Beneteau Swift Trawler 44

[rclarke246]

I replaced the original transducer with the "stick-on hockey puck" style- with remarkable improvement!

The part was only $125 and pretty easy to install.

Ps, why do my photos rotate 90 degrees when I post?

 

[boater3]

How does the Beneteau Swift Trawler 44 compare to the Jeanneau Velasco 43? I'm torn between them... Any reason there is not Velasco sub-forum here but there is one for the Swift Trawler? Thanks in advance!

 

[Florence]

The Jeanneau is news to me and certainly looks very modern and stylish. I am sure that it is a good boat from this stable- are they owned by Beneteau these days?
Our own ST42 is more traditional looking in the Trawler style which we like. This model morphed in to the ST44 a while back. I believe that they have produced over 1000 of these 2 models over the years so they must be doing something right!
We are very happy with our boat which fits our needs well. She is well engineered. The Volvo engines are particularly economical. Best of luck with your new vessel.

 

[Joebad]

How does the Beneteau Swift Trawler 44 compare to the Jeanneau Velasco 43? I'm torn between them... Any reason there is not Velasco sub-forum here but there is one for the Swift Trawler? Thanks in advance!

They are both Beneteau products both made in France. They are a bit different. Choose which one you like. The velasco may be more expensive. I have a swift 34 and love it. You can look at Prestige and monte carlo tooi particularly love the monte carlo mc4 but my next boT is a beneteau swift 50 if i can ever figure out how to pay for it!!!!!!! It is a house on the water!!!!

 

[User915]

Beneteau shipyard, 133 years of history :

History of a Sail and Motorboat manufacturer - Beneteau

 

[boater3]

They are both Beneteau products both made in France. They are a bit different. Choose which one you like. The velasco may be more expensive. I have a swift 34 and love it. You can look at Prestige and monte carlo tooi particularly love the monte carlo mc4 but my next boT is a beneteau swift 50 if i can ever figure out how to pay for it!!!!!!! It is a house on the water!!!!

I guess my question is really regarding planing versus semi-displacement. I do some longer trips and would cruise at around 25mph on the regular. I am considering doing the great loop or part of it in the next year or two. I primarily boat on the Long Island sound but heading out to Block Island there can be some weather. The seas get confused with the tides etc. Does the Swift Trawler 44 plane at all at the higher speeds? Do folks think I should go with a planing or semi-displacement hull? Thank you.

 

[Joebad]

The 44 can go faster than 25 mph. My 34 goes 24 top end and the 44 is quite a bit faster, the fastest of the swift trawlers, closer to 30 mph. and the long waterline makes for a better rough water ride than the 34. It has a sharper entry as well. I suggest you talk to a 44 owner or two to get the straight scoop on it. You could run 25 all day without it breathing hard

 

[boater3]

The 44 can go faster than 25 mph. My 34 goes 24 top end and the 44 is quite a bit faster, the fastest of the swift trawlers, closer to 30 mph. and the long waterline makes for a better rough water ride than the 34. It has a sharper entry as well. I suggest you talk to a 44 owner or two to get the straight scoop on it. You could run 25 all day without it breathing hard

yea i saw the data on boattest. 29mph max and i believe volvo says you can run engines at 90% of top-end RPM which leaves a cruise of 25mph.

i heard that the 44 takes a beating in beam seas though i dont know if its more of a beating than any other motorboat/planing hull?

 

[Joebad]

yea i saw the data on boattest. 29mph max and i believe volvo says you can run engines at 90% of top-end RPM which leaves a cruise of 25mph.



i heard that the 44 takes a beating in beam seas though i dont know if its more of a beating than any other motorboat/planing hull?

Seems all boats have trouble in beam seas. Hard chines resist the roll so either a planing or semi Planing hull would be good in beam seas. I would go with the big keel like the Beneteau has but that is just preference. My 34 resists roll quite well.

