(More Photos)

Sabre 402

Other JTYD/Sabre designs: Overview | 362 | 402 | 452 | 426 | 386 | Spirit

The resounding success of the Sabre 362 led directly to the development of the Sabre 402, which began later in 1994. At this point in the evolution of Sabre Corp, their in-house engineering staff was busy with their new trawler yacht. As a result, while most of the detail work for the 362 was done in house by Sabre, for the 402 much more of it was done in Marblehead, with Jim doing most of the interior and deck design in addition to the hull shape, rig geometry, and appendage details. Once again the Sabre engineers took responsibility for the laminates and overall structure, as well as the interior woodworking details.

The Sabre 402 shares design DNA with the Taylor 42, a custom race boat launched in 1991 that is still winning races today (see Design #71). The weight of cruising amenities in the 402 replaced that of the inside ballast of the stripped out T-42, and the 402’s stern overhang is a bit shorter, but overall the designs are quite similar. Like her T-42 cousin, the 402 has had a long string of impressive race results, both around the buoys (e.g. Ron Noonan’s perennial winner Wildflower ) and offshore (such as Bill Smith’s Chicago/Mackinac wins in Wooten 2, and Jeffrey Urbina’s class win in the Newport/Bermuda offshore classic with his Il Bodacious. Launched in 1996, the Sabre 402 has also been a big winner in the marketplace, winning Cruising World’s ‘Mid-Sized Cruiser’ and Overall ‘Boat of the Year’ awards in 1997. Sabre went on to build 112 S-402’s over an especially successful 8 year production run.

More Information:

• Sabre 402: A cruiser-racer with accomidations to outdo the competition. [Bob Perry]
• Sabre 402 Brochue
• Sabre Elsa Program
• Perry Design Review

Photos:

Sabre 402 under sail: