We are on a journey to find a perfect blue water sailboat. I’m secretly on a journey to get my wife to agree to (someday) purchase a Hallberg-Rassy. She knows it. After all, who wouldn’t want a HR?
In all seriousness, we want a blue water sailboat for doing ocean passages with at least one and possibly two children in a few years. We’re loving our 1996 Catalina 34 MkII, but it can get cramped with 3 teenage boys, our 10 year-old daughter and my wife and I. The Catalina is fine for a day sail or for a long weekend trip with a couple of overnights at anchor. But it is obviously limited in range and space for even a small family to liveaboard. It is a great boat to learn on, however. We’re eventually looking for a safe and easy-to-maintain blue water boat with a strong owner following.
We recently set out on a crisp Friday to Maryland with our broker, Kevin McGettigan, from Sandy Hook Yacht Sales. He lined up three boats for us to see: Sabre 426, Taswell 50, and a Caliber 47. Kevin is great and he knows the Annapolis/Chesapeake Bay area very well. We were masked up and ready to go.
I must say that since moving to the particular place where I live in New Jersey from Texas a couple of years ago, I have almost forgotten what a sunrise looks like. I often say that Texas has the best sunrises and Arizona has the best sunsets. But this morning was the first time I’d seen a sunrise, and it made me look twice, so I thought to snap a quick picture.
Sunrise on I-95
Along the way, we got to cross the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal for the very first time. It was a lot wider than we had expected.
2006 Sabre 426
The Sabre 426 was in excellent shape; the hull (including the bottom) and cabin were in excellent shape. The topsides and cockpit left a little to be desired, suprisingly. It was wrapped for the winter in plastic and the tradesfolks did a exceptionally nice job on this. I really liked the cherry wood craftsmanship.
To be honest, the cabin of this boat didn’t feel THAT much larger than our Catalina 34 MkII. I know it is bigger, but it just didn’t feel so big that I was impressed with the added space. I just kept admiring the woodwork having done my share of it and developing a deep appreciation for this. The starboard settee was REALLY short; there is no way that my 5’10” frame could take a nap on this. The topsides really felt much larger than our C34, so I liked that feeling.
The mainsail was boom furled, and that meant the boom and vang were massive to support the added weight. The engineering design that I saw gave me confidence that this boat could handle gusts and high wind conditions.The Sabre is 10 years newer with some great features that we don’t have, but in reality, were not sure it fits our needs. It will definitely sail very well and it can probably take us most places in the world we’d like to sail to. It bothers me that Sabre doesn’t make sailboats anymore. I read one time that Sabre sailboats bought by “doctors from Connecticut”, and that has stuck with me ever since.
2000 Taswell 50
This was our first center cockpit sailboat. And it did not disappoint at the helm. Sure, it was on the hard for Winter, but looking out over the foredeck seemed like we were looking at a runway. I hated the plasticky dodger setup, I mean, I really hated it. I wanted to rip it out and install a hard dodger immediately; it felt cheap and didn’t match the high quality of the workmanship in the cabin. This was an impressive boat on top and inside. The engine access was fantastic. The boat does not appear to be highly maintained in its current state; the hull needs a lot of work on the starboard side.
You could not beat the kitchen, I mean it was outrageously beautiful and massive for countertop space. The aft cabin with island queen was spectacular. I really like how the original owner customized the navigation desk and had it built along the port side with map shelves; that was ingenious. For all the space, I thought the table felt more like the diner table from Seinfeld that limits to four people. I’d prefer a U-shape or L-shape seating area, because we like to sit all around the table and play cards and games.
We could definitely see how to put at least 5 of us on this boat with relative comfort. It would be a little oversized for our needs having 1 or 2 kids aboard. But the kitchen was just a treat; perhaps bigger than some home kitchens. The current state of the boat would mean that we would need to put a lot of money and work into it to bring it up to the condition we desire.
1999 Caliber 47
I’ve read that the Caliber 47 is a nice boat but that the forward pulpit is ridiculously long and detracts from the design of the boat. No doubt, this pulput was over 5 foot long!
The owners spent a lot of money on a new cockpit dodger and wrap around canvas; it was well done. The inside of the boat didn’t sparkle for us. The wind coming off the Baltimore harbor at Anchorage Marina was whipping up, so we didn’t want to spend too much time on the deck, but I liked having less teak. The engine didn’t shine very well, but the supporting systems look to be relatively new and in good working condition. The starboard settee was nice and long, and I think I could have laid down for a comfortable rest at sea. The cabin woodwork was not up to the same standards as the Taswell or Sabre.
Summary
| (Scoring 1=poor, 5=great) | Sabre 426 | Taswell 50 | Caliber 47 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Looks/styling in and out | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Liveability for 2 adults and 2 kids | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Maintainability | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Kitchen space | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Safety at sea | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Condition in and out | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Strong owner following | 3 | 1 | 1 |
The Loxodograph 