Class BHeavy displacementCruiser/Racer

Sabre 426

Sabre · Jim Taylor · 1998

Updated

The Sabre 426 is a 12.95 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by Jim Taylor and built by Sabre, first launched in 1998. It races in Class B.

Sabre 426 - Jim Taylor - SabreP 15.06 mLOA 12.95 m

Length

12.95 m

42′ 6″

Beam

4.08 m

Draft

1.91 m

Displacement

11.4 t

Sail area

107 m²

This design does not carry a Race Edge. The speeds below still come from measured boats.

On the podium

Where a Sabre 426 finishes when she goes racing.

Not enough data yet to show how this design finishes. It has not been found in the race results we have collected so far.

Recent regattas

The latest events where a Sabre 426 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.

No regattas found yet.

Raced one we are missing?

Report a regatta

Round the buoys, or offshore

A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.

Round the buoys

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Not enough data yet: no races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.

Offshore & coastal

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Not enough data yet: no races over 10 NM carry a published distance.

Who she races against

The designs a Sabre 426 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.

Not enough data yet to say who this design races against. No result we have collected puts it on the water beside another design we track.

Speed at every angle

The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.

36930°60°90°120°150°WIND9.4

Upwind VMG

5.38

40°

Beam reach

8.61

90°

Broad reach

9.36

135°

Downwind VMG

8.06

170°

Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.

Where it wins and where it pays

Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.

It does its best work before the breeze fills in. In the light it does more than its numbers promise, and gives some of that back when the wind arrives.

Where it gains

Its best ground is across the wind once the breeze fills, where it outruns what it looks like on paper. It holds that advantage running deep as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.

Where it pays

It falls short cracked off once it pipes up, giving away time it never gets back. That is weight that has to be driven rather than released.

Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.

True wind
Upwind+0.02 kn
Beam reach+0.18 kn
Broad reach+0.19 kn
Downwind+0.08 kn

Full width is 0.4 kn either way.

At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the broad reach.

How fast is a Sabre 426

Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.

Angle6 kn10 kn14 kn20 kn
Beat VMG3.444.755.245.38
52°5.357.057.587.73
60°5.707.317.817.96
75°5.957.508.038.30
90°5.847.548.128.61
110°5.807.728.398.93
120°5.677.668.439.29
135°5.057.288.259.36
150°4.266.477.838.83
Run VMG3.705.616.928.06

How they are set up

The range each sail spans across the fleet.

Mainsail47 m² – 49 m²
Headsail55 m² – 62 m²

Nearly all carry a folding propeller. Crew weight is declared around 650 kg.

Rigging

Sabre 426 rig and sail dimensions

A Sabre 426 carries 15.06 m of mainsail hoist on a 5.35 m boom, a forestay 17.27 m above the deck. Typical figures across the 2 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.

Rig

Mainsail hoistP15.06 m15.05 – 15.06
Boom lengthE5.35 m5.31 – 5.39
Forestay heightIG17.27 m17.20 – 17.35
Fore triangle baseJ5.07 m5.03 – 5.12
Spinnaker hoistISP17.27 m17.20 – 17.35
Boom above deckBAS1.55 m1.46 – 1.64

Sails

Mainsail48.0 m²46.9 – 49.0
Headsail58.5 m²55.0 – 62.0