question about Sabre 42 or 45

[ThaidUp]

I've been looking for a "heavy displacement" boat for long rang cruising and living aboard a few months a year. Think Valiant, Pacific Seacraft, Caliber. However, of late Sabre has caught my attention. Can anyone tell me if the Sabres pound in heavy seas? The bow design doesn't appear to me that it would give the sea kindly entry as some of the others. I'm not a designer or builder, so this is just a hunch and I'd like to hear from Sabre owners and/or sailors. If you own or have sailed a Sabre in the 38-45 foot range, I would also welcome any general comments.

[SabreME]

I've owned a Calibre 35 for about 10 years, and then bought a Sabre 402 about 11 years ago. These are both great boats, and perform well in adverse conditions. Its hard to do a 'boat to boat' comparison because of the larger size of the Sabre, but she has been a very comfortable boat in challenging conditions. While the Caliber may have been initially designed for longer passages, I've been more happy in the Sabre due to the sharper bow, strong tall rig, a more simple sail plan. She is practical, fast, smooth, elegant and has beautiful lines. Some people love the cutter rig on the Calibre, but I thought it was too much more gear for only marginal (if any) performance in heavy weather.



While Caliber is gone, Sabre is still in business but only building power boats. That said, there is not only a very active Sabre Forum providing endless advice, but also a customer care executive at Sabre (Glen) who provides excellent service and parts to their sailboat owners (and potential powerboat clients).



I love my 402 and she's been a rock solid performer sailing over 100 days in each of the last two summers. If I had the cash, I'd go with the 426 which I believe is one of the finest production boats ever built. That said, I single-handle most of the time, which makes the 402 an easy ride for me.



Good luck, and keep in mind, you're not going to go wrong with any of those yachts on your list.



BTW: I saw a beauty in the back of Sail Magazine about a month ago.

[ThaidUp]

Thanks, and I appreciate the perspective on the Caliber. So your Sabre doesn't pound in heavy seas? I've chartered Beneteaus that pounded so badly I'm really looking to avoid those experiences again. (Here come the bene owners telling me I was doing something wrong, of course). My wife really likes the Caliber for the 2 heads, so the "compromise" may be an older 426 or a 45. I like the way the Sabres look over the Calibers.

[ChrisJD]

Another 402 owner here. To be fair, I've never taken her properly offshore, but in small craft advisory or gale conditions and 4-5" seas, double reefed, I consider her in her proper element. Pounding is as much due to interval as wave height but I think she rides them exceptionally well.

I'd try to negotiate on the two heads. One of the things I actually liked about our boat was the single head in that size, because it meant it could be a comfortable, decently-sized head with a separate shower. Low-40 footers make too many compromises to squeeze in a second head, in my view.