Overview
The Island Packet 440 is a Bob Johnson cutter introduced in 2005, an aft-cockpit liveaboard cruiser with the builder’s full foil keel. It carries 260 gallons of water and 160 of diesel.
Design and Construction
The hull is one piece, with the keel ballast lowered into matching cavities. Blue Water Sailing describes a full foil keel paired with a large rudder that lets the boat track well while staying maneuverable. Draft is 5 ft on a 32,000 lb displacement, a displacement-to-length ratio of 259. James Jermain, reviewing the 440 for Yachting Monthly, describes the hull as a solid, hand-laid laminate of mat and tri-axial rovings with vinylester resins for osmotic protection. The hull and deck are joined at the toe rail, bonded and laminated over. Internal stiffening is a massive tray moulding fully bonded to the hull, and the bulkheads are bonded in all round. The builder’s brochure says the decks use PolyCore coring, backed by a ten year limited warranty against deck core degradation, and that all tanks sit centrally below the cabin sole.
Under Sail
On a two-day test from Newport to Hingham the wind built to 20 to 25 knots. On a broad reach with a following sea the boat tended to round up in the puffs, which the large rudder corrected, and it tacked and jibed easily in light air. Under power it stopped in about one boat length but, once committed to a side in reverse, took some distance to change direction, which is why many owners add a bow thruster. In Practical Sailor’s later light-air test, 5 to 10 knots, she made about 4 knots on a beam reach, tacked through about 105 degrees and tracked hands-off for five minutes. Under power she cruised at 6.3 knots at 2,500 rpm and turned in about a boat length and a half. The reviewers would not hesitate to take one on a tradewind circumnavigation.
Buyers Notes
The reviewers’ only complaint was the downward angle of the traveler cam cleats, which Island Packet said was deliberate for quick release. Check whether a boat has the optional bow thruster.
