Not many power boat designs in the under 50 foot category offer both upper and lower helms. In the 1960's the first "convertible" was introduced to the market. These boats eliminated the lower helm and blacked out the lower windshield. As the story goes the heavy duty battle wagons that were running offshore at high speeds could not keep the glass in their windshields from breaking so the solution was to simply drop the lower helm and get rid of the glass. Today most boats of this style don't have a lower helm although Ocean Yachts has introduced the "Billfish" series where the lower helm has returned. I like it for a lot of reasons.

In reality most boaters don't want to be outside in cold weather and not as many care to take as much sun as we all once did. A good example of that is the image below. Here, our first 40 Sedan with fly Bridge is running from Bellingham Washington, down to Seattle for the January show. If a brave sole wanted to be on the bridge on that day they would not only be facing 50 degree temperatures but they would also be doing that into a 30 knot breeze. Not much fun.

But for Dean Ouilette, one of the principals of Bellingham Yacht Sales, this day was a breeze. Running at 24 knots into the head seas and wind he was comfortably perched in his Stidd Helm chair in the main salon making phone calls and enjoying the day.

I find that boats with lower helms go out more often and their crews ignore the weather and simply get on with enjoying their boats. I'll have a new Virtual tour of the fly bridge model on our web site later this week.
  

Some of my favorite boating moments are my early mornings on the water. For me this is the best time of day. Getting out there while the sun is coming up and the world for the most part is still asleep. This is especially true during the Miami Boat Show when we get underway before the revelers on South Beach are just going to bed. The morning’s first cup of coffee tastes especially good on a boat. 

The morning light is South Florida is a photographer’s dream and this year we had a chance to shoot some great new video footage on the Sabre 40 Sedan running on Biscayne Bay. If you are a follower of my Back Cove blog you’ll know the story of how we get going before dawn and rendezvous with the helicopter that has taken off from Tamiami airport.

Photographer Billy Black dangles from the door of the helo while talking to both the pilot and the captain as the run gets underway. It’s frightening the first time you see the skids of the machine just feet above the bow rail while running at 30 knots. But the pilot is a real pro and he gets Billy in the right place every time.

Here is the result of the video shoot. Can you smell the coffee?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haTIRr3R3cA

In the days when the America's Cup was played out in Newport, Rhode Island we all knew it was happening and we read the details of every race in our daily sports pages. Sadly, in most major cities today, the sports columnists don't cover boating and the main stream media focuses more on the price of the boats and the wealth of the owners than they do on the sport itself. And, so much has been written and spoken about the law suits surrounding the upcoming America's Cup that most of us have trouble staying aware of the realities of what is actually going on.

And what is going on is nothing short of amazing.  Whether you are a sailboat owner thinking that 8 knots is really cool or a powerboat owner who thinks that sailboats take forever to get where they are going, the new AC boats are a revolution in sailing.

Imagine a sailboat that can sail at 30 knots in 10 knots of wind. Yes I am serious. Then close your eyes and imagine a rigid, winged shaped spar that is 190 feet tall and replaces traditional sails. Yes these are the boats that will meet in Valencia, Spain from February 8th to 12th to vie for the "Aulde Mug".

The boats are BMW Oracle, a 90 for trimaran, versus Alinghi 5 a 90 foot catamaran. The tri does have some incredible technology on board her and right now has the technical edge in the contest. Folks used to say that watching the Cup on TV was like watching paint dry. Well, at these speeds you may not have time to go back to the fridge for another cold one in case you miss the action
 

In the deep, dark days of winter it's both hard and easy to think about the boating season and all of the pleasures it has to offer.

It's hard because you know there are 16 more weeks before the season starts again but it's easy because when you are passionate about boating (as I and my family are) all one has to do is summon a memory of time on the water and the darkest, snowiest day can suddenly become warm and bright.

One sure way to rev up your boating enthusiasm is to attend a boat show. Not only are there boats to see, there are new electronics to check out, items to purchase for your boat's stores and at many shows these days there are seminars to attend that will make you a better boater. January through March are the best months of the year with shows in London, Toronto, Seattle, Cleveland, New York, Miami, Boston, Maine and Palm Beach (to name but a few)

The 2010 versions of these shows are well worth attending for us as boat builders. There is no better opportunity for us to put our best foot forward and show the boating world what we do so well. We can meet prospects, talk with existing owners and do some professional development by checking out what our competitors are bringing to market.

