Boat & Yachting found the forward view from the lower helm astonishing and the saloon much brighter, with the only blind spot being a bulkhead when looking aft to starboard. The wheelhouse was also lengthened slightly over the 42's.

Two cabins, two heads and a sofa that becomes a third berth

Below, the owner's cabin forward has a central berth on gas struts over a huge, compartmented storage space, well over 6 ft of headroom and an elongated hull window. Beneteau's specification has the owner's bathroom en suite with a separate shower and a second bathroom with an electric toilet, and Motor Boat & Yachting reported that the day head could be converted into a larger shower compartment for a cruising couple. The guest cabin has a 6 ft 5 in by 4 ft 9 in double and its own long window.

In the saloon, a sofa unfolds into a double with one pull while keeping its cushions in place, and a curtain screens it off as a third sleeping area. The galley sits next to the helm with a sliding window above it; flipping the double helm seat forward exposes extra counter space, an idea Motor Boat & Yachting found odd. Test boats had matte cherry joinery, while Beneteau's later specification lists Alpi mahogany with walnut as an option.

Twin Volvo D4s, speed and fuel

Standard power is a pair of 300 hp Volvo Penta D4 diesels on shafts. Motor Boat & Yachting recorded a top speed of 24.9 knots, and Beneteau quotes about 24 knots. Power and Motoryacht saw better than 27 mph, about 23.5 knots, but its test boat's Volvo display could not show fuel flow, so its consumption figures were extrapolated from Volvo's engine curves: 2 statute miles per gallon or better up to 1,750 rpm and 10.2 mph, and better than 1 mpg up to 3,000 rpm and 21.5 mph.

Motor Boat & Yachting measured the improvement over the 42 directly. At 3,100 rpm and about 20 knots, the 44 burned 19.1 gph for 1.07 miles per gallon, where the old 42 with twin 370 hp Yanmars had burned 28.2 gph for 0.82 mpg. At 8 knots, it estimated a range just short of 650 miles from the 370 gallon tankage, carried in two welded aluminum tanks forward of the engines. Beneteau claims fuel consumption per mile stays almost constant between 12 and 19 knots, which is where most owners cruise.

• Top speed: about 24 to 25 knots
• Fast cruise: about 20 knots at roughly 19 gph (Motor Boat & Yachting)
• Efficient cruise: 8 to 9 knots, around 2 mpg
• Fuel: 370 gallons in two aluminum tanks

Underway manners and life on the flybridge

Power and Motoryacht found the hull stable even beam-to in a moderate sea, planing easily without excessive bow rise, with a keel that tracks well and offers some grounding protection without causing outward heel in turns. Turns of about three boat lengths were possible, though the hydraulic steering took effort. Motor Boat & Yachting described the handling as supple and direct, with almost no lean in hard turns and no wallow in a following sea; other journalists aboard reported spray reaching the flybridge in a head sea.

The flybridge is large for a 45 footer, with seating for eight per Power and Motoryacht, a central helm, a wet bar near the stairs and room aft for a tender of about 8 ft, lifted by a mast and electric winch. A 38 in deep swim platform with a substantial ladder, borrowed from the Swift Trawler 52, leads through an inward-opening transom door into a covered cockpit. Motor Boat & Yachting noted that the cockpit overhang traps engine noise, making it the loudest spot aboard.

Known niggles from the test reports

None of these are serious, but they show up on boats that have not been upgraded.

• Flimsy Plexiglass flybridge hatch that wobbles at sea (Motor Boat & Yachting)
• Gas struts under the forward berth too weak for the weight
• Cheap plastic sliding panels over the galley
• Low backrests on the flybridge seating
• Tight engine room reached through a saloon floor hatch, with raw water strainers behind a separate hatch by the helm
• Dark brown flybridge upholstery that shows salt

Air draft, Loop plans and what it costs to own

Beneteau quotes an air draft of 12 ft 8 in with the mast folded and 25 ft 6 in with it raised, and a draft of 3 ft 5 in, numbers that suit the Intracoastal and many Great Loop routes if the mast and electronics are kept low. Measure the actual boat, since radar, antennas and canvas change the figure.

Expect asking prices from about $250,000 for early boats to around $440,000 for the latest. Annual costs, including slip, insurance, haul-out and servicing two Volvo D4s, typically run $24,000 to $48,000 before fuel. A 9.5 kVA generator and air conditioning were options worth finding for southern cruising.