Sabre V Laser

[ashleighholcomb]

Hi Guy’s. Can anyone tell me which is the faster boat in up to 12knots of wind, Laser or Sabre? Thanks.

[rusty36r295898]

Depends on a variety of factors, such as rig (standard, radial, 4.7), crew weight, crew skill, conditions (wind, waves etc.) Generally a Sabre would be slightly slower than a Radial, a bit quicker than a 4.7 and a fair bit slower than a full rig.

Speed is only part of the equation though. Sabres are a lot lighter so feel quite fast, they have good fleets and good racing, and they are an awful lot more comfortable to sail than a Laser

The question you should really be asking is which is more fun, but we might be a bit biased on that one

[ashleighholcomb]

Thanks Michael. My situation is club racing a Sabre in a mixed fleet of mostly Lasers so I am just curious as to how competitive a Sabre would be in under 12 knots without being embarrassed by a lack of speed. 😉

[nhanmimatgiare]

current VYC Yardstick has Sabre at 127
Laser standard rig at 113
Laser Radial at 116
Laser 4.7 at 122

[ashleighholcomb]

Thanks Snodge. Thats interesting although a Sabre sail is .5 sqm smaller than a Laser full rig it is slower than a 4.7? A Sabre hull apparently is lighter than a Laser hull so shouldn’t this help or does it come down to old fashion skipper skill?

[rusty36r295898]

@waynet wrote:

a Sabre sail is .5 sqm smaller than a Laser full rig it is slower than a 4.7? A Sabre hull apparently is lighter than a Laser hull so shouldn’t this help or does it come down to old fashion skipper skill?

Mainly comes down to efficiency in design

[nhanmimatgiare]

I think you will find it comes down to hull length being the dominant ratio ( Laser being 14ft vs Sabre 12ft) As neither the Laser or Sabre plane upwind at their best VMGs (or if your not Tom Slingsby) their course speed is very much dictated by their hull speed….which means longer = faster. “Hull speed” of a Sabre would be close to 5 knots.
As far as design efficiency goes I would imagine the Sabre is more efficient in planning mode, reaching with the chines enabling a cleaner plane but the other points of sail the Laser would be more efficient.
Thats not to say the Laser is a nicer boat to sail than a Sabre…. it steers like a truck with that silly raked rudder blade!
If you want to sail for fun and enjoyment and not sheep stations the Sabre is a better choice.

[ashleighholcomb]

Thanks Snodge, a good informative reply. I am beginning to better understand the differences between a Sabre & Laser. Water length obviously is a key issue.

[nangmuithammy]

Using a sailmaking software to get the areas i find the
Sabre is 6.5 sqmtrs
laser 4.7 is 6.2 sqmtrs
full laser is 8.75 sqmtrs

[ashleighholcomb]

@steved wrote:

Using a sailmaking software to get the areas i find the
Sabre is 6.5 sqmtrs
laser 4.7 is 6.2 sqmtrs
full laser is 8.75 sqmtrs

The Laser International site has the Laser Standard rig at 7.06 sqm

[nangmuithammy]

All i am doing is pointing out the sabre has the same sail area of a laser 4.7
and the full is 35% bigger not .5 sqmtr
the figures i used are
laser full rig l 5130 f 2740 le 5570 1/2 1720 3/4 965
laser 4,7 l 4085 f 2480 le 4540 1/2 1500 3/3 835
the areas i use are a 3d area not 2d area

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