Design and Construction
The 40 is a 39.5-foot fiberglass monohull with a 30.8-foot waterline, an 11.8-foot beam, and a displacement of 17,000 pounds carried on 7,700 pounds of lead ballast. Those numbers place her firmly in the performance-cruiser band rather than the heavy-displacement tradition, and the hull is a solid fiberglass layup while the deck and cabin top use a Divinycell cross-linked PVC foam core to shed weight overhead. Oiled teak trim softens the otherwise white fiberglass surfaces. The underbody carries a fixed fin keel and an internally mounted spade rudder on a wheel, with a raked stem and a raised reverse transom — a modern silhouette for 1979 that still reads clean today.
Rig and Handling
Peterson gave the 40 a masthead sloop rig on aluminum spars, with a mainsheet traveler mounted on the coach house roof and all sheets and halyards led aft to the cockpit or the aft part of the cabintop. Two jib winches sit in the cockpit, supplemented by halyard winches, and secondary winches with a baby stay were offered as factory options for crews who wanted to push the sail plan harder. Shoal-draft versions, drawing 5.16 feet instead of the standard 7.17, were normally fitted with a shorter rig to preserve balance. On the race course the design carries a PHRF average handicap of about 82, a figure that confirms the competitive performance envelope the sailboat press attributed to her when new.
Accommodations
Below, the 40 sleeps six across a private bow cabin with a V-berth, an aft quarter berth tucked under the cockpit, two settee berths in the main saloon, and a pilot berth above to port. The galley sits at the foot of the companionway on the port side with a three-burner propane stove and oven, while the navigation station faces it to starboard. A head just aft of the bow cabin includes a shower with a teak grating over the sump. Ventilation comes from six opening ports plus hatches over the bow and main cabins, and both pressurized and foot-pump water systems were fitted — a redundancy that still suits a cruising owner.
Refits and Ownership
The factory option list is the natural starting point for any owner upgrade path: secondary winches and a baby stay were the period performance add-ons, and a shorter rig accompanied the shoal keel for those who prioritized thin water. The 42-horsepower Volkswagen diesel recorded in the specifications gives a substantial power reserve for a boat this size, and the foam-cored deck is the usual area a surveyor will probe for moisture over a four-decade life.
The Verdict
The Islander 40 is a scarce Peterson design that delivers racer-cruiser credibility without abandoning the creature comforts of a 40-foot cruiser. Her limited production makes her a relative rarity, but the layout and rig show a coherent philosophy that has aged well.
Pros
- Doug Peterson racer-cruiser hull with a PHRF handicap near 82
- Six-berth layout with private bow and aft cabins
- Foam-cored deck over a solid fiberglass hull for favorable weight distribution
- Standard and shoal-draft keels available
Cons
- Limited production between 57 and 70 hulls makes finding one take patience
- 7.17-foot standard draft limits shallow anchorage access
- Teak trim and PVC deck core demand disciplined maintenance
