The Sabre 28 is a series of American

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

s, designed by Roger Hewson and first built in 1971.

Production

The boat was built in three versions by Sabre Yachts in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

between 1971 and 1986, with a total of 588 built.

Design

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 The state of the art (SOTA or SotA, sometimes cutting edge, leading edge, or bleeding edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contex ...

materials and techniques available at the time and construct the boat on a modern

assembly line An assembly line, often called ''progressive assembly'', is a manufacturing process where the unfinished product moves in a direct line from workstation to workstation, with parts added in sequence until the final product is completed. By mechan ...

basis, to realize good economy and production quality. The Sabre 28 is a small recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

, with extensive

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

wood trim. It has a

masthead sloop A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast. The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, a ...

rig, a

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, vertical transom,

skeg A skeg (or skegg or skag) is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line. The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard."A small fin f ...

-mounted

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

controlled by a

ship's wheel A ship's wheel or boat's wheel is a device used aboard a ship, boat, submarine, or airship, with which a helmsman steering, steers the vessel and controls its course (navigation), course. Together with the rest of the steering mechanism, it forms ...

and a swept fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 198-199. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. 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 A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

includes a hanging locker and a

dorade vent A dorade box (also called a dorade vent, collector box, cowl vent, or simply a "ventilator") is a type of vent that permits the passage of air in and out of the cabin or engine room of a boat while keeping rain, spray, and sea wash out. Design T ...

. The main cabin has a folding table that stows against a bulkhead. The

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

features a recessed stove. The cockpit is over in length. The foredeck mounts an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

locker. Other features include a foredeck hatch, four opening and four fixed ports, internal halyards for both the

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast (sailing), mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. T ...

and the

genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, raised by a mast-mounted winch. The

mainsheet traveler A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a ...

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. All models have

hull speed Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to- ...

s of .

Variants

;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 A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch f ...

rigs. It has a length overall of , a waterline length of , displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel and with the optional shoal draft keel.

Universal Atomic 4 The Universal Atomic 4 is a four-cylinder, gasoline engine produced by the Universal Motor Company between 1949 and 1984 for use as auxiliary power on sailboats. Both and versions of the engine were produced. Over 40,000 of the engines were pro ...

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as Autogas, liquefied petroleum gas and Common ...

. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The shoal draft version has a PHRF racing average handicap of 201 with a high of 210 and low of 195. ;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 , a waterline length of and displaces . The boat has a draft of 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 . ;Sabre 28-3 (serial numbers 540-588) :This model was introduced in 1983 and produced until 1986. It has a length overall of , a waterline length of and displaces . The boat has a draft of 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 .

American Sailboat Hall of Fame

The Sabre 28 was inducted into the now-defunct Sail America

American Sailboat Hall of Fame The American Sailboat Hall of Fame is a defunct hall of fame honoring 26 production sailboats built-in the United States. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Sail America, a trade association for the U.S. sailing industry, to recognize in ...

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”"

References

External links