Island Packet 45 for Sale, Reviewed for the Used Buyer

Where the IP45 fits among Island Packets for sale

Anyone browsing Island Packets for sale quickly sees two worlds. At the top are nearly new boats from the current Largo factory: when we checked, Island Packet's own pre-owned page listed 2021 to 2023 IP 439s between $600,000 and $799,000, IP 349s from 2020 to 2022 at $295,000 to $419,000, and a 2006 IP 489 at $449,000. Below that sits a large fleet of older boats from the 1980s through the 2000s, where condition matters as much as model.

The Island Packet 45 belongs to that second group and is one of its rarest members. IP Home Port's owner database records 44 built between 1995 and 1999 (sailboatdata lists 42 from 1996 to 2000). It won Cruising World's 1996 Boat of the Year as Overall Cruising Winner and Full-Size Best Value, and it bridged the IP 44 of 1991 to 1995 and the IP 420 that followed in 1999. If you want a 45 ft Island Packet without paying 420 or 440 money, this is the boat to watch for.

Bob Johnson's hull, by the numbers

Like every Island Packet, the 45 has its hull and full foil keel molded as one piece, with no keel bolts and the rudder and propeller protected behind the keel. The factory sheet describes hand-laid high modulus construction using a pressure-fed resin system and triaxial glass, the PolyClad II bottom gelcoat with a 10 year limited blister warranty, and a PolyCore cored deck with a 10 year warranty against rot and delamination, which Island Packet called an industry first.

Compared with the later 420, the 45 is narrower at 13 ft 4 in versus 14 ft 3 in and lighter at 28,400 lb versus 30,000 lb, but it carries more ballast (12,500 lb) and draws slightly less at 4 ft 10 in. That gives it a 44 percent ballast ratio, a displacement to length ratio of about 239 and a sail area to displacement ratio near 19, numbers that point to a stiffer and slightly livelier boat than its looks suggest.

A cutter set up for a couple

The standard sail plan was a double-reefed main, a 130 percent roller furling genoa and a roller furling staysail in Sobstad Dacron. The main used a dual single-line Auto Reefing system led to the cockpit, the staysail had its own traveler and sheet winch, and all halyards ran internally with color-coded lines and coaming bins to stow tails. Mid-boom sheeting kept the cockpit clear for a dodger.

Options on the 2000 price list included a fully battened main with Battslides for $1,850 and a roller furling mast for $3,495. Many owners have since added in-mast furling, so check which system a boat carries and how old the sails are. Steering is a console-mounted Whitlock Monarch rack and pinion system with an emergency tiller.

• Lewmar Ocean Series 54CST two-speed primaries and 44CST halyard winches
• Twin backstays for an open transom and easy boarding
• Two stainless anchor rollers with hinged deck pipes
• Hinged padeyes in the cockpit for harness tethers

Two staterooms and two stall showers

Below, the 45 is an aft-cockpit, two-stateroom boat with real showers in both heads. The forward stateroom has privacy doors to the saloon and head, a large offset double with teak shelves, a cedar-lined hanging locker, a bureau and four opening ports. The forward head has a stall shower draining to an electric sump, a wrap-around vanity and two opening ports.

Aft, the second stateroom has a large double, cedar-lined locker, dressing seat and private door to the aft head, which also has a stall shower and a door to the saloon near the companionway. The saloon has an L-shaped pull-out double settee to starboard and a single settee to port, with a drop-leaf table folding against a bulkhead rack. Island Packet's sheet lists 7 berths.

The nav station has a large chart table with chart storage, master AC and DC panels and room for electronics, and the wrap-around galley has a gimbaled three-burner LPG stove with oven, a top-loading icebox, double sinks and a microwave. Ventilation comes from sixteen opening ports, seven deck hatches and four Dorade vents, a generous count that Florida and Caribbean owners appreciate.

Engines, tanks and electrics

The headline specification lists a 62 hp freshwater-cooled diesel, the Yanmar 4JH2-TE fitted to earlier boats, while the detailed 2000 equipment list specifies a 75 hp Yanmar 4JH3-TBE turbo diesel with a Balmar 100 amp alternator. IP Home Port records both engines on the IP45, so confirm which one a boat has.

Tankage is generous: 140 gallons of fuel, 240 gallons of water and a 45 gallon holding tank, all in welded aluminum and set below the cabin sole to keep weight low. The electrical package included four Group 27 AGM house batteries, a dedicated start battery, a Charles 5000 series 40 amp charger and a 30 amp shore power system with a galvanic isolator.

What ages on a 25-plus-year-old IP45

The structure is the least of your worries on a well-kept Island Packet. Age shows in the systems: aluminum tanks that can corrode under straps and at fittings, Yanmar engines that need a careful look at exhaust elbows, mounts and on the turbo models the turbocharger, shower sump pumps, original wiring additions and standing rigging that may never have been replaced. Deck hardware is through-bolted with aluminum backing plates, so look for corrosion and leaks at fittings.

Budget roughly $17,000 to $34,000 a year to keep an IP45 in commission in the US, more if you hire out all maintenance or keep it in a premium marina.

IP45 or IP420?

The 420 that replaced it is beamier, heavier, roomier below with a forward owner's suite and larger tanks, and it typically costs more. The 45 is narrower and lighter with a higher ballast ratio, which many sailors prefer offshore, and it is cheaper to buy. If you rarely have guests and value a slightly slipperier hull, the older boat is a smart buy; if you liveaboard, the 420's volume is hard to ignore.