 

[rclarke246]

I run my 44 around 2,800 RPM, yielding around 17 knots, which is fast enough for me. WOT is 3,600 RPM, 25 knots, under ideal conditions.

She noticeably semi-planes at around 2,200 RPM.

As for being a "loop boat", the air draft, which includes the 3' radio antenna atop the mast, is 28', FYI.

Though our experience in rough seas is (thankfully) very limited, I can tell you she takes 3-4's on the stern very well but on the nose we've had spray over the flybridge.Maybe it's the choppy nature of the shallow waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

As for beam seas, we haven't had the "pleasure".

My opinion: Great coastal & inland cruiser but by no means a "blue water" boat. I encourage you to take one out for a test drive and let us know what you think!

 

[boater3]

has anyone used a ST 44 as a liveaboard? how does one think it would fare in a winter where temps dip below freezing? is there any way to keep the water + waste systems going? thx

 

[boater3]

Are you all finding these test numbers to be accurate in terms of rpm, speed, and fuel burn?

RPM	MPH	Knots	GPH	MPG	NMPG	Stat. Mile	NM	dBa
700	4.2	3.6	0.6	6.9	6.0	2297	1997	62
1000	6.6	5.7	1.1	6.0	5.2	1993	1733	62
1250	7.8	6.7	1.8	4.3	3.7	1430	1243	65
1500	9.2	8.0	3.7	2.5	2.2	826	718	64
1750	10.3	9.0	5.1	2.0	1.8	677	589	67
2000	11.5	10.0	7.9	1.5	1.3	481	419	68
2250	13.4	11.7	10.0	1.3	1.2	445	387	72
2750	19.5	16.9	16.0	1.2	1.1	404	351	73
3000	22.6	19.6	19.0	1.2	1.0	394	343	76
3250	26.0	22.6	22.5	1.2	1.0	384	334	76
3500	28.6	24.8	26.0	1.1	1.0	365	317	78
3600	29.4	25.6	28.0	1.1	0.9	349	303	79

 

[SOJOURN4]

GPH is little low -

After 270 hours - I have found that almost always MPH = GPH and it is usually spot on.

Good luck

 

[rclarke246]

Annapolis to Marco Island Trip Summary:
91.75 hours under way
1,332 statute miles
1,167 gallons
1.15 mpg

Atlantic ICW and Okeechobee ICW route. In Atlantic for just 3 hours, St. Mary's river to St. Augustine.

 

[boater3]

you guys are seeing 26mph at 3250 rpm?

 

[gaston]

My friend owns a Beneteau 44 I pointed him to this page and his reply was all those figures must have been taken on a down hill run LOL

 

[rclarke246]

Of course, the published numbers are under ideal conditions, like, minimal fuel, water, people; bare or clean bottom and running gear, maybe even tail wind and current, etc.... Much like the photo of a McDonald's burger, it's a lot about marketing.

With only D4's I'd never run WOT for more than 1-2 minutes, and when I do it's just to judge the performance of everything. Volvo recommends operating at no more than 90% WOT.

3,500 RPM's (+) is accurate for WOT but we like to run around 2,800 (80%), which gives us around 17 knots. This is plenty fast enough for us and yields a pretty good fuel economy.

 

[boater3]

Of course, the published numbers are under ideal conditions, like, minimal fuel, water, people; bare or clean bottom and running gear, maybe even tail wind and current, etc.... Much like the photo of a McDonald's burger, it's a lot about marketing.

With only D4's I'd never run WOT for more than 1-2 minutes, and when I do it's just to judge the performance of everything. Volvo recommends operating at no more than 90% WOT.

3,500 RPM's (+) is accurate for WOT but we like to run around 2,800 (80%), which gives us around 17 knots. This is plenty fast enough for us and yields a pretty good fuel economy.

I have a requirement that my next boat (was hoping ST 44) cruises at 25mph as we do more weekend cruising than long-term cruising at the moment and have limited time to make it to the destination and then return home due to work. At 25mph we can make it most places within 4 hours each way. If a 25mph cruise at 3200 RPMs or so is not going to happen, then I may need to re-think things.

