Overview
The Island Packet 350 is a Bob Johnson cutter built by Island Packet Yachts in Florida from 1997 to 2004. It follows the builder’s formula: a modified full keel, wide beam carried well aft, and a large interior for the length.
Design and Construction
Cruising World describes the underbody as a modified full keel with substantial cutaway forward and a sleek run aft to the rudder, which keeps draft to 4 ft 3 in. The hull is solid triaxial fiberglass with vinylester in the outer layers against water penetration. Ballast is 7,500 lb on a 16,000 lb displacement, and the boat was built to ABS standards and certified CE Category A. Practical Sailor’s review says the hull is solid, a layer of mat and three layers of knitted triaxial glass, with the forward edge of the keel built up to more than an inch thick and structural grids glassed to the hull with the bulkheads taped in atop them. The hull-deck joint is bolted with quarter-inch stainless bolts on 6 inch centers and bedded in 3M 5200, and the chainplate anchors are stainless angles welded to the underdeck flange and tied to the hull with fiberglass taping that runs nearly to the turn of the bilge. The same review reports that some owners had rudder problems, where the foam inside the fiberglass skins developed voids or delaminated, and the builder said it now seals the seam between the rudder halves more carefully.
Under Sail
Cruising World found the 350 more weatherly than expected, making about 4 to 5 knots upwind in 8 to 10 knots of breeze, and steady downwind by reaching and jibing. The cutter rig carries 725 sq ft. Early boats used rack-and-pinion steering with less helm feel than cable and quadrant; Island Packet moved to a Whitlock system to address it. Practical Sailor’s reviewers sailed the 350 in light air and found she did not shine there, though once moving she kept her momentum through the flat spots. In a building southwester on Nantucket Sound they found her a stable platform that reaches and runs well, with minimal, predictable motion, and they called close-windedness and upwind efficiency her weakest points. Under power she backed relatively straight and turned in a tighter circle than expected, though spinning in her own length took bigger bursts of power than a fin keeler would need.
Buyers Notes
Cruising World’s judges noted that the fuel, water and holding tanks are hard to remove without cutting into the interior, and questioned the single 100-gallon freshwater tank. Check which steering system a given boat has. John Neal advises considering only Island Packets built after 1998, when the builder addressed a chainplate issue; the first 350s date from 1997, so check the chainplates and their history on early hulls. Practical Sailor notes the 350 replaced the Island Packet 32 and was the first Island Packet built with a swim platform, and that a pair of double berths angled across the fore and aft axis replace the traditional V-berth. The saloon settees need leecloths to serve as sea berths, and the other cabins are not fit for sleeping underway. Owner complaints centered on the ice box, which they called too deep, poorly insulated and in need of a gasketed lid. A 1998 boat was priced at $114,000 when the review ran.
