Island Packet Closing doors

[Cheechako]

Wow, too bad. Especially in that they built a more traditional boat styles which are hard to find. Not unusual though. Some of the best boat builders go under... They do too good a job and don't cut corners and cant compete with the lightly built boats that sell for less . That has happened many many times.

[mikemenza]

Read employees from IP and a few other builders built a boat for the Miami boat show...

Funny everybody seems to miss the point... The World economy is in tatters with no recovery in sight.. Because all the half the butter and all the cream has been skimmed into the pockets of a very, very small group of very, very wealthy individuals and the IMF ( a whole other story of wealth concentration that benefits nobody but the people running it)..

[Zeb]

Wiki entry removed now, so time will tell. Hopefully it is all just rubbish.

- Zeb

[Lizzy Belle]

Anyone can post whatever on WP, from hoax to something that sounds factual to actual facts

Absolute BS will end up deleted (sometimes very quickly, sometimes it takes for ever) but that doesn't make WP a trustworthy source for news. Nor was in intended to be ...

Not saying IPY is or isn't in trouble - I haven't a clue

[Zeb]

Seems there is a bit of substance to the claim. Notice that was posted at IP location.

- Zeb

[valhalla360]

My impression was IP was focused on comfy first but capable. I wonder if the rise of catamarans was part of what did them in (assuming they have been done in).

20-30 yrs ago the idea that catamarans were death traps was still firmly entrenched. They had a leg up on the lower end production monos by claiming to be more capable and they were more comfortable than the traditional full keel boats (plus a lot cheaper compared to your swan and similar brands). This gave them a prime spot in the market (upper middle class non-traditionalists who want comfort in a safe boat)

As catamarans proved to be quite capable and offered even better accommodations, the market segment that would have considered IP, shifted towards cats.

I think IP saw this with their aborted packet-cat trimaran but they were too far behind the curve.

[avb3]

Very sad to hear and see this. I'll be driving by this weekend, but regardless, the posted eviction notice seems to say it all.

I wonder if there is a buyer out there ala - Hunter. Catalina perhaps? Pacific Seacraft? I'm sure the owners may have been in discussions with potential suitors before the eviction notice. Maybe those suitors feel it would be cheaper just to buy the remnants via auction, if they are interested.

Very sad to hear.

[l2ridehd]

I agree this is very sad. I have sailed an IP and they were a quality built boat. Fit and finish was excellent, shoal draft worked great for the Bahamas and Florida thin water and it was a safe and comfortable blue water capable boat. They are a very solid well built boat. For me they were a more affordable (used) option that was closer to the Hinkley, Swam, Shannon type boat vs the lighter production boats. I could never buy a used Hinkley, but a 10 year old Island Packet was a possibility.

I hope someone with some $$$$$ steps in and saves this business.

[MarkJ]

Basing your product on the fear reaction of using similar products is not a viable business plan.

Also, note the company name "Taditional Watercraft Inc" you can't get much more blinkered than that.

Its a shame any company closes because it affect employees and their families. But to survive in the modern world you must be modern: Build an AIS not a sextant.



Mark

[Delancey]

Ah yes, Packet Cat! Lovely, lovely....

[Zeb]

Yeah......that was an ugly beast the old Packet Cat.

- Zeb

[Kenomac]

Not surprised at all. Quality boats at IP, but like I've written many times before.... when a company continues to build a boat designed with a buyer in mind that's already dead or in a nursing home, they'll soon be out of business.

I think I already know which builder will be next... Just look who's failing to build mass produced boats without an open-concept stern and European styling.

Look for the lonely sales people at the next boat show trying to push 1980's designs onto 2016 buyers. There's are plenty of buyers, but at todays prices... they don't want to be seen on grandpa's boat.

[GordMay]

Island Packet Yachts is a subsidiary of Traditional Watercraft, Inc.
From April 2015 ➥ Seaward and Traditional Watercraft Join Forces to Build Boats | Cruising Compass

[Zeb]

Being a Seaward boat owner, I was excited last year when this was released. Not sure how this plays into the whole equation though.

- Zeb

[Sailor Jer]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

If you want to buy tools these days you go to Harbor Frieght and you get cheap affordable tools, boat buyers are no different. The average Joe does not want or simply can't buy quality anymore. We are conditioned to accept "good enough"and that's unlikely to change.

Amen, I always chuckle when I meet the ones who just downsized to a storage locker to live on a boat and they have snap on tools hahaha. Less than three months later you hear them berating themselves for with dropping them over the side of whining how rusty they're snap on tools have become.