derekmoody
New member
I"m thinking of buying a 1980s moody 40 but have heard that they don"t sail very well at all. I"d welcome any info from anyone with experience of these.
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moody 39/40 sailing performance
- Thread starter derekmoody
- Start date
PeteMcK
New member
Check whether there are any articles in old YM/PBO (click on Buying a Boat above the forum) - there are 91 on Moodys!
The 39/40 is one of the Primrose designed series which began with the 33. Primrose was pretty highly regarded, both as a designer and an ocean racer, and my experience of 10 years with a 33 mk2, and races against the 36, is that they sail very well and, by and large, those who condemn them do so in ignorance. I take it you'll only be cruising but, to give you some idea, in racing terms, both the 33 and the 36 are underpowered in 2-9 knots apparent upwind, are perfectly ok above this, and have huge (legal) kites and are excellent in all conditions off the wind. One of the drawbacks to their large internal volume is that owners tend to load them up with, literally, several tons of cruising gear and that kills the performance and pointing of any boat. Our local handicap database rates them slightly faster than the 33 and slightly slower than the 36, or about 5 minutes per hour slower than a modern JenBenBav 40 footer. You pays your money, etc.
If the build is anything like the 33, then they'll be simple and very solid (and I recently had a major collision - not guilty - to test mine), but, again despite what the detractors say, they weigh in at the light end of moderate displacement.
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The 39/40 is one of the Primrose designed series which began with the 33. Primrose was pretty highly regarded, both as a designer and an ocean racer, and my experience of 10 years with a 33 mk2, and races against the 36, is that they sail very well and, by and large, those who condemn them do so in ignorance. I take it you'll only be cruising but, to give you some idea, in racing terms, both the 33 and the 36 are underpowered in 2-9 knots apparent upwind, are perfectly ok above this, and have huge (legal) kites and are excellent in all conditions off the wind. One of the drawbacks to their large internal volume is that owners tend to load them up with, literally, several tons of cruising gear and that kills the performance and pointing of any boat. Our local handicap database rates them slightly faster than the 33 and slightly slower than the 36, or about 5 minutes per hour slower than a modern JenBenBav 40 footer. You pays your money, etc.
If the build is anything like the 33, then they'll be simple and very solid (and I recently had a major collision - not guilty - to test mine), but, again despite what the detractors say, they weigh in at the light end of moderate displacement.
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zefender
Active member
"or about 5 minutes per hour slower than a modern JenBenBav 40 footer". Put another way, the Ben/Jen/Bav will have an hour's drinking ahead of you on a channel crossing! ;-)
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sailbadthesinner
New member
i have sailed one for about three days on a mates yachtmaster test and have to say i loved it but it was not the fastest but by no means sluggish
it felt good and solid to helm and had a lovely motion
in common with all moodys it was rather high out the water so leaping on and off was interesting till you got used to it and could not be reccomended from the bow.
the interior however was fab really solid with lots of space well thought out and a goodsea boat with handholds and proper stowage. the mid cockpit was a bit exposed compared to say a tradewind and a ecent sprayhood is a must
the other thing this had was a power vang on a bottle screw which i thought was ace and allowed you to flatten the sail really well and put the boom up in harbour
obviuosly it makes scndalising the maina slower and less effective process but this all details
on the whole i thought it was a lovely boat
the guy had spent a lot of money renewing the rigging and sails and smartening the interior
pm me if you want to speak with owner and i will pass his number on
<hr width=100% size=1>Beer. Source of and answer to all life's problems.
it felt good and solid to helm and had a lovely motion
in common with all moodys it was rather high out the water so leaping on and off was interesting till you got used to it and could not be reccomended from the bow.
the interior however was fab really solid with lots of space well thought out and a goodsea boat with handholds and proper stowage. the mid cockpit was a bit exposed compared to say a tradewind and a ecent sprayhood is a must
the other thing this had was a power vang on a bottle screw which i thought was ace and allowed you to flatten the sail really well and put the boom up in harbour
obviuosly it makes scndalising the maina slower and less effective process but this all details
on the whole i thought it was a lovely boat
the guy had spent a lot of money renewing the rigging and sails and smartening the interior
pm me if you want to speak with owner and i will pass his number on
<hr width=100% size=1>Beer. Source of and answer to all life's problems.
gunnarsilins
New member
I have a Moody 42 deck saloon ketch, sharing the same Primrose lines as the M40, M33 and others from this era. Easely recognized with high topsides, relative flat underwater sections, and flared bows with a tumble home midships.
After 4 years of extensive cruising the verdict is:
She sails much better than you would expect. She´s a bit underpowered and is not the most high-pointing boat, but with a decent wind she´ll match most of the modern 35-40´ AWB´s. Much to their surprise an my amuse.
One drawback is the rig which is very biased towards a huge genoa. We almost never short tack, not because of lack of speed or pointing ability, but because mostly beeing an man/wife crew we simply get to exhausted/or lazy to sheet in 55 sqm of genoua too often!
When balancing sailing her abilities aginst internal volume and arrangement of stowage, tank capacity, solidity of the build she´s winner.
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After 4 years of extensive cruising the verdict is:
She sails much better than you would expect. She´s a bit underpowered and is not the most high-pointing boat, but with a decent wind she´ll match most of the modern 35-40´ AWB´s. Much to their surprise an my amuse.
One drawback is the rig which is very biased towards a huge genoa. We almost never short tack, not because of lack of speed or pointing ability, but because mostly beeing an man/wife crew we simply get to exhausted/or lazy to sheet in 55 sqm of genoua too often!
When balancing sailing her abilities aginst internal volume and arrangement of stowage, tank capacity, solidity of the build she´s winner.
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PeteMcK
New member
Or enough time to let the rich guys get showered up and get the pints in...
Hoots, etc. ;-)
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Hoots, etc. ;-)
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