2008 Boat Show, Open House and Rendezvous Schedule

SailQuest

SailQuest 2008 SailQuest at the Mystic Shipyard in Mystic, Connecticut is April 19 - 20. Free admission and free parking. Boats in the water and on land. Boat show pricing and specials!

Cick here for more details!!

Sabre's New Spirit

Now that you've got your Sabre Spirit on order it's time to take a look at customizing it.

OK, you've taken the plunge and ordered a new Sabre Spirit for Spring 2008 delivery. It's a simple concept -- a lively day sailer in a yachty package; so not too much more to think about right? True. Still, you can customize the boat to make it suit your personal style of sailing.

It's all about getting back to what got you interested in sailing in the first place - harnessing the wind to make the boat go. And over the years, so many of us have gotten away from that idea by putting a lot of time, effort, and money into other things that make for comfortable cruising and that push actual sailing down the list of priorities.
Sabre Spirit


Jim Taylor echoed this fact when explaining his design concept to me at the Sabre Spirit's debut this past summer in Marblehead. "I talk to so many people who end up spending more time focusing on non-sailing details such as their anchor and chain, and incrementally over the years lose the excitement of just getting on a boat and sailing," he said.

He designed the Sabre Spirit to get that excitement back. So when the breeze picks up you can jump aboard and just go for a sail. It's simple. Pop up the main with the electric winch, unfurl the self-tending jib, and you're off. Take a few friends to join you in the large cockpit and you'll have a great afternoon. Then, back to the dock or mooring and you can still make your Saturday night show, or dinner plans. Sunday morning you can meet your foursome at the links and be out for a sail again in the afternoon.

Not a bad concept, especially when you realize you also have the flexibility of a real cabin with standing headroom, a full head with shower, and a working galley for weekending when the weather is so perfect you just can't get off the boat.

So now that it's on order, it's time to set it up for your personal style. The self tending jib with the large main is great and the boat is very lively - especially with the fine tuning adjustments like the hydraulic back-stay adjuster. How can you make it better? When it's light and you're off the wind, a spinnaker will liven things up. But what if you are short handed, and don't want to bother going on deck to set it?

Sabre Spirit
A great alternative is to use a light weight jib topsail for reaching … more horsepower when you need it. And it's simple. Just roll it in and roll it out.

I invited Chris Wentz from Z Sails to join me at my office in Mamaroneck, NY with a new Sabre Spirit owner to explain the concept.

"This is great for easy and fun sailing because you can hoist the rig before you cast off and then use it or not as conditions vary. It will sit tightly furled and quiet. Or, if you decide you'll be sailing upwind and won't need it, it's easy to lower the furled sail and lay it on deck to be stowed away when you return to your mooring. Being tightly furled, it will lie quietly without concern for the wind carrying it away," he said.

"This truly is a Jib Top Sail because it set above the jib. It's a great traditional name for a light weather sail but in the interval while gaff rigs gave way to masthead rigs, the term fell out of use. The sails became "drifters" and "high clew reachers," he said. "It is neither a spinnaker nor a Code Zero. The JibTop is fundamentally a genoa, it's a big triangular sail," he explained.

Another option is to specify genoa tracks for a traditional overlapping genoa if you decide you want to have that flexibility. Use the self tacking jib for fun sailing and put on the genoa for more serious racing when you have a full crew. Sabre will install all the necessary hardware at the factory, so it's important to understand how you'll be sailing the boat so it will be delivered ready to go.

Oh, and remember to plan your trip to the factory in Maine. There are direct flights to Portland and the factory is a short 45 minute drive from there. The Sabre people are great and understand how important your boat is to you. They'll set up a tour of the factory and show your boat under construction. A great time to do it is when the interior cherry woodwork is installed and before the deck is joined to the hull. It'll be the last time you can see your boat this way and you'll really understand it how it's put together by New England craftsmen "In the Maine Tradition."

Don't forget to stop for lobster rolls on the roadside stand on the way back to Portland - this sample of the freshest lobster from Maine's icy waters is just delicious and will hold you over until dinner in Portland. Sabre has special rates for a nice weekend stay at the Portland Harbor Hotel.