I had both of these photos in my archive, and I thought it was fun to put them side-by-side as a comparison. On the left, my 1989 Sabre 42 keel/centerboard. On the right, our current 38 MKII with the deep keel.
By Rich
Rover is back in the water this weekend for a sea trail tomorrow for a buyer candidate! Each evening this week I have been aboard while she has been on land on the jack stands, winterizing various system in advance of very cold weather expected later this coming week (some of these systems have been un-winterized for the sea trial. Ugh!). It’s been a great bonding experience to be aboard showing her love and care – just us two, bonding one-on-one. It really has been a privilege to serve as Chief Engineer on this special boat, and as much as I might have complained at times when we had more problems than were convenient, if I am honest deep down I really enjoyed the responsibility of taking care of Rover and her array of sophisticated systems. Just look at the images I snapped over the last two days – look at the sheer beauty and the artistry of this design. She represents a totally lost art in yacht design outside of just one or two models left in production that come anywhere near her standard of style and workmanship.
By Rich
I have been moaning for years that “they just don’t make them like they used to” when it comes to modern cruising boats, especially when it comes to comically bad keels they are putting on them these days. While anchored near Shelter Island yesterday, I noticed a late model cruising sailboat trying to beat to weather in the 15-20 knot breeze that had kicked up. The boat was being sailed close hauled with both jib and main well reefed down. Initially, I had a view of the boat’s port side, but when it tacked I had an almost perfect view from astern. I was so astonished at what I saw that I pulled out my cell phone and captured this video:
In disbelief I wondered if this boat wasn’t being swept to leeward by the current. So I pulled out Navionics and checked the chart. The current was running strong FROM RIGHT TO LEFT as seen from the perspective of the video!
Yes folks, they really are building boats that sail this badly. It’s no wonder that production boat I lined up against years ago in my Sabre 42 wound up sliding a mile to leeward of me by the time we cross the Chesapeake near Annapolis. But I guess as long as people do all of their research at the boat shows and choose boats based on interior accommodation instead of sailing characteristics, they’ll keep building boats like this and people will keep buying them.
By Rich
Fortunately for each member of Team Rover, we are all aligned on preferring to be at anchor by far over moorings or slips. That’s a really good thing because the experience is considerably different for each of the three options. Slips and (in particular) moorings are more or less tie-up-and-forget-it affairs, whereas anchoring requires more diligence and skill in choosing the right spot and monitoring to be sure swing radiuses are appropriate and the boat is not dragging in stiff breezes. So far we’ve been anchored more than half or 3+ week trip and I have the following reflections to share about the experience so far: Continue reading Hylas 54: Reflections On Ground Tackle
By Rich
Editor’s Note: when we sold Le Saberage, we set up a full website to market her. As part of that site, we created a page detailing the Sabre 42 design elements. I enjoyed creating the content so much that I thought it would be fun to adapt and reprint it here on svrover.com. The timing was also appropriate given that Sabre’s founder, Roger Hewson, was recently interviewed for Sabre Yachts’ upcoming 50 year anniversary celebration. As part of that interview he said in no uncertain terms that the Sabre 42 was the best sailboat the company designed during his tenure:
Given our experiences with the Sabre 42, we’re not at all surprised this design was Hewson’s favorite! So we thought it would be fun to reprint our reflections on the design here. Continue reading Sabre 42 Design Elements
By Rich
Recently I’ve been lucky enough to steer a variety of sailboats nearly back-to-back, and I’ve been amazed at how different each helm felt. Most of the differences can be traced to the boats’ widely varied rudder designs, which caused me to ponder the challenges naval architects face in designing them. Continue reading Reflections on Yacht Design: Rudders
By Rich
I was able to hunt down and identify the make and model of the French production boat I “raced” earlier in the week, which I observed making significant leeway relative to my Sabre while sailing upwind in a stiff breeze. Continue reading How Not To Design A Cruising Boat Keel
By Rich
Stay with me here, because even I think I sound a bit like an old fart with this line of reasoning. It could well be that we all have an affinity for things that remind us our our youth. A such, I could just be getting old and prone to lamenting the passing of the “good old days.” But just in case I might be right, let me pose the following question for debate: have the best-sailing cruising boat designs that history will ever record already been built? Are marketing and other business considerations distorting contemporary yacht design away from the best hull forms in a manner similar to the way the IOR racing rule distorted 1970s designs? Here is one article, and another that can serve as primers for the discussion. Continue reading The Late 1980s: The Golden Age Of Yacht Design?
By Rich
It’s Sunday afternoon at the 2015 United States Sailboat Show, and I’ve just met a man on the verge of putting a deposit down on a new Jeanneau. When I ask why he is interested in selling his current boat in favor of the Jeanneau, his answer is blunt:
“It sails like shit.” Continue reading “It Sails Like S–t.”
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