Broker Insight
A convertible dinette with maple-inlaid saloon table welcomes guests. two 12-inch Raymarine displays seem to be the default setup. Throw in Stidd helm and companion chairs (starboard and port respectively), plus an L-shaped settee aft for a few friends and you’ve got a terrific daycruising platform that can turn on a dime and be ready for an owner to cruise and even host guests overnight on the convertible dinette in the inviting varnished-cherry saloon.
From the brokers to the owners with whom I spoke while researching this piece, everyone mentioned the fit and finish of the boat, singling out the interior especially. The galley to port and Lshaped settee to starboard in the saloon offer a homey feel with good stowage, even the centerline companionway stairs have hinged steps to give cruisers a bit more provisioning space. The head offers a stall shower and room to move around.
The forepeak stateroom has a forward bulkhead positioned slightly aft of where it would be on many designs, leaving space forward for a chain locker and stowage accessible from the foredeck. Another
Powered by We spoke to three brokers who had a Sabre 38 or similar boat listed on Here’s what each of them had to say about these Down East-style cruisers.
BoatQuest.com.
Ken Petzold, Petzold’s Marine Center; www.petzolds.com “Sabres in general, that whole Down East segment of the market, is doing very well, from the Sabre 38 to the preowned Sabre 42, they’re all excellent. They’re good values: If they go on the market, they don’t last long. Sabres have a good reputation, they’re well built, and they survey out well. The design of the boat is always in style, so it’s not a boat that’s like a fad, that’s going to go out of fashion. The Down East style is always ‘in.’ It helps keep the value up in the boats—they don’t depreciate hardly at all. They’ve always been popular. There’s quite a bit of engine room space on all those Sabres. The way they design those boats with the shafts and the engines, there’s plenty of room in the engine room—the 38s and 42s have terrific engine room access. Our service guys really like them. We take a lot of customers out of other brands that go into the Sabres because they maybe looked at them from afar with a fondness. These boats have some nice character to them, where other boats may not have that. When somebody gets into a Sabre they’ll stick with the product line and move up in size. They might start out with a Sabre 38 from 2008, and then trade it in for a 2015 42-footer with all the updates and upgrades, going from shafts to pods, those are a common direction for people to go. But we love the trades—those trades are excellent.” Dave Tischer, DiMillo’s Yacht Sales, www.dimillosyachtsales.com “In this size range, people really want to move to diesel power and they like Down East-style boats. For my clients, Euro-style boats are not so popular and neither are midsize cruising boats with twin pleasing result of that design: The island berth sits lower in the hull than many—one can actually sit on it without a running leap.
“In the Sabre you get to the chain locker by coming down through the deck and you don’t have to go across the bed,” Cameron says. “I thought that was a great idea. Subtle things like that make a terrific difference.”
Another factor, the care and feeding of these boats. The 38 is the right size for a couple to manage properly. The design is traditional, and that means a raised bridgedeck over the engine space. When you’re not trying to be too sleek, something wonderful happens, in that the engine room becomes cavernous and spacious, meaning regular maintenance gets done in comfort (good for a boat in her day-to-day operation) and service personnel aren’t terribly cramped and uncomfortable (great for a boat over her lifetime), so they will take care of the task at hand without rushing.
Wide side decks with high bowrails and a grab handle beneath the hardtop on either side make going forward a breeze in good conditions. Find fresh air and sunshine in the cockpit where many boats have a folding transom bench as well as a built-in L-shaped settee. One boat we looked at had a small teak table and two chairs, one way to use the space. A transom door allows walkthrough access to the swim platform.
Yes indeed, there’s something to be said for keeping to traditions, as the profile masks a continuing evolution through years of hightech composite layups, the incorporation of pod power, stabilization systems, and even more technology all finding their separate ways into a familiar profile. But please be sure to ask yourself: How do you feel about the color blue?
CAVEAT EMPTOR:
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The boat pictured here, was still available as we went to press, but we cannot be held responsible if she’s since gone under contract. If you’d like more information, contact broker Skip Denison at Denison Yacht Sales by calling 561-371-5090.
Land Bargain, inboard gas engines or inboard-outboards. They like the lines of the Down East boats, they aren’t crazy about canvas and arches anymore. With the Sabre 38 Hardtop Express, they like the lines of the boat. If you’re going to get a hardtop they like a composite hardtop—a real hardtop with sliding-glass windows, windshield wipers and fresh-water windshield washers: Something that’s not just like a fishing hardtop with isinglass all around. They also like the fact that it’s a boat that’s built up in Maine. They like the carpentry work that’s on the boat, and they like the layout, but most of all they like the ride of the boat. I think the composite hardtops that are a very big thing for boats, I think everybody is ultimately going to go in this direction, you can have air conditioning or cabin heat up at the helm. Big, wide walkaround gunwales on the boat are a huge thing, it has safety rails everywhere you go on the boat, whether you’re on the outside of the boat, or on the helm deck or inside the cabin. With the center entrance to the cabin you’re not twisting and turning as you’re coming down—it’s a very big thing for people. The headroom, too, and basically what they’re looking for, most of these people in this size and style boat, is a large island bed forward that allows you to get out of both sides of the bed in the middle of the night.” Ken Comerford, North Point Yacht Sales; www.northpointyachtsales.com “Because of the recession, not a lot of boats were built from 2008 to 2011. That means that there are not a lot of boats available in the brokerage ‘sweet spot,’ which is just a few years old but with the initial depreciation hit already taken. These are great boats to find, particularly if they have low engine hours, are well taken care of, and are fresh enough to compare favorably with new. These open-back style, Down East express boats, of which the Sabre 38 is one example, are popular and versatile. They work well for entertaining but have sufficient accommodations for more extensive cruising; they have a lot of uses. Buyers know this, and they are so much better informed through the Internet and can compare features and asking prices over a wide range of boats. This style of boat has a lot of appeal.”