Dream, story of a family Swan 47 (S&S)

Other years, other times. Being able to sail along the Mediterranean coast indefinitely in a 1970s Camper&Nicholson just over nine meters long. Being able to get to Lebanon… Perhaps it was easier, and little was needed. A compass, the right papers, and the will. Not even a refrigerator. Maybe it was simply another world. Then the year 2000, family, new demands, and her, our protagonist, a larger hull of greater scope, greater possibilities: Dream, a 1975 Swan 47, signed Sparkman&Stephens. A new world ahead.

Dream, more than just a boat

Sometimes, telling other people’s stories is the best thing to do, both to address some issues and to enthuse or inspire others. Especially, if the protagonists are them, the Classic Boats, hulls often of excellence and of not necessarily alien scope. Hulls imbued with nautical culture and stories, stories of their own, stories of our own, and stories of those who have passed over them before us. In this case, the story of a Swan 47, Dream, to reiterate again how the limit, in sailing, is certainly not the years of a hull.

Swan 47 S&S, a cult among cults

In order to proceed, to understand a minimum of the Dream’s allure and history, a step back to look at what boat it is. Built in 70 examples between 1974 and 1985, the Swan 47 is among the Nautor Swan / S&s designs that comes closest to the shipyard’s quintessence during the second half of the last century: the unmistakable retractable deckhouse, the narrow, high, almost ‘heart-shaped’ stern, and the inevitable elegance typical of hulls of that decade. But she is not just a beautiful boat. At 14.57 meters long overall, 11.05 meters at the waterline and 4.19 at maximum beam, the Swan 47 is also one of the most seaworthy, powerful and high-performance hulls of the period.

Displacing over 14.7 tons, including as much as 7 in keel (in fin), and strong with a particularly pronounced central maximum beam, streamlined then toward the stern and bow in its lines, this is a boat made to sail. Sail well. The aesthetics are purely a consequence of the brilliant pencils that designed her. And that she is made to grind out miles first and foremost is what the rankings say, and not only those of the time, as you will see.

Mediterranean Atlantic

Back to the Dream. Launched in 1975, it was purchased in 2000 by Francesco Persio, who thus left his Camper & Nicholson to move to a larger hull, a boat capable of accommodating the new needs and volumes that a family may entail/need. In a nutshell, new spaces, increased habitability and, above all, will emerge, much more step, ergo more daily miles. Inevitably, the Mediterranean is once again the object of exploration. But much more can now be done. The first ‘daring’ destination Gibraltar, heading for the Atlantic. Then the dream of many, the ‘safe excuse’ to make the passage to the new continent, the ARC. Francis and the boat have now seen some together, we are in 2012 and, registered as the City of Rieti for the occasion, Dream is ready for the adventure that awaits. The momentary name, moreover, to involve the entire citizenry of Rieti in the initiative, involving the City, the Province, the Chamber of Commerce… a shared experience to bring the many closer to the passion, complete with television broadcasts commented by the great Cino Ricci.

Fourteen days and twenty hours (14d 20h) between departure and arrival, taking advantage of major disturbances, with peaks between 40 and 50 knots, a crossing almost entirely with white sails, under mainsail and genoa tangoned, peaks of 18 knots… First in Class, Third Overall out of 200 boats. Results that say a lot about the design, this is 2012 and a ’75 boat is in the Top 3… without a single damage on board.

Atlantic Mediterranean

The arrival of the ARC is the perfect opportunity for those who want to tour the Caribbean. Francis knows this well and, here, he is joined by family. The children are 4 and 8 years old. Alternating between work and sailing, they touch the islands, then Venezuela, Colombia, and the big question: Panama. What to do? The temptation to go that way, throw your snout in the Pacific and get lost is great…however, school, raising children in a ‘common’ context, shared experiences. Totally breaking the relationship with the normal is never an easy choice. So bow to the Northeast, Gibraltar again and with her the Mediterranean. However, the Mediterranean, a huge native lake, is not a limitation. And it brings with it fun and experiences aplenty. The various Swan Cups, with a win in S&S Class, then a third place, being able to sail in general. In 2019 comes the time for a major refit and Dream comes out as good as new. Next come championships, the Argentario, meetings with Frers (he worked on the 47′ project in his time as a junior in Sparkman & Stephens) and the IOR Classic of the CIM circuit, next year, where with ad hoc waiver Dream enters, because the Classic environment, as Francis rightly reminds us, is worth it alone.

Swan 47. Beyond racing, beyond cruising

Talking with Francis, the thing that emerges perhaps more than any other, beyond the races, beyond the adventures, is the role the boat has been able to take in ‘building’ and raising a family. And this is where the model fails, we all agree. A sailboat is a sailboat. And Dream, like so many, has in its own way been able to be a hub, a point of reference. The cruise, the regatta, the simple sailing, she tells, have created a real union, an extra contact. That relationship that only sharing the sea can offer.

“The boat has that added value, through the close contact, the nature, even the hardships, if you will, that makes you appreciate much more what you really have. And I think these experiences really know how best to teach you what it means to appreciate all the little nuances of what you have … I’ve never seen looks like the ones my children have had at sea … in any other place or context, no. It’s a different world, a world creates a relationship of interpenetration with nature that you don’t find anywhere else. What a boat allows you to do and receive, nothing else does. Not to mention the cohesion that is created between people, the crew, even more so if it is family…”

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