1968 Islander 55

Kennedy owned 55 foot cutter-rigged sloop sailboat, tough and quite fast, very much a bluewater boat, for someone who wants to finish a project.

Saw this classic yacht in New York during Covid (late 2020) and fell in love. With her lines and her history. She was hull #1 of 3 and one of the earliest fiberglass racers, and won some prominent races, including high placement in a couple of transpacs before the CCA rule (the reason for her marvelous overhangs) changed and greater waterline lengths produced quicker boats.

She was sold to Kennedy family in the late 70s, they renamed her Curragh and raced in Boston, and then became a BVI’s charter boat run by a couple for 10-15 years. Under the current owner she’d reverted back to her original name (Charisma), and he’d used her to sail with his wife and kids down and back from NY to the Caribbean many times.

She had last seen a refit in 2009, but then hadn’t seen much offshore use in the previous 4-5 years with his kids having gone off to college. Unfortunately he had neglected maintenance and let her fall into a leaky state.

Her bones, hull and rig and equipment, were rock solid, but the interior was very much outdated, the deck had gotten soft in many places along with several of the bulkheads.

We saw an amazing project opportunity, made the purchase, and sailed her to Charleston SC, to begin a gut rehab with a few cooperative friends.

She sailed like a bat out of hell, really fast boat. We were ripping along in the double digits for most of the way. She can run 9 knots with 13-14 knots of wind.

She has the a swinging centerboard which increases her draft to 11 or 12’ and was awesome for stability and sailing into the wind.

All that said, our time has been more limited than we’d hoped these past two years, and we’ve only gotten about a third of the way into the project. To wit: we’ve gutted the entire interior, gotten rid of the crap, kept the good stuff, ground painted the interior glass, unstepped the mast, and reinforced the hull from the inside. Deck and cockpit are still in place.

Equipment: Since life intervened in unexpected ways, this project has ground to a halt, and will stay that way for at least the next 3-4 years.. I still love the boat, and had planned to keep her on our friend’s property until I could come back to her, but have recently been convinced that she could return to glory in the right hands.

I’m looking to recoup most of the purchase price on this historic beauty, if not the man hours, yard time, tools, materials, and incalculable quantities of love that have been poured in.

I am prepared to leave her shrink-wrapped on the hard here in Charleston as my future dream, if a suitable pair of hands doesn’t show itself, but will negotiate within reason. It’s probably more important to me that she doesn’t sit somewhere and die the slow death than seeing all the money in my hands. I would be more motivated to let her go in the next 3 months (before March 2023) than after.

Happy to talk at length about this vessel, and willing to assist with transport.

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Now, on to equipment… well, everything but the interior!

Bulletproof fiberglass hull (1-inch plus) in great condition, zero blistering;

Forespar mast (65’) in great shape, boom, whisker pole;

Offshore 6-man life raft (not sure of condition, has some years on it);

Lightly used wire rig (complete);

Heavy duty offshore sails complement (Mainsail, 150% Jib, Staysail, Asymmetric Spinnaker with sock and storm sails) with a few good years left in them;

Running rigging in serviceable shape plus a number of extra lines, bosun’s chair, related items;

Extensive collection of cleats, pulleys, chocks, deck hardware;

Recent winches (updated in 2009) are 2-speed Lewmar, very well cared-for, 4 fixed on the mast, 6 from the deck, of which two are extra large;

Basic blueprints from original build, a number of potential layout drawings, and early-stage architectural plans for final design. Upon request, happy to connect the buyer with the architect who was managing the project;

Complete set of point cloud spatial files providing highly precise (millimeter-level) interior and exterior measurements to aid in drawing/architecture/planning. Use this to assess various interior layout options digitally in autoCAD or other software. Once the final design decisions are made, the point cloud files are also intended to produce specific measurements for cutting lumber and other materials;

Yanmar 4JH-110 common rail diesel practically new, around 200 hours;

Original wood (teak and mahogany) pieces, moldings and braces and hatchways and companionways (including classic doors) and deck, primary feature pieces from belowdecks;

11 tall boat stands, 4 per side and one apiece for bow and stern, as well as an extra;

Complete set of cockpit cushions, red and in great shape;

Big stainless wheel and cable steering system;

All hatches, haven’t seen much use;

Original surveys from my purchase;

Tools galore for the refit (saws, grinders, sanders, routers, drills, paint, brushes, whiskey, hazmat suits, breather masks, etc.. too much to list).

*I have many photos/videos to share, both sailing refit, upon request

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Some external links with interesting detail:

Sister ship for sale, hull #3, with some salient facts: https://www.boatparadise.com/boats-for-sale/ad-001r-2017-islander-55

Specs: https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/islander-55

Islander history: http://www.islander36.org/history-4b.html