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In the Rules, under Part 2 – Fitting out Notes
Fitting out the Hull,
Paragraph 5 states – Your SABRE cannot have:
a. On water adjustable mast rake
b. Hyfield Levers Of Any Kind
c. etc etcThe rules also state in the ‘fittings purchase list’ under cordage:
Forestay: 2 metres heavy venetian blind cord.Now lets face it, $3 to 6 for a bit of string and a Texta is far better than $30 or more for a Lever which will make you boat Illegal, and
As there is no way of adjusting the Rig tension on the water, and the sabre has no spreaders or lower stays, as soon as the rig loads up on the water and puts a bit of bend in the mast, you rig tension is out the window anyway, and it will change with every gust or difference in the cut of your sails.
The Sabre rig is made to be simple and equaly the same between all boats so that it brings winning back to the drivers skills. If you want lots of tension and things to play with and adjust, try a skate or skiff of some kind.
Sabres are designed to be simple and cheap to build and maintain so you can concentrate on the important things like getting on the water and having fun as easily and quick as possible, then getting off the water, unrigged, packed up, and at the bar to spend all that extra money you saved before all the other classes get there.
Ooops did I say that hehehehe
Nathan,
Info as requested, sorry for the delay, I am Navy and have been at sea1) How often do you use your dinghy? Most weekends of the sailing season, often both days.
2) When not in use where do you store your dinghy? Under veranda or in shed.
3) Do you currently own or use a dinghy trailer? Both, own and use 2 trailers, 3 soon to be 4 beach dollies.
4) How much did your current trailer cost? Heron / Sabre Trailer $850 Custom built. Dolly’s approx $450 each self built.
5) How often do you use your trailer? See Q1
6) When you use your trailer how far do you travel? Rockingha to Perth About 60km each way, other places as req.
7) When not in use where do you store your trailer? Under the boat.
Thanks for your help.
I built a Dolly for my Wifes Heron, then had a Trailer custom built for the Dolly.
On completion of the Sabre, I built its Dolly to the same design as the heron Dolly and just did the supports to suit the Sabre. Either boat now uses the same trailer.
The Dolly is a Triangle of 32mm square Stainless tube, cut and welded to form a sealed triangle. The supports are fibreglassed directly to the upright legs on the Dolly. The position of the supports was predetermined in the design phase, and the uprights made longer than required.
To make the supports, I place the boat upside down, and then place a strip of marine carpet the size I want for my support, exactly where I want it on the boat, and Tape in place. I then place a strip of the blue foam rubber the same size over the carpet, then cover the lot in heavy duty plastic or polythene.
At this point, I place the dolly upside down on the boat, with the uprights for the supports in their correct place, and mark the correct angles and lengths to get best fit. Dolly off, Cut / Grind the legs, Dolly back on to check fit. When Happy, I weld a flat plate to each upright to hold the supports.
I then glass over the plastic about 25mm larger all round than the carpet to allow for trimming. 3 layers of glass (chopped strand) a layer of core mat, then two more of chopped strand, and when it is cured off enough, the dolly goes on and the uprights are glassed in place. Once it has all cured off, the Dolly is pulled off, the supports trimmmed and the foam and then carpet glued in place.
You then have a Dolly that fits your hull perfectly.
I am happy to take some photos and email them if anyone is interested.
All up cost of the Trailer and Dolly was under $1400, and the Stainless Dolly is happy to go in the water and float the boat off and back on.
There are now two Sabres completed in WA. Murray Smith has one, and 1665 the second.
The good news is that there are, as of 16 June 06, there are now three more under construction.
Hi all, Just love this topic.
The best example I can give to explain the situation is this. Sailing is becoming like a Union controlled worksite with Yachting Australia Like a controlling Union that also has a finger in the ownership of the worksite. You are an owner sailer in an independent class (not being an International or Olympic Class which is akin to being like a company sailer employed to sail a Union/Company owned boat). YA happily takes your union fees, so they can impose their rules on you, but as you are not a company sailor, they will not do anything to support you when you need help, and will only provide events and training for their employee members.
This is not just a problem for the sabres, but affects all non-olympic / non-International classes around Australia. There are quite a few thousand of us when you look at the big picture.
Has anyone tried to put in an insurance claim under their Yachting Australia cover? I have only heard of headaches from a few people who have tried. YA seem to want nothing to do with you.
YA and the State Yachting bodies will do as they wish, and as YA dictates the direction to the State Bodies, nothing will change while YA has tunnel vision on producing Olympic and World Champions.
The solution to the problem is simple, but it must be a ‘one in – all in’ ball game to work. All Non-Olympic / Non-International Class Association need to get together, form a new National and possibly State Sailing bodies to support these classes, pull their funding from YA and the state bodies, run their own activities and arrange their own insurance coverage that will actually give us something. Until it happens, and their hip pocket is stung, YA will not even bother to listen to what we have to say.
Hi all,
Back from sea and just starting a second Sabre in WA. With the two others planned, and the plans and timber have been purcased, that will give us 5 WA Sabres.
On the timber weight issue, I have weighed every sheet of 4mm I am using in the boat I have just started, and all were approximately 5kg, ranging from about 4.9kg to 5.15kg. This boat will be all 4mm with the floors glassed.
