I'm looking at purchasing a 1984 Islander 28; however the Sabre 28 also seems to be in the same league. If anyone has experience with either or both of these boats it would be great to hear your feed back. I'll be sailing on Lake Michigan with the intention of a couple 3-5 day trips per summer. Thanks for any input
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Robert Perry's Choice
A few years ago the designer of the Islander 28(Robert Perry) was asked if he had any choice of his many designs to sail which would he chose.In the top three was the Islander 28.We leased both the Islander 28 & 30 and currently own an Islander 41(Gurney design).They were and are all great boats.Sailboats from the 70's tend to be overbuilt and with proper maintenance still are going strong today.
A few years ago the designer of the Islander 28(Robert Perry) was asked if he had any choice of his many designs to sail which would he chose.In the top three was the Islander 28.We leased both the Islander 28 & 30 and currently own an Islander 41(Gurney design).They were and are all great boats.Sailboats from the 70's tend to be overbuilt and with proper maintenance still are going strong today.
Islander 28 experience
Hi Mike - The Sabre 28 is clearly a well built classic with a pedigree, but I am partial to the Islander 28 since I had many good times on one. Mine did have minor blisters and was a victim of neglect. I stripped the gelcoat and applied a barrier coat, took every piece of deck hardware off (including toe rails) and rebedded and painted the hull and deck. Beautiful boat and roomy for it's size. While not a great performer in light air she can hold her own and is great fun to cruise and club race. Mine had a tiller which I prefer for that size sailboat. She makes a great pocket cruiser - I spent 9 weeks circumnavigating Vancouver Island and she held up just fine. In my humble opinion, I think the Islander 28 strikes a good compromise of aesthetic, comfort, performance, storage, and cost. Let us know what you end up with! Trevor
Hi Mike - The Sabre 28 is clearly a well built classic with a pedigree, but I am partial to the Islander 28 since I had many good times on one. Mine did have minor blisters and was a victim of neglect. I stripped the gelcoat and applied a barrier coat, took every piece of deck hardware off (including toe rails) and rebedded and painted the hull and deck. Beautiful boat and roomy for it's size. While not a great performer in light air she can hold her own and is great fun to cruise and club race. Mine had a tiller which I prefer for that size sailboat. She makes a great pocket cruiser - I spent 9 weeks circumnavigating Vancouver Island and she held up just fine. In my humble opinion, I think the Islander 28 strikes a good compromise of aesthetic, comfort, performance, storage, and cost. Let us know what you end up with! Trevor
and Sabre is still in business
The Islander is a nice boat (I'm a Bob Perry fan), but there's a huge difference in owning a boat built by a company still in business. Broke your whatchamacallit? Call Glenn at Sabre and he'll either sell you one or tell you who made it. How many companies pay someone to help the owners of boats no longer under warranty? Sabre's web site has every service bulletin ever issued for the 28. Also, there is a very strong Sabre community and the accumulated knowledge on the Sabre list (formerly on SailNet, now on Yahoo)is amazing.
The Islander is a nice boat (I'm a Bob Perry fan), but there's a huge difference in owning a boat built by a company still in business. Broke your whatchamacallit? Call Glenn at Sabre and he'll either sell you one or tell you who made it. How many companies pay someone to help the owners of boats no longer under warranty? Sabre's web site has every service bulletin ever issued for the 28. Also, there is a very strong Sabre community and the accumulated knowledge on the Sabre list (formerly on SailNet, now on Yahoo)is amazing.
I have
an Islander 30 1968 model. I didn't consider it to be well built when I bought it but I liked the shape. I stripped it out to a bare hull and rebuilt it and now it is as fine a blue water boat as you can get in 30 feet.
an Islander 30 1968 model. I didn't consider it to be well built when I bought it but I liked the shape. I stripped it out to a bare hull and rebuilt it and now it is as fine a blue water boat as you can get in 30 feet.
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