Island Packet SP

[Whitelighter]

I am strangely drawn to these (well, and the Nordhavn 56 motorsailer but I will never have the required 1.5mil for that) - I like the wheel house for winter use and I accept that upwind your going to use the donk (it's a motorsailer after all) but do the ever sail well - off the wind are they usable or just a tank.

I don't even know if they've sold one over here so maybe this is a question for our American friends.

 

[sarabande]

doesn't Radweld have one somewhere in Sussex ?

 

[TimBennet]

The cockpit ahead of the wheelhouse might work in the tropics, but there's absolutely no shelter there either on the go or at anchor.

It amazing how often our outdoor life is only agreeable with a windbreak - just take a look at any beach in summer!

 

[Saguday]

Strangely, they are (I believe) one of the most popular IP's in the UK, they've sold quite a few here.

They sail pretty well off wind, I've seen one really fly, quite surprising.

I'm an IP owner so biased towards the brand but I didn't like the SP when it came out. When we did our liveaboard in the US in 2006 they were just launching them and I didn't get them at all at first. However we were in the Chesaepeake Bay and Bob Johnson and Bill Bolin from IP brought one up to the Annapolis Boat Show for the launch. The show boat was a few berths away from us in the same marina so we had chance to crawl all over it while they were prepping for the show and talk to the guy who'd designed it and the man responsible for marketing it

After that it made sense - solid, comfortable, manageable by a couple, well equipped with a pilot-house, for sailors who had reached a point in their career where they might otherwise decide to go for a trawler or some other motor boat. The idea was basically to keep them sailing longer

The same characteristics seem to make it popular in lumpier windier sailing areas like the UK: solid build, medium displacement, modest rig, good crew protection.

I've grown to like it, even though I thought it was plug ugly when I first saw it. I get it now. An American guy we knew took the show boat out for a test sail on the Chesapeake in a F4-5 while we where there and that's when I saw her on a reach, moving much better than I'd thought, and yes I was surprised. I regret now not taking up the opportunity of a test sail but we had other things on our mind at the time.

An interesting boat, worth a test sail and closer investigation.

 

[Saguday]

The cockpit ahead of the wheelhouse might work in the tropics, but there's absolutely no shelter there either on the go or at anchor.

You know it's basically a hot tub don't you?

 

[stuartwineberg]

Try before you buy

One for sale in Swanwick - not sure if it where the main dealer is but it is covered in IP flags. Go and have a play

 

[Saguday]

Contact Mike Cook at Walton Marine

 

[Topcat47]

If I sold my house, I still couldn't afford one. Mind you I'm not sure I'd want one.

 

[photodog]

Give it a canoe stern and a ketch rig... And it would be a attractive boat.....

But wait! They already exist!

http://www.northshore.co.uk/yachts/fisher/37/



Otoh take off the rig and give her a sd hull with two big diesels and she would be great as well..