Beneteau Swift Trawler 48 Review, Range at Trawler Speed and Price

The Beneteau Swift Trawler 48 sells a choice, not a speed

Every Beneteau Swift Trawler 48 buyer is really paying for one thing: the right to decide on the day whether this is a 9-knot passagemaker or a 20-knot coastal cruiser. Chris Caswell summed it up in Yachting as range when wanted, speed when needed, and the numbers back him up. At displacement speed the boat stretches its 510 gallons over 600-plus nautical miles by Beneteau's own conservative figure, and when a front is coming the Cummins diesels will push it past 20 knots for the run home.

That split personality goes back to the Swift Trawler 42, unveiled at the 2003 Cannes Yachting Festival. Beneteau quotes more than 1,300 Swift Trawler builds. The 48 made its world debut at the 2022 Miami International Boat Show, directly replacing the Swift Trawler 47, and was the largest Swift Trawler in the range at launch, with only the Grand Trawler above it.

If you are shopping a Swift Trawler 48 for sale, the short version is this. It is a refined, more livable 47 rather than a clean-sheet design, it remains in production in 2026, and nearly every used example on the market is a 2022 or later hull with modest hours.

Same MICAD hull, different boat inside

Beneteau kept the semi-displacement hull from naval architects MICAD and the resin-infused construction of the Swift Trawler 47, then handed the topsides and interior to Andreani Design. Outside, the giveaways are subtle. The bulwark buttresses that were plain gelcoat on the 47 became stainless and wood-batten pieces that echo the Grand Trawler 62, and the glazing is much the same.

Inside, the change is fundamental. The 47 put a lounge aft and the galley amidships, which made it the odd one out in the family. The 48 moves the galley aft to port, right inside the cockpit doors, and that frees the space beside the starboard lower helm for a raised C-shaped settee that converts to a double. Below, the guest double that faced forward on the 47 became a transverse double to starboard on the 48.

On the used market, a 2019 to 2021 Swift Trawler 47 and a 48 look nearly identical from the dock, so check the salon layout before comparing asking prices.

An asymmetric deck built for short-handed docking

The superstructure is offset to port, which leaves a proper ship-style side deck to starboard at cockpit level, protected by deep bulwarks, waist-high rails and the flybridge overhang. Fuel and water fillers sit on that side too, so the starboard side is always the one you bring alongside. The port deck is narrow and higher, fine for hanging fenders but not a route you choose.

The best single feature on the boat is the sliding door beside the lower helm. The skipper can step straight onto the wide starboard deck, reach the midship cleat and bulwark gate, and keep a hand near the optional Cummins joystick while a couple brings the boat in. The door locks at several opening widths, and like the other doors it has pull-out screens for bugs. Cleats are 16 inches, sized for the heavy lines you meet at commercial and fuel docks.

Aft, the flybridge stair slides forward on tracks with a foot pedal to clear the cockpit, double transom gates open onto a swim platform with an optional hydraulic lift for a 770-pound tender, and forward there are twin anchor rollers on a Lewmar windlass with controls at both helms.

Up top, Beneteau quotes about 20 square meters (roughly 215 square feet) of flybridge, with a centerline helm, flip-over settee backrests for forward-facing passengers, a dining table to starboard and a forward-facing wet bar. Behind the radar mast sits a railed open area of about 54 square feet that owners use for loungers or paddleboards.

A galley at the cockpit door and a helm with a real seat

The L-shaped galley to port gets a full-height fridge-freezer that Soundings put at 67 gallons, a Corian counter with gas or induction cooking, a gas or multi-function electric oven and room for a dishwasher. Yachting's test boat added a Miele convection oven, an ice maker and a wine chiller. A long sideboard runs forward on the starboard side.

The dinette and lounge are raised about 8 inches so seated guests see out through the side windows, and with infill cushions and the standard privacy curtains the dinette becomes berths seven and eight. The helm uses the same adjustable pedestal bucket seat as the Grand Trawler 62, a clear upgrade on the 47's bench perched on cabinetry. Standard displays are twin 9-inch Raymarine units, with room for twin 12-inch screens, and a big chart locker under the windshield hints at who Beneteau expects to buy this boat.

Three cabins, two heads and where the washer-dryer goes

The owner's cabin is forward with an island double that has room on both sides, 6 feet 6 inches of headroom and a 6-foot-6 bed, hull windows with opening ports, an overhead hatch and an en suite head with a separate shower stall and teak seat.

Amidships, the port cabin has two singles with an infill to make a double and its own door into the day head, which also serves the rest of the boat, so the arrangement works like a Jack-and-Jill. The starboard cabin has a transverse double and a wardrobe large enough for an optional stacked washer-dryer. Most owners planning more than a weekend aboard tick that option.

The weak point is the small lobby, where several doors swing inward and you tend to get trapped between them with three couples aboard.

Cummins QSB 6.7 380s or 425s, and the test numbers

Both engine choices are Cummins QSB 6.7 diesels on straight shafts. Hull number one, tested by Motor Boat & Yachting off Port Ginesta near Barcelona, had the standard twin 380 hp engines and reached between 21 and 23.3 knots depending on load, with a best recorded run of 23.7 knots. The magazine's figures show about 9 knots at 1,500 rpm for roughly 650 nautical miles, and about 18 knots at 2,500 rpm for roughly 380 miles, both with a 20 percent reserve. At 20 knots the pair burned about 85 liters per hour, roughly 22.5 gallons per hour, for a 343-mile range.

The optional 425s add a few knots at the top. Beneteau quotes about 25 knots and Yachting saw 26 knots on a boat with the bigger engines, which also ran a lumpy Gulf Stream at 18 knots and 2,370 rpm without throwing spray on the windshield. Beneteau's own data suggests there is little range penalty for the 425s, about 640 nautical miles at 9 knots and 325 at 18 knots.

Treat long-range claims carefully. Yachting quoted 1,300 nautical miles at 6.7 knots, while Beneteau's brochure promises a more modest 600-plus at 9 knots with a 10 percent reserve. Plan Bahamas crossings and Inside Passage legs around the builder's figure.

Roll at trolling speed and the missing stabilizer option

Beneteau does not offer factory stabilizers on any Swift Trawler, the 48 included. With a fairly high center of gravity and a semi-displacement hull, the boat rolls in a beam sea at low speed, which is exactly when trawler owners spend most of their time. Beneteau told Motor Boat & Yachting it receives only one or two requests a year, but several owners of smaller Swift Trawlers have retrofitted Seakeeper gyros, and the lazarette under the cockpit is the obvious home for one on the 48.

Power & Motoryacht's editors saw both sides on a March run to Bimini. In 20-knot winds and a steep 6-foot swell the boat slowed to 9.8 knots and the captain turned back; the next morning it ran about 20 knots and crossed from Fort Lauderdale in roughly four hours. The hull can take more than most crews want, so patience with the weather pays.

Running costs, Seanapps and buying a nearly new 48

Twin 6.7-liter Cummins engines are among the most widely supported diesels in North America, and that keeps maintenance predictable. Engine room access is through two large cockpit hatches, and Yachting found every service point within reach even with the 425s. A Mase 7.5 kW generator and Webasto air conditioning were fitted on the boats the magazines tested. Budget roughly $45,000 to $85,000 a year for slip, insurance, service, haul-outs and fuel, depending on how far you cruise and how fast.

Because production is ongoing, a used Swift Trawler 48 competes with a new one at the dealer. Expect a 2022 or 2023 boat to save roughly 15 to 30 percent against a comparable new build, and give extra value to boats with the 425s, joystick, hardtop, platform lift, washer-dryer and a gyro already installed.