Isald Packet-is it worth a packet?

Going back to the OP, it's not just a question of slapping on some new glass and sanding it smooth. The IP designs are built like egg boxes inside and it's all glassed into the hull so the repair would involve cutting out a lot of compartments so they could get to the hole from both sides and several feet around it to get a good bond. On my friend's IP he wanted to take out the fuel tank but soon discovered it would be impossible without taking half the boat to pieces. There are lockers under the saloon seats with access hatches to other lockers underneath.
 
This thread is showing that some people hold the old truism " It is easy to know the price of everything and the value of nothing ". First mate and I could have purchased a new 34/36 foot high volume production yacht with what our Island Packet cost. Yachts of that type would have had many attributes that our choice does not-like light wind performance. Our choice has attributes that these newer, lighter yacts dont have-weight, comfort, strength, solid timber interior. Also, because of this quality of construction it should have a high retained value if we maintain it properly. Some friends of ours have the first Island Packet imported into the UK by the then official agent. It is now 22 years old. It still looks new, a tribute to their care and the boats quality. First mate and I did our initial sail training on a Bavaria 34 hull no. 002. A year ago we went aboard her sister, hull no. 001. Despite having a good maintenance programme she did show her age, being generally "edgy" around the interior and cockpit. The charter company told us she had just had a major sterndrive overhaul. Bottom line is, like the Nauticat owner who posted here earlier, WE are happy with our choice, which, after all, is all that matters. Getting back to the OP's question of whether it was worth a £30,000 repair, check Island Packet prices with European Brokers-you may be surprised!
 
Some of the IP's are lovely boats. Great Bluewater Cruisers.

I'd like some to sell at the moment and SWMBO and I have discussed buying one on many occasions.

Sure they are not the fastest, but if you're living the dream, comfort over slight speed differences becomes more important.
 
trapezeartist said:
I can't understand why anyone would be impressed by a company that has no understanding of the strength of materials. My house doesn't have walls like a medieaval castle and my car doesn't have cast iron bodywork. And I don't want the equivalent in my boat. The amazing thickness of the hull didn't stop the boat in the OP getting a big hole in it.
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The Island Packet designer-Don Johnson?-not sure about christian name-was an areospace designer before being a boatbuilder. I feel sure he has the required material specification and stress knowledge to design and build several thousand low tech cruising boats-as he has proved.
 
snowleopard said:
Going back to the OP, it's not just a question of slapping on some new glass and sanding it smooth. The IP designs are built like egg boxes inside and it's all glassed into the hull so the repair would involve cutting out a lot of compartments so they could get to the hole from both sides and several feet around it to get a good bond. On my friend's IP he wanted to take out the fuel tank but soon discovered it would be impossible without taking half the boat to pieces. There are lockers under the saloon seats with access hatches to other lockers underneath.
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agreed, for a hole like that it musta needed a lot of taking gear/furniture out etc, big big job...
 
rotrax said:
This thread is showing that some people hold the old truism " It is easy to know the price of everything and the value of nothing ". First mate and I could have purchased a new 34/36 foot high volume production yacht with what our Island Packet cost. Yachts of that type would have had many attributes that our choice does not-like light wind performance. Our choice has attributes that these newer, lighter yacts dont have-weight, comfort, strength, solid timber interior. Also, because of this quality of construction it should have a high retained value if we maintain it properly. Some friends of ours have the first Island Packet imported into the UK by the then official agent. It is now 22 years old. It still looks new, a tribute to their care and the boats quality. First mate and I did our initial sail training on a Bavaria 34 hull no. 002. A year ago we went aboard her sister, hull no. 001. Despite having a good maintenance programme she did show her age, being generally "edgy" around the interior and cockpit. The charter company told us she had just had a major sterndrive overhaul. Bottom line is, like the Nauticat owner who posted here earlier, WE are happy with our choice, which, after all, is all that matters. Getting back to the OP's question of whether it was worth a £30,000 repair, check Island Packet prices with European Brokers-you may be surprised!
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Nicely put. I am one of the people who will always be envious of your Island Packet. :)
 
dk said:
Probably would if you threw the same amount of money at it as the average Oyster owner does over the years!
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Almost word-for-word what I was about to write.

And while it's easy to cherry-pick stories about old boats that still look immaculate, it's even easier to find stories of old boats that look, well, old. The twenty year old Oyster that I knew was a perfectly OK boat but nothing special. Just what you would expect of a 20 year old boat: worn woodwork and GRP, dated looking galley, noisy engine, smelly heads, scruffy ropework and a motley collection of electronics of various vintages.
 
Trapezeartist, yes, but i think you are mixing together different elements. Be it an oyster or beneteau they will share the same navionics, ropework, engine and even designs of the day. An unkept head will smell who ever made the boat and what ever the age. However the underlying structure of one will be significantly better than the other. The wood will be solid and not veneered, the structure will have less flex and be better held together so both might need the same tlc but one will wash up a lot better.
 
Going on a limited sample, IP owners are very nice people.

First Mate and me were wandering down the pontoon in Tarbert one evening looking at boats and we got chatting to an Irish couple on an SP Cruiser. It was a new boat and we got the full guided tour. It was very nice but wouldn't suit our type of sailing, the 406 couldn't tow it back home, so we went back to the First 18 to finish our wine.
 
Not all nice people! We were refused rafting on an IP46? because" it is brand new". When we returned later they had obviously gone ashore and a very tatty huge motor boat was alongside and didn't look to be well fendered!! Rough justice, maybe?
 
Hmmm there is a IP46 currently for sale that is new and presumably still owned by the dealers and has been in various ports along the south coast, and maybe other places. If it was that one then to be fair you probably werent "dealing" with the owners.
 
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