The boattest #s said full fuel, 3 people

 

[Joebad]

Running Common Rail Diesels at Full Throttle

My boat is a Swift 34, but I think something can be learned from the engineers who built my engine (Cummins 6.7) and I am expecting that the Volvo engines are relatively similar.

My boat runs 21 knots at full throttle, 3000 rpm, and that is fully loaded with fuel, water, and all of my stuff. That was what it was supposed to do with 1/2 fuel load and 3 people in it. Broken in, the boat does better than expected.

Cummins engineering data says full throttle is ok 2 of every 8 hours, in other words, you don't want to take a full trip at full throttle. They recommend 300 rpm less for cruising, so that puts me at around 17 knots range depending on seas. This compares with what R Clarke says for his Volvo engines in the ST44. I am guessing that you could do the same and be going around 20 knots all day with the ST44 and be ok, but if they recommend 80% throttle then that is more like 2,500 RPM instead of what my Swift recommends at 2700 rpm, yielding about the same cruising speed for both boats.

The Swift 30 can run closer to 19 kts at this same setting, it has a 370 hp engine I think, but top speed is more like 23 kts on that boat. The Swift 50 also has Volvo engines but pod drives but its stats are almost identical to the Swift 34 on speed.

If one wants a faster boat then the thing to do would be to take a look at the MC4, which can cruise at 25 kts all day and then some (top is over 30).

What we can take from this is that full throttle is ok if needed but knock off 300 RPM's to get your all day fast cruise speed. My all day speed is 1,000 rpm at 6 kts, and 3.8 lph fuel burn, but when coming back from Key West to Ft. Myers (140-150 miles) during a short light winter day, I will stick it on almost 20 mph (17 kts) and have done this often for the 600 hours I have on my engine. No problems.

Regards, Joebad

 

[boater3]

My boat is a Swift 34, but I think something can be learned from the engineers who built my engine (Cummins 6.7) and I am expecting that the Volvo engines are relatively similar.

My boat runs 21 knots at full throttle, 3000 rpm, and that is fully loaded with fuel, water, and all of my stuff. That was what it was supposed to do with 1/2 fuel load and 3 people in it. Broken in, the boat does better than expected.

Cummins engineering data says full throttle is ok 2 of every 8 hours, in other words, you don't want to take a full trip at full throttle. They recommend 300 rpm less for cruising, so that puts me at around 17 knots range depending on seas. This compares with what R Clarke says for his Volvo engines in the ST44. I am guessing that you could do the same and be going around 20 knots all day with the ST44 and be ok, but if they recommend 80% throttle then that is more like 2,500 RPM instead of what my Swift recommends at 2700 rpm, yielding about the same cruising speed for both boats.

The Swift 30 can run closer to 19 kts at this same setting, it has a 370 hp engine I think, but top speed is more like 23 kts on that boat. The Swift 50 also has Volvo engines but pod drives but its stats are almost identical to the Swift 34 on speed.

If one wants a faster boat then the thing to do would be to take a look at the MC4, which can cruise at 25 kts all day and then some (top is over 30).

What we can take from this is that full throttle is ok if needed but knock off 300 RPM's to get your all day fast cruise speed. My all day speed is 1,000 rpm at 6 kts, and 3.8 lph fuel burn, but when coming back from Key West to Ft. Myers (140-150 miles) during a short light winter day, I will stick it on almost 20 mph (17 kts) and have done this often for the 600 hours I have on my engine. No problems.

Regards, Joebad

Thank you for the insight. Volvo says the engines in the ST44 can cruise at 90% of full throttle RPM. So if the ST44 really gets 3600 RPM it can cruise at 3240 or so.

