Great new Apps

I admit it: "My name is Bentley and I am an iPad/iPhone junkie". My app collection has everything from weather to navigation and NPR radio to Pandora and my favorite local radio station WCLZ. (try it you will like it)

But crossing my desktop today was an announcement from Sail Magazine that they had introduced an app for the New Sailboat Review. As it happens I met with Josh Adams and Andy Howe from the magazine last week and knew that this announcement was coming. I downloaded the app and for $2.99 it offers a lot  of great information. It's better than a magazine boat review because it has way more images, some video and all of the specifications for dozens of boats.

So if you are as hooked to this new medium as I am, go to the app store and search for NewSailboatReview. You won't be disappointed.

Open Boat Yard Days

As an active member of Maine Built Boats, Sabre Yachts wants to be sure you are aware of Maine's Open Boatyard Days coming up in August. Many of Maine's boat builders who will participate in the event. If you love boats you will love this inside look at our yards.
The 2nd Annual "Open Boatyard Days" will be held August 15 & 16, 2011, in boatyards and boat building companies across the state. The public is invited to tour the insides of companies which include boat builders, boatyards, and affiliated businesses across the state of Maine. This is a unique opportunity to learn more about boat building in Maine, and to see first hand the passion that boat builders have for their art. The dates will build upon the Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Show, held in Rockland, August 12th-14th. People can visit the show and see a very broad array of boats, then go on to visit the boatbuilders, boatyards, and affiliated businesses at their location. More details will be posted as they become available.

Sabre 52 Salon Express on Wheels

Sea Tech Marine on the west coast of Florida has taken advantage of the elegance and beauty of our Sabre 52 Salon Express to dress up a service van for their marine electronics business. We love what they have done, just too bad it doesn't identify the boat. But people in the know will realize which boat it is. 
 

Perhaps better than the profile view is the "transom" shot where Waldo has found his way into the graphics scheme.

 
 
Could this be a whole new model for GMC?

Duke the Dog Pays a Visit

 

Last week at the Tornto Boat Show had a visit from a very enthusiastic Duke the Dog, mascot for the AHL Toronto Marlies Ice Hockey Team. As you can see from the picture Duke found the cockpit of the Sabre 40 to be very comfortable and welcoming. Duke's team is currently in 3rd place in their hotly contested division.

Sabre 456 Sailing Yacht gets rave reviews

I have been around the sailing industry for a while and as one of the the good old boys/girls I have the pleasure of being asked to serve on panels such as the Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards panel. I am not a judge. Let me get that straight right off the bat. No, what I do is I work with other builders and with the magazine to establish guidelines that monitor the competition and the judging process. I am a huge fan of Boat of the Year, not just because we have won so many awards, but because I think that a competition which is judged by some of the strongest experts in their field, makes better sailing yachts.

The winners are not Edsels that are one companies "market researched, perfect vessel". No these boats are really good because of the variety of opinions that are fed into the ballot box and the variety of backgrounds of the judges.

This morning I was pleased to see my Fedex package arrive with the January issue of the magazine and the announcement of the winners. I was even more pleased to see that Catalina Yachts won the Domestic Boat of the year and also won their category. You may ask why I am so pleased about Catalina and my answer is that I am thrilled that an American company can stand up the all of the European builders and come out a winner. I am also very fond of the owners and senior management of Catalina and always wish them well. We are in two very different market segments and we feel no competition between us.

So Frank, Sharon and Jerry, congratulations on your big win and best of luck for the 2011 with your Catalina 355. It's a great boat and it deserves the recognition.

For our part the Sabre 456 was not a new design in terms of it's tooling and molds and the rules for the contest prevent such a redesign from entering the fray. Oh but I wish we could have been there.

 

Wow. The Sabre 456 is Making Waves

We could not be happier with the reception that met the Sabre 456 at the recent United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis. An overwhelming number of visitors came to inspect the new arrival and the comments were very heart warming. From the Selden mast and boom to the latest Harken deck hardware, there were no concerns about the integrity of the gear.

Once below deck the ooo's and aaahhh's were countless. One visitor screamed so loud when she saw the drawer style reefers that it scared the attending broker. The men loved the man cave where the gen set and mechanical systems live aft of the galley and the shoji screens on the lockers and passageway door were a huge hit.

