Review of Sabre 38 Mk II

Basic specs.

The Sabre 38 Mk II is a sailboat designed by the maritime architect bureau Sabre Design Team together with Roger Hewson in the late eighties. A few hundred boats have been produced.

Here we would have liked to show you nice photos of the Sabre 38 Mk II.
If you have a photo you would like to share: Upload Image

Looking for a new boat? Find a Sabre 38 Mk II or similar boat for sale

Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.

Interior

The boat is equipped with 400.0 liter fresh water capacity.

Rig

The Sabre 38 Mk II is equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.

Keel

The Sabre 38 Mk II has been built with different keel alternatives.

Fin keel

One option is a fin keel. The fin keel is the most common keel and provides splendid manoeuvrability. The downside is that it has less directional stability than a long keel.

The keel is made of lead. Compared with iron, lead has the advantage of being 44% heavier, which allows a smaller keel and hence less water resistance and higher speed.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 1.98 - 2.08 meter (6.50 - 6.80 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Wing keel

But be aware that even though a Wing Keel keel is very good for speed racing, a fishing nets and the like in the water can easily make you into a troublesome situation.

Sabre 38 Mk II can enter even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.49 - 1.59 meter (4.89 - 5.19 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Engine

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Westerbeke diesel engine at 33 hp (24 kW). Calculated max speed is about 5.8 knots

The fuel tank has a capacity of 170.0 liters (44 US gallons, 37 imperial gallons).

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Sabre 38 Mk II is 1.92, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.5 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Sabre 38 Mk II is about 241 kg/cm, alternatively 1351 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 241 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1351 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Sabre 38 Mk II is 27.1.

Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 42% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just below average.

L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Sabre 38 Mk II is 3.14.

Compared with other similar sailboats it is more spacy than 66% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more spacy hull design.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Sabre 38 Mk II is 39%.

This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 46% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.

D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Sabre 38 Mk II is 242 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

54% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A light displacement requires less sailarea and has higher accellerations.

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Sabre 38 Mk II with ISO 8666 reference sail is 6.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 7.3.

The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 1% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.

Over- / underrigged

The Sabre 38 Mk II has more rig than 1% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly underrigged.

Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 41m² (441 ft²).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.

Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

**Guiding dimensions of running rig**
Usage	Length		Diameter
Mainsail halyard	21.3 m	(69.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard	21.3 m	(69.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard	21.3 m	(69.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet	11.8 m	(38.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet	11.8 m	(38.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet	29.5 m	(96.7 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet	25.9 m	(85.1 feet)	14 mm	(0.55 inch)
Cunningham	2.7 m	(8.9 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap	5.4 m	(17.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul	5.4 m	(17.7 feet)	12 mm	(1/2 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Sabre 38 Mk II it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.

References

[Ref 1]: ISO 8666 Small craft — Principal data.
[Ref 3]: ISO 12215-5 Small craft — Hull construction and scantlings.