Nautor

Oy Nautor AB is a Finnish producer of luxury sailing yachts, based in Jakobstad. It is known for its Nautor's Swan range of yachts models. The company was founded in 1966 by Pekka Koskenkylä.

Nautor has worked with four naval architects during its history.

The original designer Sparkman & Stephens had a long association with Nautor and were responsible for the first 775 yachts sold. These early designs combined a luxurious interior in a fiberglass hull with features that were then current in successful racing boats, such as the separation of the skeg-hung rudder from the keel. They won numerous races including the Cowes Week in 1968, the Bermuda Race in 1972 by Swan 48, followed by even bigger success in 1974, when a ketch rigged Swan 65 by the name Sayula II won the first ever Whitbread Round the World Race. In 2016, this adventure was presented in a documentary film, The Weekend Sailor.

During the mid to late 1970s the designs from the American company were not as successful on the race course. Ron Holland started his tenure as designer for Nautor's Swan in the late 1970s, creating six models of which 283 yachts were sold.

In the 1980s, Nautor's Swan entered a new era with the appointment of Argentinian Germán Frers as designer. Over 900 yachts have been produced so far. The yard has continued to stay with Frers, and the hull designs have continued to follow modern trends. However the brand has moved away from its production cruiser/racer background into luxury high end larger cruising yachts.

To mark the companies 50th Anniversary a design tender led to Nautor working with Juan Kouyoumdjian on the aggressively modern looking ClubSwan 50 to showcase the brand.

Additional architects have collaborated with Frers in terms of styling. Most notably Andrew Winch on the styling of the Swan 36 Frers and Swan 44 Mk I. Beiderbeck Design came up with the overall concept and interior for the Swan 105 which at this size is almost semi custom.

Nautor have also built yachts to Luca Brenta and Bill Tripp designs.

Source: Wikipedia