Sabre

Welcome to the Sabre – one of Australia’s most popular single handed racing dinghies.
At 3.7m in length, the Sabre is similar in length to the popular Laser class, although has a little less sail area. It is amazingly light-weight, with a minimum hull weight of just 41kg. The boat is easily launched single-handedly, with most boats using a beach trolley for easy storage, rigging and launching.

The boats are easy to sail, and can offer lively performance in downwind planning conditions. They are also a comfortable boat to sail, with their deep cockpits and rounded side tanks. – This is a boat you sit in, not on.

The Sabres can be built in plywood, fibreglass, or fibreglass with plywood decks. They can be home built in plywood, professionally built and home painted and fitted-out; or fully professionally built. It is a ‘one-design’ class, with a series of measurement rules that ensure that one Sabre is the same as all the rest.

The Sabres are an Australian class and 2000 + have been built so far.

Who can sail a Sabre?

You will struggle to find a boat that can be competitively sailed by a more diverse range of people. In fact, Sabres are sailed by people from 14 to 80 in age; and in weights from 45 to 95kg. And don’t forget – you don’t need a crew – so you won’t be left on the beach when your crew can’t sail.

Unlike say the Laser class, the Sabre is not an Olympic class, and the less serious nature of the racing and the sailors reflects this. The Sabre class therefore appeals to the 99% of sailors who aren’t aspiring to the Olympics! The Sabre with its hard chine design makes for greater stability, and a boat that rides waves and responds well. It is often noted that other key points in the Sabre’s favour are that it does not much require as much crew weight, strength or stamina as the Laser. Additionally, Sabre sailors are not as prone to lower back problems due to more upright position when hiking.

As you might have guessed then, that leaves a fairly large proportion of the population suited to the Sabre! A couple of groups deserve special mention – teenagers and women. The Sabre over the years has proved to be a great boat for teenagers making their first move out of training classes like Minnows or Sabots once they reach say 50kg. It’s also a great women’s boat – as with teenagers, it is a boat that isn’t going to over-power you.

So whether you have never sailed before, if you are coming back into sailing after a long break, you want to change gears after years in another class, or you just want great fleet racing – think Sabre.

And why just sit on the beach watching your kids or spouse sail!

What is the racing like?

So why is Sabre racing so good, and why do we enjoy it so much? There are quite a few factors that make all the difference when it comes to providing great sail racing.

We are a one-design class where it is the skill of the skipper that is the deciding factor. At the Perth Dinghy Sailing Club, we sail as our own class, rather than in mixed-class fleets. This means that we enjoy great, close racing. Don’t under-estimate how enjoyable it is to participate in racing where you find yourself within a couple of boat lengths of other boats right around the course!

Never raced before?

We all started sometime – give it a try!
There is a broad range of experience across the fleet, and you’ll always find yourself competing against boats no matter what your standard.
And finally, we’re a friendly bunch – sailors socialise well before and after the race.

For more information on this National Class visit:
www.sabre.org.au
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PDSC Class Captain Sabres - Andrew Stamp andrew.p.stamp@gmail.com Ph 0412306611