Island Packet 349

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The Island Packet staff presenter says the boat has all stainless hardware and no exterior wood, as on the 439. He mentions 26 inch stanions and a substantial bow pulpit, and says you can work on the bow without worrying about it keeping you in the boat. These are builder statements.

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Ground tackle on this delivery boat, as described by the builder's presenter: an electric windlass with twin foot controls, a 55 lb anchor and a Danforth as second anchor. He is unsure whether it carries 300 or 400 feet of chain.

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The presenter says the 349 has a 45 hp Yanmar 4JH four-cylinder, which he says will not vibrate at low speeds the way a three-cylinder can. He calls the water pump impeller as accessible as it could be and says he has yet to see better engine access on any boat. This is a builder sales claim.

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Interior walkthrough of hull 21. The presenter explains that this boat has the Pullman berth forward, which adds a hanging locker that the full-width V-berth layout does not have. The interior is light maple (builder's presenter).

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The presenter shows engine access from the side, from the front and from the other side in the quarter berth, with the water pumps and fuel filters easy to reach and a light in the engine space. He says the Yanmar "might have been" 45 horsepower and calls it oversized for a 35-footer, adding that the builder deliberately oversizes its engines. This is the builder's own view, and the horsepower figure was stated with a hedge.

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The presenter calls the aft-cabin quarter berth "actually a very large berth", the largest the builder currently makes in any of its boats. He shows the three wrenches supplied with the boat, two for the shaft log and one for the rudder log, and says he knows of no other builder that supplies them.

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The presenter says the jib boom is gone and the boat has a self-tacking jib track developed with Harken, which frees up the foredeck and lets the jib be trimmed closer to the wind. The reacher, flown from a separate furler, is covered in white cloth because it is the lightest material. This is the builder's description of its own design.

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Ground tackle on this delivery boat: a single anchor of about 55 lb with 350 ft of chain, led to a low-profile windlass set up for full chain on one side and line on the other. The presenter points to a raised anchor stopper built so the chain feeds at the right height and angle into the windlass, with foot controls at the bow and a remote that reads out chain deployed.

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The presenter says all sheet lines and furling lines lead aft to the cockpit and the boat is set up so one person can sail it. He also claims the stanchions run about six inches higher than other builders' and that the cockpit has a solid rail. These are builder claims made during a delivery walkthrough.

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The presenter says all exterior fasteners are 316 stainless and the older ('Legacy') boats used 304, but cautions that they are "not stainproof" and need maintenance in a saltwater environment.

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A builder representative says the next generation of Island Packet keeps what worked before but is easier to handle and more performance oriented, with less maintenance because "a lot of the wood off of the exterior" has been removed.