Sunday, October 18, 2009

THE ISLAND PACKET 380

At a glance these boat layouts look identical. We know.

On paper they have some definite pros and cons with waterline, sail area, tankage, etc. These notes are for our own reference. Read at your own risk.

Island Packet 380 is the boat we would buy if we had the money.  It has more waterline, a foot more in the beam, almost twice as much water storage, three times more holding tank capacity and 30% more sail area than the 35. Unfortunately it's almost twice the cost.

The v-berth has a lovely bed that can be entered from either side. Getting out doesn't require a reverse sommersault. It has a very strange sink in the after berth, which could be removed. Just happens to be the same size as our new sewing machine...

It has stainless steel handrails instead of teak and a swim platform on the stern. They used the extra foot in the beam to good effect for storage.

The only thing we could find to sort of not like about the living space it is that the salon seems slightly smaller, and we're not fans of the L-shaped settee, which juts out into the dance floor.

380 recap:
PROS
--The newest of the ones we've looked at
--Stainless handrails
--More LWL
--More beam
--Twice as much water storage
--Almost twice as much fuel tankage
--30% more sail area
CONS
--Price

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