As a serial Sabre owner (a Sabre 30 MK 1 and a Sabre 362) I resemble this remark!This brings up a GREAT point about interior woodwork. I agree that nothing looks as good as a hand-built wooden interior in a boat. And the likes of Sabre and Hinckley had this down to an art form.
At least Sabre and its nearest competitor Tartan showed that a nicely finished boat could still be competitive and sail well. On Lake Ontario, the PHRF rating for a Sabre 362 is about the same as a J30 and it weighs about twice as much as the J30. My goal isn't to race the boat, it is to cruise out the St. Lawrence and down the East Coast to the Bahamas. For my money, I get the sailing performance of a J30 with considerably more room and comfort.
Compared to a J35, my S362 is much slower (PHRF ~ 140 vs ~72), but I can stand up in my 362 and the interior is considerably more comfortable.
To each his own. For the money I"ve spent on my 362, I could have purchased a newer Catalina or Beneteau of about the same size, however, the Sabre is much more to my liking. I'm not sure that Medicare would cover medical expenses incurred while sailing a hot cruising boat like a Pogo.