Gusty wrote:

The plan for the boat:
Its home port will be Rockland ME with many mostly weekend cruises
during each summer but hopefully an annual week of cruising down east
and every couple of years a longer trip to Fla or Bermuda. Also, the
grand plan may be to sail the Mediteranean or some place further...
Dreamin for now.

You might be more comfortable with the Island Packet for passages offshore to Bermuda, the Caribbean, or the
Med. But the Sabre is capable of doing it too, and would be far more enjoyable for short local cruises &
daysailing.




Anyways, I'm thinking this may be the boat for the next 10 years.
Here are my questions: With the IP, I doubt I could even consider
racing in the 'Round the Island' race and have a chance - no matter
who sails it. Is that true

Not at all. The issue here is not how the boat sails, but how it sails compared to it's rating. The IP is a
slow boat, and has a slow rating (185 or so, which puts it with the average 28 to 30 footers). Island Packets
occasionally win races under handicap. But they do so in the slow fleet, and are not particularly rewarding
to sail for performance.

OTOH the Sabres rate considerably faster, and are more responsive. They too have won enough events to show
that their rating is not a stab in the back.




and if it was the Sabre, you could
compete?

You could race either one. The issue is, would you enjoy racing (or sailing for the fun of *sailing*) in the
heavy, slow IP? If yes, there's nothing wrong with that, and I'd say go for it. But the IP is not going to
shine in races with light air, or shorter legs & lots of maneuvering. Every boat has it's favorite
conditions, and this one will like heavy air and chop.



Is the IP going to be enjoyable for a short day sail?

Depends both on the conditions & what you like. If you enjoy bopping around on a spirited responsive boat
(sail a Laser much?) then prob'ly not.



Some of the
older posts give me the impression that with their sail configuration
they may be good to reach and sail down wind but not for the short
upwind leg.

It's all relative. They go to windward about 350% better than a gaff rigged fishing smack ballasted with cod
& sandbags, but alongside a fin keeler with a good rig & better ratios, they don't look too good.


Also, for a couple, is either too much work? Some times we will have
nieces and nephews or friends, but mostly it will just be the two of
us?

Depends very much on how it's rigged & maintained. With a proper deck layout, either would be quite
manageable by one of you. Two is nice for docking though.

Speaking of which, that is an issue... a heavy boat like the IP will require more practice & forethought to
maneuver. Docking the Sabre is likely to be easier.



Both are as safe for bluewater sailing?

The nod here would definitely go to the Island Packet. That's what it's prmarily designed for. But there no
reason why the Sabre couldn't also make passages, given the right skipper & proper outfitting. BTW these last
two points are very much overlooked by cruisers... there is NO boat that is so inherently safe that poor
decision-making and iadequate gear cannot put her under. Some boats do gve one a wider margin though.



Is there another boat that you would suggest I be looking at?

Sure, lots! Hallberg-Rassey, Bavaria, Oyster, Baltic, the J-boats, ETAP, Morris, Freedom.... one of my
favorites is the New York 40 (hate the name, but then I am a Southerner), it's a great looking boat that is
comfortable and relatively fast. Carroll Marine is another builder of remarkable boats... most of theirs were
high-end racing craft but they built a number of performance-oriented cruisers too.

My opinion FWIW is that the more data you have, the more boats you look at, the easier it is to pick the
right one. It's like choosing a wife.... if you only ever saw two women in your life, and picked between them
to marry, how would you feel the first time you walked into a room with 100 other women?

Fresh Breezes- Doug King