 

[SOJOURN4]

My 2 cents on performance..........
This weekend was SLIGHTLY windy in southern New Jersey. My Captain and I ran our ST44 to Cape May from Great Egg Inlet (South of Atlantic City) on a beautiful, flat ocean on Friday, Saturday was very windy and Sunday was forecast to "laydown" a bit...... needless to say, when we woke on Sunday, 20+ mph out of the Northeast. And for those of us on the Jersey coast - NE winds for a few days can be a problem. So the discussion was go - no go, etc. with seas right on our nose. I radioed a commercial tug (AIS is great) and he advised 4 to 6' footers with a few white caps. We are seasoned boaters and not concerned about having a rough ride and we only had to run about 35 miles North to our inlet and the worst that could happen was we turn around and tuck back into the marina.
Well the tug boat Capt was correct.. 4 to 6's and an occasional bigger set. We set the auto pilot and started to run up speed to seek a comfort level. With trim tabs about 50% we were able to SAFELY run 17 mph's with only an occasional hard landing - Wind shield wipers worked overtime to say the least. (My Captain took a nap)
Ran 35 miles and burned 39 gals.
I read a long time ago that your boat can take a heck of a lot more than we can.
My Captain said I did a terrific job running the boat - my response was auto pilot and the 44 did the work.
Every trip is a learning experience.......
SOJOURN

 

[boater3]

My 2 cents on performance..........
This weekend was SLIGHTLY windy in southern New Jersey. My Captain and I ran our ST44 to Cape May from Great Egg Inlet (South of Atlantic City) on a beautiful, flat ocean on Friday, Saturday was very windy and Sunday was forecast to "laydown" a bit...... needless to say, when we woke on Sunday, 20+ mph out of the Northeast. And for those of us on the Jersey coast - NE winds for a few days can be a problem. So the discussion was go - no go, etc. with seas right on our nose. I radioed a commercial tug (AIS is great) and he advised 4 to 6' footers with a few white caps. We are seasoned boaters and not concerned about having a rough ride and we only had to run about 35 miles North to our inlet and the worst that could happen was we turn around and tuck back into the marina.
Well the tug boat Capt was correct.. 4 to 6's and an occasional bigger set. We set the auto pilot and started to run up speed to seek a comfort level. With trim tabs about 50% we were able to SAFELY run 17 mph's with only an occasional hard landing - Wind shield wipers worked overtime to say the least. (My Captain took a nap)
Ran 35 miles and burned 39 gals.
I read a long time ago that your boat can take a heck of a lot more than we can.
My Captain said I did a terrific job running the boat - my response was auto pilot and the 44 did the work.
Every trip is a learning experience.......
SOJOURN

Thank you for the insight!

 

[boater3]

All, I have narrowed down the ST44 as one of the models I am interested in moving up to. Let me know if you are thinking about selling yours before listing it with a broker.

 

[rclarke246]

For anyone interested:

Here is a loaded 2014 ST 44 with less than 400 hours. It looks like a very good buy to me.

44 Beneteau 2014 Knot Billable Deale, Maryland

 

[Seevee]

For anyone interested:

Here is a loaded 2014 ST 44 with less than 400 hours. It looks like a very good buy to me.

44 Beneteau 2014 Knot Billable Deale, Maryland

Yes, NICE boat. The ST was on my list but over my budget a bit. However, there were some really nice 42s out there that I could have swung. For you experts, how much difference in the 42 and the 44?

 

[captandrew]

Looking for a 44. private party sale preferred.

 

[rclarke246]

I'm not sure why but I see very few of these for resale. Maybe because there aren't many to begin with?
Good luck!

 

[captandrew]

I'm not sure why but I see very few of these for resale. Maybe because there aren't many to begin with?
Good luck!

there are a bunch but most have been sitting on market over a year because they are priced too high. looking for one that does not involve a broker so the seller isn't tacking on 10% to cover the broker commission.

 

[boater3]

No one wants to sell?!

 

[Joebad]

Yes, NICE boat. The ST was on my list but over my budget a bit. However, there were some really nice 42s out there that I could have swung. For you experts, how much difference in the 42 and the 44?

The 42 is heavier but is a wonderful craft. Check one out!!!!!