Here are some images of her interior to entice those who did not come to Annapolis to take the next step and arrange an appointment to view the Sabre 456. Our National Sales Manager Brenda Collins can be reached at brenda@sabreyachts.com or by calling 207-655-2396 X 235

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

As soon as we have some sailing images I'll be putting those up here on the blog and on the yacht's gallery

Annapolis boat show here we come

Next week we have the show of all sailboat shows: the United States Sailboat Showin Annapolis, Maryland. The show runs from Thursday the 7th through Monday the 11th and if you are a sailor or have an interest in learning more about the sailing lifestyle, then this is the place to be next week.

For our part we have been extremely busy working on the first of our new Sabre 456 sailing yachts and we have, with the help of the fantastic commissioning crew at Annapolis Yacht Sales, managed to get the boat ready in time.

The 456 is an evolution of the previous Jim Taylor design the Sabre 452. To the trained eye of a Sabre enthusiast there are notable differences in deck hardware and toe rails. But the big changes are found in her interior where Shoji style doors on lockers and passageways, stainless steel drawer refrigerators and the addition of an equipment room aft of the galley, have brought this yacht a whole new style.

 

We look forward to seeing you in Annapolis and to showing you the new Sabre 456

The (Boat) Show Must Go On

In the deep, dark days of winter it's both hard and easy to think about the boating season and all of the pleasures it has to offer.

It's hard because you know there are 16 more weeks before the season starts again but it's easy because when you are passionate about boating (as I and my family are) all one has to do is summon a memory of time on the water and the darkest, snowiest day can suddenly become warm and bright.

One sure way to rev up your boating enthusiasm is to attend a boat show. Not only are there boats to see, there are new electronics to check out, items to purchase for your boat's stores and at many shows these days there are seminars to attend that will make you a better boater. January through March are the best months of the year with shows in London, Toronto, Seattle, Cleveland, New York, Miami, Boston, Maine and Palm Beach (to name but a few)

The 2010 versions of these shows are well worth attending for us as boat builders. There is no better opportunity for us to put our best foot forward and show the boating world what we do so well. We can meet prospects, talk with existing owners and do some professional development by checking out what our competitors are bringing to market.

For our customers there has rarely been and will rarely be as good an opportunity to check out what is new and see what manufacturers are offering to entice you to make the step to a new yacht. There are excellent buys to be found on 2009 inventories and there are exciting new developments to see in design and technology that may also encourage you to think about something new at your dock for the start of the 2010 boating season.

So if the dark days of winter are getting you down and boats are what truly make you happy, check out our show calendar and come on down. We would love to see you.
 

Blessing of the Fleet

Last week, I attended an exlusive Boat Show event at Carnegie Abbey Club in Portsmouth, RI.  Friday brought a perfect hot summer evening giving our local dealer, Boston Yachts a chance to exhibit their fleet of Sabre and Back Cove Motor yachts, with 5 models shown.  The Back Cove 29 and 33 sitting next to the Sabre 34 and 42 Express models were backed up by our flagship of the 52 Salon Express.   From the dock, we could see many people up on the hill enjoying cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in the tent.  A perfect summer evening in Rhode Island.  Having the vantage point of looking over this fleet of stand-outs, the crowd soon began trickling down the dock to get onboard.  This not being a traditional boat show, we had many yachting newcombers who were amazed at the interiors of these boats that they had been looking at from above.  Carnegie Abbey had arranged for a blessing of the fleet, and we all were happy to see a memebr of the chuch adorned in robes come down to give his blessing on these vessels  and for whomever is fortunate enough to step aboard.

New York show moves to December

The New York National Boat Show, which started it's run in 1905, has made a major date shift and moved into December (13-21) of 2008. The move was brought on by a variety of circumstances at Jacob Javits center and by exhibitors wanting to try something new in order to increase attendance. My feeling is the dates are great. I love "the holidays" but they tend to drag on a tad too long for me. Growing up in Australia and Canada, the festivities of "the holidays" started around the 15th of December and by New Years we were ready for the end of it. We American's (yes I am now a naturalized American citizen) slow down our work in process at Thanksgiving and go back to work in earnest on the 2nd day of January. That's too long for me so having the show break up "the holidays" is going to feel great. Of course my wife will enjoy some holiday shopping in New York after show hours !