Swift 18
Description
The Swift 18 (also known as the Swiftcraft Swift 18) is a popular British trailerable pocket cruiser / micro-cruiser sailboat, designed by Colin Sylvester and introduced at the 1981 Southampton Boat Show. Originally conceived to comply with the French Micro Cupper rules (a class for fast, affordable mini-racers around 5–6m), it evolved into a versatile, comfortable weekend cruiser that's fast, seaworthy, and easy to launch/retrieve. Built by Swift Boats Ltd. / John Charnley Associates (and later associated with Honnor Marine), production ran roughly from 1981–1990, with fiberglass hulls after an initial aluminum prototype proved impractical. It's beloved in the UK for its "Goldilocks" qualities: lightweight enough to tow with a small car, shallow draft for easy ramp launching, surprisingly roomy accommodations (sleeps 2–4), and excellent sailing performance—lively in a breeze, balanced, and capable in Force 6–7 winds with reefs. Owners describe it as vice-free, dry, and fun, with good upwind ability for its size and a reputation for being nearly unsinkable (built-in buoyancy to float when swamped, even with crew).
Construction Details
| Designer | Colin Sylvester |
|---|---|
| Builder | Swift Boats Ltd. |
| Length | 18.000 ft |
| LOA | 18.000 ft |
| LWL | 16.330 ft |
| Beam | 7.920 ft |
| Displacement | 1450 lb |
| Max Draft | 3.500 ft |
| Min Draft | 0.750 ft |
| Year Built | 1981 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | 23.75 ft |
| e | 7.08 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | 23.75 ft | 7.08 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Swift 18 - MAINSAIL
| Luff | * 23.75 ft - (7239 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 7.08 ft - (2158 mm) |
| Leech | * 24.38 ft - (7431 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diagonal | * 24.54 ft - (7480 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 3.5 in - (89 mm) |
| Area | * 87 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.
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