The Black Swan is a stretched version of the White Swan for Dr. Carcereri of Verona who wanted good headroom in a small traditional gaff cutter. In fact she has just over 6’ in the galley area and an accommodation that can be altered to suit your own requirements.

She has room for a small inboard diesel engine or as an alternative, an outboard well could be incorporated. There is plenty of room for stowage and the centreboard case has been kept as low as possible by keeping the centreboard pivot outside the boat and through the keel. The case is only 8’’ above the sole height.

Construction is based upon pre shaped ply frames and fore and aft girders which form the bunk/cockpit fronts. The hull panel shapes are given on the drawing so that the planking goes on using the stitch and glue method. This keeps construction costs and time down to a minimum and requires only basic skills.

photos above show an example being built by
Henner Ostermeyer in Germany.

LOD 22’6’’ (6.84m); Beam 8’4’’ (2.55m); Draft 2’5’’/4’5’’ (0.74/1.36m); Sail Area 340 sq.ft. (31.55 sq.m); Disp. 2.75 tons; Ballast 1900 lbs. The plans also show the details/moulds for strip planking the hull.