I have heard from a Chandlery here that they have had loads of 4mm ply come in unsighted from the supplier in varying quality of finish, and as much as 750g (3/4 Kg) difference between lighest and heaviest sheets. It is well worth your while if intending to build a timber boat to go and personally sight each sheet you intend to purchase. Take a set of analog bathroom scales and weigh them all as well. Note: Analog scales give better accuracy, as most digital bathroom scales (such as my current ones) only display every .5 KG, ie 2kg, then 2.5kg, then 3kg. Does not tell me if one sheet is 4.85kg and a second sheet is 5.20kg, but displays 5kg for both.
On the question Tim Heaney asked, it is up to the builder what they do with their Transom and chines. At the end of the day, as long as the boat fits into the specifications for the Rocker measurements, and other associated measurements for the Transom, chine-chine etc, it should be a legal sabre. The tollerences are all in the rules.
Wayne Bates’s boat (winner 2002, 2003 and 2005) is a Ray Eades plywood boat built 2001 (Ray isn’t building any more)
Alan Riley’s boat (winner 2004) is a Botterill built around 1999
Michael Johnson’s boat (winner 2000 and 2001) is a Phil Johnson boat built 2000.
Beside maybe David Wood who now owns a Phil Johnson built boat, the list of the top sailors and their associsated boat/builders hasn’t changed much at all.
The list is only around 2 years old having been compiled mid 2004.
Additionally most well built sabre will be around for a good number of years.
G’day
I sail a sabre competitevely out of Merriks yacht club on Western port bay, I am 14 and i only weigh 42 kg. In the light conditions up to about 10 knots from the north i can do reallly well and keep the boat relatively flat, however if the wind is from the south then i tend to struggle, as the sea tends to get quite lumpy. but it’s great downwind.
happy sailing.
I think there are three critical factors which need to be considered when discussing the ideal Sabre sailor weight:- wind strength, wave height, male/female.
Wind strength- the ideal weight changes depending on how windy the place is. If it is Albert Park lake, with average wind of say 10 knots, you would want to be light. If sailing in summer with 20 knot seabreezes you want to be heavy
Wave height- the ideal weight for the Sabre I think changes again based on wave conditions. If the waves are really big it is hard to get over the waves and keep the boat flat unless you are heavy and/or strong. However if you are light you have a big advantage downwind !
Male/female- I think the ideal weight question is also related to whether you are male or female. Typically men are stronger than women for the same weight, so I don’t think it is equal.
I started sailing Sabres about 8 years ago at 55kg. Once the winds on Port Phillip Bay hit 15 knots, sailing got difficult. Now I am 65kg and I can feel a significant difference in my performance- it is much easier and I can keep up , up to about 20 knots. Another few kgs would help me keep pace for all conditions !
Nic,
The Sabre manual contains a fit-out guide, which is what I am assuming you are getting the “standard” fittings from in your postings here. Note that it is only a guide. The Sabre rules allow for a large variety of fittings to be used throughout the boat, so don’t be too concerned if you can’t use the exact fitting mentioned in the fit-out guide.
In pratice, I have seen a large variety of blocks used successfully at the top of the mast. The main thing is that it supports the type of halyard you want to use – rope or wire.
Similar comments can be made about the tangs for attaching shrouds to the mast. You have to use tangs (not a hounds fitting), but I think the exact brand/type is not as important as making sure it is correctly located so it will pass the measurer’s inspection.
Regards,
Alan Riley
Sabre 1564I use an 8mm mainsheet – thinner than most. However, I also have my ratchet block up on the boom so it grabs better since the rope is turning nearly 180 degrees around it, as opposed to about 70 degrees if it’s the last block coming from the floor of the boat.
I’d have to look up my measurements for mast step and mast rake, don’t have them at hand right now. My mast step is towards the back of the tolerances – about 25 mm in from the minimum when measured from the sail track to the rear corner of the transom.
A good rule of thumb for mast rake is to set it up so that if a vertical line is dropped from the mast head when the boat is level, the line would intersect somewhere between the bulkhead and 25mm behind the bulkhead.
It is important to keep your rig tension consistent if you want a specific mast rake, since the more you tighten the forestay, the more the mast is pulled forward.
I don’t know how to tell you what my rig tension is, apart from telling you it is tighter than average and the forestay goes slack when going downwind in about 15 knots. The more rig tension you use, the more the mast will bent when you pull on the sail controls. In general, a lighter person needs more rig tension than a heaver person. However, the main thing is to match your mast bend to the sail. I find my older sails have gone softer and got a little fuller, so they need more rig tension than my newer (championship) sail.
Hope this helps!
Alan
Only a handfull of people would use a mainsheet cleat here in Victoria. I’m not aware of any of the top skippers that use one. Personally, I don’t think it is necessary since you are always playing the mainsheet. Additionally, if you hold the tiller with the same grip as you’d use on a telescope you can hold the tiller across the front of your body. This technique makes it easy to hold the mainsheet and tiller in the one hand while you make an adjustment with the other.
Alan Riley
Sabre 1564