For our customers there has rarely been and will rarely be as good an opportunity to check out what is new and see what manufacturers are offering to entice you to make the step to a new yacht. There are excellent buys to be found on 2009 inventories and there are exciting new developments to see in design and technology that may also encourage you to think about something new at your dock for the start of the 2010 boating season.

So if the dark days of winter are getting you down and boats are what truly make you happy, check out our show calendar and come on down. We would love to see you.
 

Today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It's all due to Earth's tilt, which ensures that the shortest day of every year falls around December 21. For me that means that spring launch is only 16 weeks away. Since ancient times people have marked the winter solstice with countless cultural and religious traditions—it's no coincidence the modern holiday season surrounds the first day of winter. I am going to have drinks with friends after work to celebrate the holidays but I'll be thinking "warmer days ahead".

During the winter solstice the sun hugs closer to the horizon than at any other time during the year, yielding the least amount of daylight annually. On the bright side, the day after the winter solstice marks the beginning of lengthening days leading up to the summer solstice.

That's because—after months of growing shorter and lower since the summer solstice—the sun's arc through the sky appears to stabilize, with the sun seeming to rise and set in the same two places for several days. Then the arc begins growing longer and higher in the sky, reaching its peak at the summer solstice.

The solstices occur twice a year (around December 21 and June 21), because Earth is tilted by an average of 23.5 degrees as it orbits the sun—the same phenomenon that drives the seasons. During the warmer half of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun. The northern winter solstice occurs when the "top" half of Earth is tilted away from the sun at its most extreme angle of the year. Being the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice is essentially the year's darkest day, but it's not the coldest.

Because the oceans are slow to heat and cool, in December they still retain some warmth from summer, delaying the coldest of winter days for another month and a half. Similarly, summer doesn't hit its heat peak until August, a month or two after the summer solstice.

Of course if you do your boating in Florida as many of our owners do, you really don't care much about all this science because your length of day and your water temperatures don't vary as much as ours do here in Maine. Today's air temperature on the ocean is 31 degrees and our water temperature is down to 46 (and going lower by the day).

Maybe I should go to the ice bar for my drink after work today.

Elin has moved out, Tiger is in hiding so not even the paparazzi's cameras can find him The Gosselins are divorced (thank God). So what is the media going to talk about now? I am amazed with our desire to watch other peoples lives go up in flames; our fascination with other peoples misery. They say it helps us feel better about our own lives and I suppose it does in some crazy way.

I for one am focused on one thing: Next summer. Just today I marked "launch day" on my calendar and for you southern folk, April 15th is very early to launch a boat in Maine. Then as if connected through the ether in some way a friend sends me an image of one of last summer's raft ups and before you know it the emails are bouncing back and forth talking about days getting longer and how it's only 16 weeks before we go boating again. As silly as that sounds to you year round boaters we do really look forward to the next season and to launch day.

So this is the way I see it. Boaters get to see things that others do not. We are very lucky people in that regard and we need to remember that. Every time we get a little down we have images like this to get us back on track. I can't wait get back out there and see these sunsets again.

What an exciting time ! We look forward to next summer and the celebration of 40 fabulous years of Sabre Yachts, and we want to pass the word to as many owners as possible. This celebration will include our sister company Back Cove Yachts and their many owners.

Plans are taking shape and more details will be published as we get closer to the event. The plan is to gather at Wotton's Wharf in Boothbay on the afternoon of July 9th. From there we have a series of events and meals planned for attendees. With 40 years of history there will plenty of old images to show, great stories to tell and memories to recall.

Keep an eye to the blog for details as they firm up and most importantly plan to be in Boothbay Harbor, Maine in July 2010 !
 

The Sabre 456 (ex-452) will make a come back in the summer of 2010. This fabulous Jim Taylor design is timeless. She sailed so well that most people would not believe she could compete boat for boat with the likes of the J46 but once the results were in, the Sabre 456 had shown her transom to most of the fleet.

In this new layout, (original version is shown here below) the forward cabin berth will be shifted aft to create an island berth forward for the owner. The owners stateroom will also include a larger dressing area, more hanging locker space and more drawers for personal effects and gear.

In her aft cabin the berth will be laid athwartships so that the guests too will have a queen sized mattress on their berth. They too will enjoy more standing/dressing space in their cabin.

Jim Taylor will be working on a new keel design to really optimize her performance with the latest research.

Look for the 456 launch in mid-summer 2010 !

And look for an updated interior layout posting in a couple of weeks from now.