Both Sailing World magazine and Cruising World magazine have both nominated the new Sabre Spirit sailing yacht to their finalist lists for their respective Boat of the Year awards. This contest is an event for every sailboat builder. New designs are typically timed to enter the marketplace during the fall boat show season. The judges for Boat of the Year test boats in both Newport, RI and in Annapolis, MD (where the Spirit was sailed this time around).
Preliminary inspections are carried out dockside and half of the competitors are knocked out right there prior to sailing for any number of reasons, most technical issues, having to do with boats not meeting build standards. Final results of this contest will be published with the release of the January issues of these two great publications.