Brokerage

For Sale: 2009 Sabre 42’ Hard Top Express Yacht

The 30-plus-knot Sabre Yachts 42’ Hard Top Express Excalibur is priced to sell at $495,000.

By Donny Gilbert

April 18, 2024

This Sabre Yachts 42 Hard Top Express has been recently serviced, has 30-plus-knot speed, couple-sized cruising accommodations and is asking $495,000. Courtesy Luke Brown Yachts

Looking for a midsize, Downeast-style yacht that’s easily handled by a cruising couple? Excalibur, a 2009 Sabre 42’ Hard Top Express, might be the yacht for you. Enjoy a Great Loop cruise or head out across blue water, Excalibur is ready to go and for sale for $495,000.

Luke Brown Yachts stated, “This beautiful 2009/2020 42’ Sabre Excalibur has been expertly maintained and meticulously upgraded with an open checkbook. The owners make sure the varnish is taken care of every 6-8 months, and her elegant blue flag hull gets buffed and waxed once a year. Her engines/pods and generator have all been 1,000-hour serviced. New twin touchscreen Raymarine Axiom pro units, new Raymarine Magnum wide array radar, all new AGM batteries, 4 new reverse- cycle Dometic AC/heat units, two new flatscreens and KVH TracVision TV 5, just to list a few things.”

These settees create a cozy alfresco entertaining space. Courtesy Luke Brown Yachts

“The Sabre 42 Express Hard Top rides on a modified V-hull, which ends in a deadrise of 16 degrees at the transom. The bottom is steep and fine forward, splitting waves into kindling and easing the way for the shallower after sections. Lifting strakes and chine flats add lift, and the latter enhance the boat’s stability when she’s at rest or at displacement speed,” as previously reported in Yachting.

Excalibur is powered by twin Cummins diesel engines, combined 850 horsepower, with Zeus pod drives and joystick system. When reviewing the Sabre 42 Hard Top Express, Yachting explained that Zeus is the azipod drive system developed by ZF and Cummins MerCruiser Diesel, and Skyhook is the wonderful feature that allows the boat to hold station. The magic comes from the built-in GPS that communicates with the computer governing Zeus’s behavior to hold the boat captive within its coordinates-give or take a few feet. No less thrilling is the way these pods enhance the 42’s maneuverability, at planing speed and in tight quarters, when the speeds are so slow that conventional rudders become useless. Although this system lacks the feel of a traditional cable-operated system, it is quick and positive, even in reverse. In docking mode, Zeus’s joystick lets you move the boat forward, backward, and sideways. The 42 Hard Top Express has a top speed of 34 knots.

Recent upgrades include new helm electronics from Raymarine. Courtesy Luke Brown Yachts

Owners can easily board Excalibur from the swim platform and via the transom door. Two aft-facing cushioned benches, one to port and one to starboard, and a fold-down bench on the transom provide plenty of room for guests who enjoy relaxing in the sun. Three molded-in stairs on each side of the cockpit give access to the foredeck where a few guests could also sunbathe. Stainless-steel handrails and non-slip fiberglass soles are a few safety features provided to keep guests comfortable while cruising.

Excalibur’s pilothouse is covered by a fiberglass hardtop with large windows on each side allowing natural light to illuminate the area. An open-air environment can be created when opening up the door and windows to the cockpit area, or keep it closed while using the new A/C or heating system. Two Stidd-style leather captain’s chairs are at the helm and there’s an L-shaped settee with table just aft on the port side. There are new twin touchscreen Raymarine Axiom pro units and new Raymarine Magnum wide-array radar. Previous owners have kept Excalibur in excellent shape with the following improvements and upgrades:

1,000-hour service on engines and pods, including new internal pod parts, props tuned and pods re-sealed
1,000-hour service on 11.5 kw Onan generator
New battery system w/ custom box, 6 new AGM batteries
New 3 SeaBlaze RGBW underwater lights
New helm enclosure w/ Stamoid EZ2CY glass
Cabin top to transom Stamoid fly
Helm teak deck and helm wood work refinished w/ fusion speakers and custom rings
New Mantus anchoring system w/ 45lb Mantus anchor
New rub rails from Sabre
All hatches and portlights re-sealed
Swim platform and transom re-finished
Hull sides re-painted
New Raymarine VHF with remote speakers
New 32-inch flat-screen TV in salon
New 26-inch flat-screenTV in V-berth
Twin Mercury Marine VesselView 502’s w/ custom trim rings
New cockpit shower
New swim platform boarding ladder
New Norcold refrigerator/freezer in engine room
All cockpit, helm, salon, and V-berth soft goods including mattress reconditioned
Service records available

The galley is down, but kept bright and open thanks to the front and side windows on the main deck. Courtesy Luke Brown Yachts

Down four steps from the bridge deck is Excalibur’s salon and galley. The single-cabin layout allows for a larger full-beam U-shaped galley and salon with a C-shaped dinette and table that seats five. Varnished American cherry wood and the teak-and-holly sole glow from the natural light that flows in from the portholes. A U-shaped galley with a large sink provides plenty of counter space for food prep and the electric stovetop, oven and microwave allow the owners to prepare just about any type of meal. Owners have plenty of stowage space for dry goods in the cabinets and drawers in the galley, and cold stowage in the new Norcold refrigerator/freezer. Entertaining guests in the cockpit, pilothouse or salon is made easy with the centrally located galley.

After a long day on the water, owners can retire to the master stateroom located forward of the salon and galley. Relax on a cozy queen-sized berth. Stowage lockers and drawers built from cherry wood provide plenty of room for stowing clothes and accessories on extended voyages. Turn on the reading lamp and dive into a book or watch a little TV before falling into a deep sleep.