Sabre 28 – Wikipedia

Sailboat class

The Sabre 28 is a series of American sailboats, designed by Roger Hewson and first built in 1971.^[1][2]

Production[edit]

The boat was built in three versions by Sabre Yachts in the United States between 1971 and 1986, with a total of 588 built.^[1][2][3]

Sabre 28 being launched on a crane hoist, showing the keel and rudder arrangement

The Sabre 28 was the first design for the newly-formed company. Its design goal was to build the finest 28-foot sailing yacht available, using the state of the art materials and techniques available at the time and construct the boat on a modern assembly line basis, to realize good economy and production quality.^[3]

The Sabre 28 is a small recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with extensive teak wood trim. It has a masthead sloop rig, a raked stem, vertical transom, skeg-mounted rudder controlled by a ship’s wheel and a swept fixed fin keel.^[1][4]

The accommodations include a double “V” berth in the forward cabin, single and double bunks in the main cabin, and a quarter berth. The forward cabin has a door for privacy. The head includes a hanging locker and a dorade vent. The main cabin has a folding table that stows against a bulkhead. The galley features a recessed stove.^[4]

The cockpit is over 7 ft (2.1 m) in length. The foredeck mounts an anchor locker. Other features include a foredeck hatch, four opening and four fixed ports, internal halyards for both the mainsail and the genoa, raised by a mast-mounted winch. The mainsheet traveler is mounted on the cabin roof and genoa tracks are provided. The genoa is controlled with dual two-speed winches, mounted on the cockpit coaming.^[4]

All models have hull speeds of 6.4 kn (11.85 km/h).^[5]

Variants[edit]

Sabre 28-1 (serial numbers 1-211)

This model was introduced in 1971 and produced until 1976, with 199 built. Eight were built with ketch rigs. It has a length overall of 28.00 ft (8.5 m), a waterline length of 22.83 ft (7.0 m), displaces 7,400 lb (3,357 kg) and carries 2,900 lb (1,315 kg) of ballast. The boat has a draft of 4.33 ft (1.32 m) with the standard keel and 3.8 ft (1.2 m) with the optional shoal draft keel. Universal Atomic 4 30 hp (22 kW) gasoline engine. The fuel tank holds 20 U.S. gallons (76 L; 17 imp gal) and the fresh water tank has a capacity of 30 U.S. gallons (110 L; 25 imp gal). The shoal draft version has a PHRF racing average handicap of 201 with a high of 210 and low of 195.^[1][5][6]

Sabre 28-2 (serial numbers 212-539)

This model was introduced in 1976 and produced until 1982, with 320 built. It has a length overall of 28.42 ft (8.7 m), a waterline length of 22.83 ft (7.0 m) and displaces 7,900 lb (3,583 kg). The boat has a draft of 4.30 ft (1.31 m) with the standard keel fitted. The boat has a PHRF racing average handicap of 201 with a high of 205 and low of 198. It has a hull speed of 6.4 kn (11.85 km/h).^[7][8]

Sabre 28-3 (serial numbers 540-588)

This model was introduced in 1983 and produced until 1986. It has a length overall of 28.42 ft (8.7 m), a waterline length of 22.83 ft (7.0 m) and displaces 7,900 lb (3,583 kg). The boat has a draft of 4.67 ft (1.42 m) with the standard keel fitted. The boat has a PHRF racing average handicap of 186 with a high of 189 and low of 183. It has a hull speed of 6.4 kn (11.85 km/h).^[9][10]

American Sailboat Hall of Fame[edit]

The Sabre 28 was inducted into the now-defunct Sail America American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 2003. In honoring the design, the hall cited, “If Roger Hewson and his associates at Sabre Yachts hadn’t hit a sweet spot with the 28 – bringing the look and feel of a yacht into the pocket-cruiser size range – they wouldn’t have had a 15-year production run, nor gone on to build close to 2000 larger sail and power boats. Perhaps the truest testimony to their success in crafting a boat of lasting quality is the price a 28 fetches on the used boat market today. Depending on maintenance and updates, prices can range from $15,000 to $30,000. As Hornor writes, “The Sabre 28 is rather high priced for its size and accommodations. However, the boat has proven to be a good investment due to its ability to attract buyers willing to pay a little more””^[11]

See also[edit]

Similar sailboats

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Media related to Sabre 28 at Wikimedia Commons