Bought a Mark I Sabre 28 last year. Am really happy with the boat. She
sails well in all the conditions that I've encountered. Tracks well and is easily controlled with the WindPilot Pacific Light
self steering vane. The forces on the
rudder are light through all speed ranges sailing. Under
power, the offset
engine position keeps you from having to fight prop torque when powering forward and easily controlled with the tiller pilot. It does tend to pull the stern to port in reverse with our
Yanmar but the boat responds to rdder quit well maneuvering in our narrow channel with slips on both sides.
Water tankage is adequate for short cruises. 20 gallon
fuel tank gives plenty of range with a
diesel. Like the stowage under the berths and in the
galley.
The PO added a
holding tank and wiped out the hanging locker in the
head which I'm not happy with. Will probably put in a C
head and tear out the
holding tank so I have a place to hang
weather gear">foul weather gear. If the boat has been repowered be sure the
engine rotation is correct for whatever engine it replaced. Yanmars
work great for an A4 but believe you need the opposite rotation if original engine was a
diesel.
Delivered the boat from SF to SD. Had strong
wind and waves the first day. It was a great wind out of the NE and was averaging over 7 knots over the bottom. Had some scary breaking waves after turning south out of the Golden Gate. Boat handled them without issue as long as I headed up into them. Didn't react quickly enough on one and it pooped the boat which caused problems as the washboards weren't in the
companionway. Unfortunately, the fun was cut short when the elderly main shredded and had a
rigging issue. Pulled into Monterey and fixed the
rigging issue with some wire and fitted the spare main. Wind died by the time I left for the rest of the trip so powered nearly 300 miles to Ocenside.
Would think the Sabre will be a better sailing boat than the Albin because of the Fin Keel. Way less wetted surface so better in light air. Originally wanted a Vega but the only one I found needed too much
work and didn't like the
cockpit layout.