According to Cruising World, the Island Packet 38 is the ninth best cruising boat in the world. Not a bad position!
9. Island Packet 38
Though it’s difficult to single out any particular Bob Johnson-designed Island Packet, the 38 is especially notable as it was the company’s first “big” boat, introduced in 1986, after 26-, 31- and 27-foot models. With its full-foil keel, reasonable draft, and versatile cutter rig, the IP 38 incorporated many of the features that personify the popular and much admired brand.(Stock photo. Text and photo courtesy of Cruising World)
Not bad at all when you consider that the study also included lightly built coastal cruisers. I have been so impressed with the Island Packet 38, that I am confident that if Cruising World were to run the survey again for bluewater boats only, then Calypso II might find herself in an even more exalted position. Having said that, I don’t think (even with my biased opinion) that she could knock the Valiant 40 off the top spot!
To read the full article, click here.
Calypso II at anchor, Savusavu, Fiji
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Interesting to see this ranking!
As a complete novice and enjoying your book tremendously since it is exactly what I was looking for, I am taking your word about keel and rudder arrangements that you describe in your book religiously (and to be honest it makes absolute sense).
From what I see in the article there are however quite a few boats in there that don’t follow these golden rules and still got a high ranking. It will be my challenge to find the perfect fit out there (which is: a boat that would be forgiving for the harassment of a novice and wouldn’t bankrupt me).
Hi Pavel,
Thanks for getting in touch. I am glad you are enjoying the book and can see the sense in it.
To answer your question, the magazine “Cruising World” is a huge organization with many different people it has to accomodate. Many of their readers already own boats with flimsy fin keels and spade rudders and they would be pretty daft to upset them with the truth as they would sell far less copies of the magazine. Furthermore, the manufacturers of this type of boat are the magazine’s biggest advertisers and it would be commercial suicide to alienate them, so you must try and see it from their position.
I, on the other hand, am not beholden to magazine subscribers or advertisers and am free to speak in purely engineering terms and the simple truth is that nearly 100% of keel and rudder failures (and the subsequent loss of life caused by them) occur on fin keel and spade ruddered boats. This is not merely an opinion, but an engineering reality.
Let me know how your search for a boat is going and feel free to whizz over the link if you want my opinion on it (and anything else for that matter) on sailingcalypso@gmail.com
Cheers,
Rick
zelo zanimivo, dobro delo in hvala za deljenje tako dobrega bloga.
ni za kaj! Upam, da se kmalu vidimo na oceanu