Sabre 48 Salon Express

Additional Specs, Equipment and Information:

By raising the cockpit and all of it’s comfortable seating to within one short step of the main salon cabin sole, the Sabre Design Team created a unique environment, joining these two popular social spaces. A bi-fold door to port and an electrically operated window to starboard, completely open the aft end of the salon so that your crew and guests can enjoy the fresh air and the out of doors. 

To starboard in the salon is a comfortable L-settee with a convenient end table. Cushions are deep and luxurious. An elegant, hi-lo, folding table is inlaid with a maple insignia. To port is another settee which slides inboard so that more guests can gather at the table. This mechanism also provides egress to the utility room below the main salon sole. An optional crew’s quarters is available here with double berth, a simple head and a battery of storage drawers. 

At the forward end of the salon is a raised L-settee for the mate and friends so that the entire crew can have the same sight lines as the helmsman. Also found here are a large screen LCD television on an electric lift and a chart table with ample volume for charts and loose gear. 

Her elegant helm pod is covered in Ultraleather and has space enough for two large chart plotter screens and the Cummins Smart Craft displays. There is room remaining for other instrument needs such as a night vision camera, spot light controls and VHF radio. Sightlines from this helm are very clear and exceed industry guidelines. A side deck door offers the helmsman instant access to the side deck to assist with docking and the open door can allow fresh air to flow through the salon when underway. A Stidd helm chair completes this study in ergonomics.

A world of luxury and comfort await in this beautifully styled master cabin. Hull port lights, overhead hatches and opening portlights shimmer light through this space and translucent Shoji screens turn natural light to a subtle glow. The master berth is an island queen and with it’s athwartships orientation there is flat cabin sole on all sides. Elegant inlays in the head board and in the side tables add touches of luxury to the hand crafted furniture. Shoji screen doors enclose the cabin and master head. 

There is readily accessible storage below the berth and in the many drawers and lockers built into the aft bulkhead. For an overnight or for an extended cruise the Sabre 48 has the storage that serious boaters appreciate.

An en-suite head with large shower stall has a ceramic tile sole. On the outer walls of the shower stall, glass tile, which adds a contemporary touch to this space, is available in a wide selection of colors. An elegant glass vessel sink is built into a finely crafted cherry cabinet 

Your guests will stay in the lap of luxury here in their private guest stateroom with it’s en-suite head and shower. A comfortable queen sized island berth has steps to both sides to make egress easy and offers bulk storage and large drawers below the berth top. There is an incredible amount of storage in this cabin with lockers above the shelves on both sides, a large cedar lined hanging locker to starboard and another locker with enclosed drawers and shelves to port. For ventilation there are two hatches overhead, each with built-in blind and screen. 

The private guest head has a ceramic tile sole and a full enclosure will keep the head dry when your guests are showering. A fresh water flush MSD is standard. 

A fully fitted galley is close at hand to the main salon where the crew in the galley and salon are in clear eye contact. This bright and airy space has an abundance of natural light from overhead, from the opening portlights and from the large fixed port light in the hull side, above the counter. 

The galley is equipped with a convection microwave, electric cook top with vent fan and a stand up stainless steel fridge-freezer. Elegantly sculpted Solid Surface Material is used for the galley counter surface and both a stainless steel prep and deep bowl sink are standard. Many drawers and lockers offer space for all of your galley-ware and stores. Ventilation is provided by two large opening ports and an overhead hatch. All overhead lighting is energy efficient, cool LED type. 

Galley cabinetry details include beveled glass doors in the wine glass cabinet pictured here. All of the many drawer boxes aboard the 48 Salon Express are crafted of maple wood and have dovetailed joints. The interior of each drawer is varnished

Below the main cabin sole is a utility space, made available by moving the engines and drives aft in the hull. The space is accessed by a stair outboard of the port main salon settee. A linear drive is electrically operated and moves the settee away to expose the stairs. At the base of the stairs headroom is 5’ 10” and as one moves to the centerline is steps down to 5’0”. 

As standard this space is open storage with a work bench at the base of the steps, however it is ideal for installation of custom personal options such as a full size washer-drier, an additional freezer for long range cruising or simply for bulk galley storage. 

Shown here is the crew quarters option with queen sized berth, multiple storage drawers, a wall mount television and a small head compartment. 

The Sabre 48 Salon Express is powered with twin Cummins 550hp QSC 8.3 diesel engines coupled to Zeus pods. All engine and gen set service and maintenance points are readily accessible. This innovative drive train eliminates shafts and rudders and in their place is a vertically oriented drive unit. Orienting the aft-facing counter rotating propellers in the same axis as the boat’s hull offers a large gain in efficiency and a corresponding reduction in fuel consumption. Gains are also made in noise levels as exhaust gasses are expelled through the propeller hubs. At idle exhaust gasses are released through by-passes. 

The Zeus system also includes an autopilot and the innovative Skyhook feature which allows the yacht to hold position while waiting for a bridge or fuel dock. Last but not least the system incorporates automatic trim tabs. Also within the engine room space are the gen set, all air conditioning compressors and the main 12 VDC electrical distribution panel 

The deck of the Sabre 48 is a study in ergonomics with security and comfort at the forefront of each design decision. Her swim platform is extra deep to accommodate the “annex” that serious cruisers will want to take along. A factory option hydraulic dinghy lift mounts below the standard platform. Two easy steps up to the elevated cockpit and just one short step into the main salon makes movement around the deck sure and steady. 

Her comfortable cockpit is the place where friends and neighbors will want to gather on the L-settee and aft facing seat. A beautiful, oval shaped table is standard and when folded the table’s frame offers a secure hand rail. Engine room access is through a large hatch in the cockpit sole. 

On the wide walkways of the side decks, Sabre’s antiskid surface offers good footing and large diameter hand rails are always within reach. Moving forward to the foredeck for anchoring and mooring maneuvers the elegant teak toe rail offers additional security and the perimeter rail is extra high. Once at the bow the flat deck with handy anchor windlass and mooring cleats are both easy to reach and easy to use. Large deck lockers here accommodate the yachts fenders and dock lines. 

“I think it’s important to understand that, before we even started in on the 48’s hull design, we had the advantage of having already delivered 4 different hull models which incorporated pod systems: Volvo IPS on the Sabre 38 and Sabre 52, and CMD Zeus on the Sabre 40, Sabre 42. We began the Sabre 48 Salon Express program by reviewing both our predicted performance characteristics and the collected empirical data on these hulls, and analyzed the numbers against the corresponding hull geometry and weight and center information. This wealth of data allowed us to identify features and characteristics that benefitted performance, handling, running attitude, sea keeping, etc, and introduce these characteristics into the 48 design in a managed way. 

With the overall 48 design, made a significant shift away from our typical weight distribution when we decided to ‘close couple’ the engines to the drive units, thereby moving the motors aft to live under the cockpit. That move raised an eyebrow or two with prospects who were concerned about that movement of the center of gravity, and the resulting running trim angles. (Excellent sightlines and low inherent bow rise and trim angles have been hallmarks of Sabre’s successful powerboat designs.) But we had pledged from the start that we would develop a hull that delivered a running attitude that was as good as or better than a shaft boat along with the speed, handling and technological advantages of a pod boat – so that’s what we set out to do, and the results speak for themselves. 

We also tweaked the Zeus tunnel geometry and we modeled the hull wake in 3D to better understand the running character and how the swim platform would relate to the hull wake at various speeds. All in all, the execution of this hull form was a huge team effort. We’re very pleased with the outcome.” 

Kevin Burns Head Designer