Sabre 40 Sedan

However, while they may have foregone wind for diesel power, they still crave the classic elegance provided by most yachts. And that’s where the Sabre 40 Sedan Cruiser enters the fray. She’s a beautifully-finished cruiser with much more room than a standard 40ft yacht, it's as easy to handle as a trailerboat and aimed squarely at cruising couples. The standard inclusions, quality of craftsmanship, excellent sea-keeping abilities and ease of handling, mean you can load her up with supplies, turn the keys and literally go cruising.

Sabre Yachts is ones of the largest boat builders in Maine and has a reputation of offering semi-custom powerboats and yachts. The first offering, by founder Roger Hewson, was a 28ft sloop that hit the US market in 1970.

Today, Sabre offer a particular blend of finely-fitted interiors, housed in rock-solid fibreglass hulls that have a worldwide reputation for quality and enduring value.

Sabre utilise infusion moulding to ensure the consistency and strength of its decks and hulls. Infusion moulding is 'greener', because it uses considerably less resin and is cleaner, because emissions levels are much lower. The boats are lighter and this allows the hull to run faster and use less fuel. Infusion differs from traditional hand-laid hulls, because all materials are loaded dry into the mould in a stack, the stack is then covered with a plastic bag and resin is infused into the stack. This creates a stronger part with higher glass-to-resin ratios.

But you can tell just how good the craftsmen that build these boats are just by looking at the standard of joinery that goes into the interiors -- there’s no unsightly joins, or miss-matched timber here -- it’s all dovetails and solid cherrywood. However, it’s when you open a few in-floor lockers that you get a clear picture of the attention to detail that Sabre goes to, because all wiring looms and pipes are neatly tied, marked, numbered and easy to get at.

The engine room is a skipper’s delight. This cavernous pit is accessed through the saloon floor. It’s painted white, so any leaks are easily spotted and there’s plenty of room around the engines, air-con unit and batteries for ease of servicing and maintenance. It also boasts almost standing head-height. Again, everything is clearly labelled and numbered for ease of identification and it’s all linked to the excellent easy-to-read owner’s manual.

Another facet of this boat’s construction worth a mention is the glass and hatch fittings. All opening hatches are top-quality, and have flyscreens and blinds. There’s an opening sunroof above the helm, a skipper’s door to starboard with a slide-open window, twin opening windows at the rear of the saloon (ideal for passing food through) and a sliding saloon rear door. All of these opening windows and hatches allow good airflow through the boat and mean you don’t have to continually run the air-con to keep cool.

But the real talking points in the saloon are the massive side windows. They are fitted with Venetian blinds for privacy, but offer excellent all-round vision.

The aft cockpit and swim platform are topped with teak, but the side and foredecks have been left non-skid.

The LED lighting in this cabin consumes less battery capacity permitting the boat to stay on DC power for longer without starting the standard generator.

An overhead hatch and opening stainless porthole allow air and light to flow through this elegantly furnished space.

The fully-equipped head is accessed through the master stateroom or galley and offers a freshwater flush MSD, which helps to minimise head odours. The circular surround creates elbow room in the shower and a solid surface countertop will remain elegant and maintenance-free for years to come. An adjustable mirror is located above the sink and the upper segment of the forward cabin door is also mirrored. The air-conditioning system also reduces humidity in the head compartment.

In the main saloon the luxury of finely-finished American cherry furniture and contemporary seating surfaces welcome you. The entire saloon is filled with light and air from large windows and sliding pilot hatches overhead. A helm door to the starboard-side deck allows the helmsman to help with docking and anchoring procedures.

To port a comfortable L-settee surrounds a folding high-low table and in the aft starboard corner is a standard barrel chair. To starboard, aft of the helm chairs, is a handsome cabinet that houses the electrical supply panels and a television on an electric lift. A DVD player is integrated into the entertainment system. But for mine, it was the toolkit draw under the settee in the saloon that sold the boat… nice touch.

The guest cabin can be configured as either a double berth with storage under, or as a dinette with fore and aft-facing seating and an inlaid table between the seats. A double pocket door creates a wide opening to this cabin. A fixed hatch overhead with translucent lens and a stainless steel portlight in the cabin side, provide natural light to this space. Lighting systems here include courtesy lights at floor level, LED lights overhead and a reading light above the night stand. Your guests will be accommodated in total comfort in this elegant cabin.

The mid-galley offers the best of both worlds: still part of the social activities centred in the saloon, yet below the sight lines when underway. The galley floor is high enough so that the person working in the galley has a full view of the scene outside. Space created below the galley floor is used for additional storage. Standard features include two Vitrifrigo stainless steel fridge drawers and a separate freezer unit forward. A stainless-steel designer sink, convection microwave oven and two burner ceramic cooktop give the cook all of the tools required for preparation of great meals onboard.

Her aft cockpit is spacious and comfortable with plush seating surrounding an elegant and practical fold-over leaf table. Access to the Zeus pods is via a large hatch in the cockpit sole.

There’s plenty of room on the dash to mount all the electronics a skipper could possible need and this Sabre 40 is offered with twin Garmin GPSMAP5215 plotters and VHF radio. Also at hand is the Zeus pods' joystick controller and the Cummins Smartcraft display. Outboard, a swing door provides access to the side deck as well as ventilation while underway. Her Stidd helm chairs are the finest and most comfortable chairs available and each can be adjusted to the preferred height of its user.

This boat also features elegant stainless-steel chock finishes off the forward end of the wooden toe rail. The working end of the foredeck has plenty of storage space for anchor chain and rode as well as for fenders and dock lines. A hefty anchor roller, windlass and custom-skid plate make anchoring procedures a breeze.

Powered by twin Cummins QSB5.9M 380hp diesels, driving through Zeus 3500s, flat out at 31 knots you can throw this hull into a ski-boat-like 180-degree turn and you wouldn’t even spill your drink. She comes around smoothly, laying effortlessly into the turn without tail slip or cavitation. But these days I prefer cruising to flat out (I don’t want to burn 77lt per hour) and the Sabre 40 will purr along all day at 10 knots, pulling 1500rpm and burning only 18lt per hour. Fast cruise is 16.5 knots at 2000rpm burning 34lt per hour.

By now, most boaties would be aware of the effortless manoeuvrability pod drives provide, but on this boat they offer added benefits. The flat hull sections aft, where the pods come through the hull, create flat areas, which act like delta flats on a ski boat. When power is applied from a standing start there’s no bow lift and the hull rockets quickly onto the plane, so less fuel is burnt.

I’ve been reviewing boats all over the world for the last 30 years and I have to say that the Sabre 40 is the 'complete package'. If you’re a couple into cruising, even yachties that don’t want to haul sails anymore, you should take a look at this Sabre. She’s built by a company that started off building yachts (and still does), and offers the old-world charm of a cruising yacht, but with a lot more room than your average 40ft yacht. This 40’s build quality is second-to-none and offers performance that will match many sport cruisers. And that’s before you consider the effortless dockside manoeuvrability delivered by the Veus pod drives that can convert a docking novices into a pro within minutes.

Brilliant design, plenty of storage for long-range cruising, functionality, economy, top performance and sea-keeping abilities, dry ride, quiet… the list goes on and on. With an introductory price tag of only $760,000, which is $41,538 under the recommended retail price and includes two Garmin GPSMAP5215 plotters, a GMR 24HD Radar (dome), VHF radio and all new 'Launch Pad’ iPad2, that’s a pretty good deal.