How To Select The Right Sailboat For You: A Buyer's Guide 

No other channel does this level of analysis. you will never find this in the mags as they are on comission great show again!

I have sometimes found myself forgetting to give a thumbs up on various info videos that truly deserve it. Your info video is so good that it is impossible to forget to give it a thumbs up.

I love how you just get to the point.

Morgan, all day long. Great channell

Thank you very much for your analysis! I've been dreaming of buying & sailing large sailboats during my entire life, but have only owned small craft as I was forced to live inland, and the logistics of maintaining a sailboat from a distance was just too much to manage. I've been seriously sailboat shopping for 3 years and am getting closer to putting in offers.

My father had the 1st. Morgan, Hobie Cats, and another brand. We had a Morgan 24, then the 27, and then the 38 (our last boat was a Bristol 41.1). I am going with the Morgan.

Great video, you earned another sub. I'm down in Boston and in this phase of looking.

Great episode and a nice scheme for judging sailboats. I also have found reading reviews especially those in Practical Sailor very useful. It is not surprising that you favored the Morgan 382, that is truly a great boat. Matter of fact, watching the video of your 382 under sail on your business trip was awesome. I am definitely interested in the Morgan 382, matter of fact, if you were to make some fanboy videos of your 382 when you are running thin on listings, I would definitely be watching and liking.

Love the comments. What I am hearing is, do your home work, find what fits your budget and make some memories. No boat is perfect but there is one that is right for me and hopefully I will get my wife on board. God willing.

Great episode, loved your rant. When I read Cruising magazine, all the editors own classic plastic, then they boat review very high priced, what do you call them? Ikea boats ? Theirs a real disconnect going on. Anyway I'm new to sailing. I've learned quite a bit in a small dinghy. Just bought a Seafarer 26 on a trailer. Nice little pocket cruiser, great numbers other than a little light on comfort ratio, all for $3300. The owner started a t 5000 but couldn't sell. My plan is to cruise the great lakes, and then move up to say a Sabre, not sure. I love the fact that there's affordable, and with a little elbow grease, great boats out there. Thanks for the channel, no disconnect here :)

Brilliant commentary on sailing Magazine. Editors seem to think speed and ultimate luxury is what the majority of sailors want- clearly they are wrong. We have 41 year old Bristol, regularly sail at 6-7.2 knots in awesome comfort at 15-20 KNt

Nice analysis. If space is of no or little concern, I would not be too quick to dismiss the Cape Dory. Though maybe one in better shape? Otherwise it's clearly the Morgan.

Go Morgan for sure

Saber 34... has an excellent build reputation, is good looking and we know it's a good sailor.

Also, you should try to insure each vessel before you make an offer. They are older boats and insurance is getting harder to find for the older boats

got to go with the Morgan

Great episode!! For me I would have to go with the Morgan. The extra length with the extra beam will be noticeable, I would prefer an encapsulated ballast, the greater displacement obviously helps with the comfort ratio (where it wins again), the cost of brand new sails can be covered by the price differential between the two boats (the Saber needs a stove --add to the purchase cost for that as well). Now take into account "intended Use" as you said ... which better suits the uses that were mentioned? Light racing on occasion -- the Morgan is the faster of the two, day trips and maybe some coastal cruising -- the Morgan will have more living space, taking the family along -- the Morgan is the more sea kindly of the two. Personally I did not like the looks of the Westerbeke Diesel, the engine beds, or the cabin sole in the Saber. As for the Morgan, I like the skeg hung rudder set up, and you can't go wrong two settees, quarter berth, Pilot berth, and V-berth (looks like a party to me!!!). On a side note ... I would really be interested if you would expound upon moorings (where to look for available ones, who to speak to for information, etc) as a follow up to this episode. I live about 50 miles from NYC, and am considering buying next year and will likely have to keep the boat up on the Hudson River -- the pricing that I have seen for a slip at the marinas are down right frightening the closer to the city that I look.

Love the content😊

Great channel

I'd pick the Morgan so I could live aboard with all my scuba gear.

I think you rigged us into picking the Morgan. 😅

Hey, what boat stat tells you how close a boat will point into the wind?

If I were to plan to buy either of these boats how would I get insurance? How hard is it to get, and can I always just get liability?

That Sabre 34 is over priced. A more realistic price would be in the $22K-$23K range. Also the Sabre 34 is actually a very small boat below. It is fine for a couple, but would be cramped with your hypothetical family. Having been on a few older Sabre 34s (maybe 15 or so), I can say that they all had a cramped, somewhat dingy feel below. I would want to know the details of the diesel and have a close look at the on deck wood. I would also look closely at other equipment (ST winches, windlass, etc.). Sabre built a nice sailboat, but I would be happier putting a few more dollars on the table for a Sabre 362 if I wanted a Sabre. I am not a big fan of Morgan yachts. I have only sailed on 1 (a 60' Morgan custom Yawl) and have only been on three other Morgans - An OI37, and OI41 and a 42-2 as I recall. The Out Islands were huge down below, but kind of cheap feeling and the 42-2 was sort of spartan. One thing I generally don't like much is the use of those calculated ratios for selecting a boat. I think you need to consider hull form, keel type and build quality much more than those calculated numbers. Also you should have considered only similar sized boats based on displacement, LOA and beam. There is no real comparison between a 28 and a 33 and similarly the difference between a 34 and a 38 is huge. That said, the 38 would not be much harder to sail than the 34 except that the loads would be bigger. How easy any of those boats would be to sail would depend on how the boat was set up. Personally, I prefer a boat set up so that I don't have to leave the cockpit, but I am an old guy who effectively single hands because my 79 year old wife is now a passenger

Is there a magazine for the everage Joe? US guys who a 20k boat is years of savings? Rather than these rich a holes with 400k boats? I want to see the nitry gritty old school sailing not wealthy folks coastal cruising quarter million dollar boats.