Overview
The Island Packet 420 is a Bob Johnson cutter introduced in 1999, the largest of the builder’s long-keel cruisers of that period. It was built as a liveaboard passagemaker for a couple, with big tanks and a wide, high-volume hull.
Design and Construction
Blue Water Sailing describes the long keel as a hydrodynamic foil, with the ballast internal and enclosed so the keel forms a second bottom. The solid-laminate hull is laid up with triaxial cloth, and the chainplates are welded in a belt-and-braces arrangement the reviewers called bulletproof. Draft is 5 ft, with a 4 ft 6 in shoal option, on a 30,000 lb displacement with 12,000 lb of ballast. The interior furniture sits on a structural floor pan and the bulkheads are tabbed to the hull and deck. The auxiliary is a 75-hp Yanmar diesel.
Under Sail
On their 650-mile passage to Bermuda the reviewers held eight to nine knots close reaching with good response at the helm, and found the boat stiff and stable in a blow but forgiving in rough seas. They judged it easy to sail alone or as a couple. The review frames it as a pure cruising boat rather than a performer in light air. Blue Water Sailing put the displacement-length ratio at 257, supple for a system-heavy cruiser, and the sail area-displacement ratio at 18. Its crew carried a full main and staysail through 22 to 30 knots in the Gulf Stream and took the positive result as confirmation that the rig is not overpowered. The reviewers also reported that nothing broke, groaned, worked, leaked or shifted on the passage, including a night of falling off waves at nine knots.
Buyers Notes
The review notes no faults. Expect the long-keel trade-offs: modest light-air speed and a wide turning circle under power.
