The 1973 Swan 44, Rosy Pelican, designed by Sparkman & Stephens has reduced her price to £198,000.

Rosy Pelican has been in the same ownership for 24 years. This Swan 44 has been an immensely successful boat for her current owners, sailing in every considerable type of sea state and in all weather. Ranging from an Atlantic crossing to the Fastnet Race, from Nautor’s Swan regattas to cruising on the Odet River in Brittany. After all that time she was due a refit and in late 2014 she returned from Sardinia and entered the HYS yard on the River Hamble on the south coast of the UK. By the end of her stay at the yard the boat was virtually rebuilt at considerable cost to her Owner.

During her refit the aft half of the hull was sandblasted back to the fibreglass. The new design called for it to be built up along half its length. From just a dab of fairing compound at the keel, by the time they got onto the counter stern, it was necessary to use 5in of foam to bulk out the hull, covered with layers of glass and epoxy for strength.

The surface area of the rudder has doubled, but the loss of the skeg means the overall wetted surface hasn’t increased. Under the original S&S design, the skeg served little purpose, as it didn’t support the rudder. Nonetheless, forces in the new spade rudder will be significantly higher, so the bearings and the rudder stock had to be beefed up as well.

It’s a cliché, but she really is better than new – benefiting from all the latest gear and electronics that was unavailable 40 years ago. The opportunity has been taken to modernise the deck layout, with all reefing now controlled from the cockpit, as well as a modification to the hull aft and installation of a semi-balanced rudder. That old IOR bustle has now gone and her steering and speed greatly improved. No longer that instability downwind these boats were famous for.