Hoyt Sapphire

A bow for women archers

With indoor target archery upon us and 3-d archery around the corner, women archers are going to be looking for a new bow. And with the tax refunds coming soon, it's even easier to think about that new bow. So here is a bow that you probably want to go looking at in your nearest archery shop - The Hoyt Sapphire.

The Hoyt Sapphire is one of the nicest women's bows on the market. Its 34 ½” axle-to-axle length is short enough to handle and long enough to be stable. It is offered with mastercams, redline cams, command cams or accuwheel cams. Its brace height is 6 3/8" and weight is 3lbs. 15 oz. The moderate reflex geometry allows for reasonable speed at short draw lengths while not giving up forgiveness and increased performance.

General Specs
The limbs installed on the bow are the Hoyt’s laminated XT 2000 limb. It gets performance levels from the contoured laminated limb that is engineered with USD (Uniform Stress Distribution). As the limb bends the energy is transferred throughout the limb. The limbs on this bow are the fastest and most durable that HOYT has ever made. This new technology takes HOYT's famous technology one-step higher.

The cams installed are the Redline cams. They are offered in draw lengths from 23''-28".  Machined cams are available and come in different configurations. The Mastercam at IBO specs delivers the most performance. Its average IBO speed is 294fps (feet per second). The Redline cam averages 289fps. The Command cam smokes both at 289fps and the forgiving Accuwheel clocks in at 274fps. Remember that all speeds are IBO, 30" 70lbs using a 360 grain arrow.

The Tests
Nina Zecker, the wife of Big Al’s Archery owner Dan Zecker, shot a Sapphire bow with the following specs; 26" draw at 44 lbs with 295 grain arrows. Installed on her bow was the NAP quick tune 3000 series rest. Her sighting system was the HOYT Micro elite sight.

Shooting approximately 5 yards from the Chrony chronograph with a TRU BALL release her arrows averaged 232 fps. Whisper silent and extremely accurate, the arrows grouped nicely. Truly this bow was performing the way Hoyt said it was going to do so.  I personally pulled the bow back and it was smooth as silk.

Ratings - 1 is low 5 is high

Speed: 4
While you need speed for 3D shooting Indoor target shooting needs precision, this bow speed is a nice compromise of the precision shooting one needs for the paper targets and the speed for the 3D circuit.

Construction: 5
For many years HOYTS name has been synonymous with Quality.

Looks: 5
This bow has the option of 4 colors - black, fade blue, green/black or red/black   Nina's bow was red /black and it is a stunningly beautiful bow.

Feel: 5
Nina says that the Sapphire was a joy to shoot and easy to handle. The grip - Nina said it was not to big or to small it felt "nice in the hand."

Price: 5
You do not have to mortgage the house to buy this bow. While it is not an economy bow, it is reasonable.  Depending on the specific options you add, it averages around $500.00.

Summary
This bow looks great, shoots great and performs great. It is quiet, forgiving and deadly accurate in competent hands. So if you are looking for a bow to win tournaments and trophies this may be the one to look at. Hoyt has been making quality archery equipment for many years and it shows in all their products. So ladies, head down to the nearest archery shop and put that tax refund to good use.

To see the Hoyt Sapphire visit: http://www.hoytusa.com

Arthur Champoux has years of experience in the outdoors.  He is has served on many  advisory staffs and is a member in good standing of many outdoor organizations.  Art currently works for Big Al's Archery in Seabrook, NH and writes for several publications.