Over the months of design, tooling and then finally into assembly, few events compare with decking of the first hull of a new model. On that day we all get to see what this exciting new model looks like in her complete form. This week the deck hardware was installed, save a few bits which are still to be installed after the deck is down such as the curved windows at the aft end of the house and the main companionway door. This image shows the surface where those windows will be installed and the white fiberglass will be trimmed away. It also shows off her elegant curves and sweeping style lines. We have kept the side decks wide and secure so that the crew, moving around on deck, is completely safe. The large diameter, extra high hand rails are now a Sabre standard that set the mark for other builders. Just compare these side decks and rails to any of the production boat builders and you'll see that they do not come close.

 
Next week the deck shown below will be down and I can then show you the assembled boat. Her hard top is still not installed on the deck. That will occur once the deck is affixed to the hull. The recess in the side of the house, seen in the top image, is for the side helm deck door: another standard feature that everyone loves and too few builders employ. 

 
Launch date is still on for mid-March and the crew is doing a spectacular job of keeping her on track.

If you follow my blog regularly you may recall that I was born in Australia. Even though I was a just ten years old when my parents left for another life in another hemisphere, I still feel like an Australian when I hear the accents and speak with the people. Australians have a wonderful view on life and at times I wonder if we here in the USA have forgotten how to just relax and have a good time.

My Australian importer Jed Elderkin sent me a link this morning to a short video on TradeABoat which is a terrific Australian magazine with an equally good on-line presence. I thought our readers would enjoy a good boat review and some video on the Sabre 38 with IPS. The editors enthusiasm for a great boat comes through in volumes.

Have fun viewing it and even more importantly have fun and enjoy your families this holiday weekend.

It's no secret that things have been hard in the boating industry. Sales have been slow causing a lot of builders to pull back and wait for the turn around. Not so Sabre Yachts. We chose a very different, more positive path and our sales have been beating the averages of late. Our philosophy is that new products create interest and sales. So, at one of the darkest moments in the GED, our senior management opted to create new models and the Sabre 46 is perhaps the most spectacular of all.

The development of the Sabre 46 is well underway with our first two hulls in assembly and our first deck part released from the mold at sister company North End Composites in Rockland. So there's plenty to show you and I plan to be on the topic for weeks to come as the 46 hull number one comes together.
One of the first areas to see real progress are the mechanical systems. The 46 is equipped with twin Cummins QSC 8.3 550 hp engines coupled to Zeus pods. The beautiful thing about pods is that they can be close coupled to the drives which moves engines aft in the hull and creates great space forward of the engine room. In this image you can see that the forward engine room bulkhead is not far ahead of the entrance door to the back of the salon that will come in at the aft end of the teak and holly sole you see at the top of the image. So, in front of the engine room there is plenty of space for the utility room/crew quarters and that is one of the greatest advantages of pods. I spent time in the crew quarters today and there is no finish work to show you yet but it is an amazingly large space with plenty of potential. More on that later.

By the way the gear in front of the starboard engine is the air conditioning system. Having all this equipment isolated to the engine room will make this one of the quietest motor yachts around. Note also that the main salon sole is made with a very thick core to help contain noise in this space and not allow it to enter the living quarters. I can't wait to (not) hear it.

As I child I remember eating Spam sandwiches. I actually liked them. Then, the mystery meat in a can became scorned at by millions and it was a "bad thing" as Martha might say. (I wonder if she has ever tasted it?) But there is hope for Spam. Young adults are drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer like it's something really special. In case you have ever had a PBR and cannot possibly understand the new popularity, you are not alone.

My thought when that cruise ship started drifting around last week off the Mexican coast was that the Marines should have flown in some PBR in addition to the Spam. Poor Spam got a bad wrap and the PBR might have helped them out. At least those who were lost at sea would have had a good buzz on.

Anyway what prompted me to write about Spam and PBR is that a group of individuals have been thinking it is cool to "spam" my blogs and undoubtedly many of you have gotten a lot of postings of late that were generated by these guys. I have no idea what their goal is and I hope you have not been discouraged by all the junk. Do not despair I have lots to write about and I am planning to show you a lot of what we are working on here at Sabre over the next few weeks.

I think I'll stop and pickup some PBR on the way home tonight. I'm thirsty.

Production of the first Sabre 46 Salon Express has begun in earnest at our shop in Rockland, Maine. "But wait, I thought Sabre's were built in Casco, Maine what's with Rockland?"

In 1993 when Sabre was buying the tooling for the Sabre 43/47 project the owners of our then tooling supplier North End Composites, came to us with an offer to sell us their business. The sale took place and we worked in that original facility for several years. Meanwhile at Sabre we were physically outgrowing our buildings and could no longer mold large FRP parts such as the hulls and decks of our larger sail and motoryachts. Across the road from the NEC building we were presented with an opportunity to purchase the Nautica (clothing) warehouse which consisted of 250,000 square feet of floor space and which suited our boatbuilding operations to a tee. We went ahead and secured the building.

The Sabre 46 hull mold shipping from Florida to Maine

Today we mold fiberglass parts for our larger motor and sailing yachts in Rockland then load them on board trucks for the 75 mile journey to Casco where the fit out of the hulls is done. The 46 hull is now inside the building and being prepped for infusing the first part. The deck mold is following closely behind and is due to arrive in Rockland within six weeks. Launch date is still on target for March of 2011.

Download S46SE_Crew SR_16JUL10

Our new Sabre 46 Salon Express is being tooled in Florida and as I have said before on this blog, tooling is an art form. Like most art forms it cannot be rushed. This week was the time when our hull mold was to depart Florida for Maine but our inspection did not go as we had hoped and the tool has been delayed for another week to work out a couple of minor issues. In the long run it's best because it will give us the finest looking parts if the hull tool is as fair as it can be. Meanwhile, all of the engineering of the other molds and her interior are all moving ahead on schedule.

The attached drawing provides some details of the crew quarters that are offered as an option on the Sabre 46. Because this is a Zeus pod boat the engines and pods are moved aft and the engine room in essence extends from the transom to a point about half way up the length of the main salon. Forward of that bulkhead and aft of the owners stateroom exists a space which in the standard version is a mechanical work and storage space that is separated from the main engine room. The option for this space is to have it fitted out as a crew quarters as is pictured here. Note that this is not a full head room space. There is limited space to the starboard side above the berth and on center but to port, standing headroom is created in the L-settee above. This gives headroom at the work bench in the base boat and in the shower and head in the crew quarters version.

Access to this space is via stairs from the main salon. A clever design moves the port side settee athwartships, opening up the stair to below.