Island Packet Cats??

[vilanomark]

I was just looking at an Island Packet Cat at our local marina. I also looked online and read about what they call their 'deltapod". This is the middle hull at the bow that they say stays submersed at all times so that it makes for a smoother ride. Have any of y'alll had any experiences with these boats?
I know their monohulls are very well resepcted and just wondered if the cats were equally respected.

[henryv]

There is a review of this boat by Charles Kantor available on line at
http://www.southwindssailing.com/art...Packet35.shtml

[Intentional Drifter]

You can also get some info from Island Packet, here:

http://www.ipy.com/Default.php?Page=...nguage=English

They built 41 of them, the last in 1997. There's also a link to a Bob Perry review, too.

ID

[svIntuition]

You might want to check out
IPowners.com
IPphotos.com
and the Island Packet discussion list at sailnet.com

Mark

[lancs]

Any idea why they stopped builiding them?
And has anyone used them for blue water cruising?

liz

[Intentional Drifter]

Just a guess, but they were never a big seller, relatively speaking. IP is a big company. They built 188 IP 38 (monohull), 139 IP 40's, etc. 41 cats spread over six years was probably not profitable enough for them to justify continuing a line that was so different from the rest of their models.

I would also say that despite Kanter's praises for them, they are still a strange boat. Having seen one in person, they just "look" weird. Not enough of a cat look, but clearly not a mono, either. Frankly, they look more like a small houseboat. While that might have nothing to do with their actual sailing or living performance, it does have a lot to do with market acceptance and sales.

ID

[Steve Rust]

I would agree with International Drifter. While I have not sailed one there was one in the marina for a time being. Having somewhat of an idea what makes for a good multihull IMO these boats look like they have all the sailing performance of a brick. Wide flat bottom hulls, a large center nacelle dragging thru the water, little bridgedeck clearance, heavy displacement, small sail area, and huge wetted surface area, all performance killers. That said these boats would be fine as liveaboards and pottering up and down the intercoastal and out to the Bahamas.

[sailornaut]

I just bought one and got it seaworthy again after sitting in the yard for a couple of years.It sailed 5 to 7 knots in 20 mph of wind.I took it out and went down wind in 25 to 30 mph winds.It was going 7 to 9 knots and a little hard to keep it straight downwind.I was going about 90 miles and took a couple of days.I would say it sailed better than what I had read and happy with its sailing abilities.I have been sailing all om monoholes for 30 yrs.

[Sailingcouple13]

Your numbers look about right for that boat. As catamarans go the speed should be close to 60-75% faster that even with a condo boat. It would be fun to see them give catamarans another try.

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[Dulcesuenos]

Looked at 3. One up in MD, 2 in Fl. All 3 had structural issues. Tue one in md was blocked and sat forba year, the blacks sank(they are heavy cats) and weight was put on the keels which started pushing up thru the floors doing lots of damage. Other 2 had bridge deck compression post area damage and wood rot. One sold in the USVI for 30k last year.

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