Moody 45 DS

I thought I saw the signs of another thread drift on to in mast reefing territory but on a boat of this size and design it's probably a sensible solution. For use in the Med I can see attraction though if budget permits .
 
What a load of rubbish. You base your statement on just one experience with a system that is less than good. Thousands of people own boats with in mast furling without any problems. For example,almost 100% of HRs over 40' have Selden in mast. Are they all wrong?

Have you ever wondered why others seem to have a low opinion of your opinions?

You can, of course order a 45DS with fully battened mainsail if you wish, so of course you can buy one.

You sound surpised? Have you not read any of her other posts?

(yes I know you have, but the question is meant as rhetorical.)
 
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What a load of rubbish. You base your statement on just one experience with a system that is less than good. Thousands of people own boats with in mast furling without any problems. For example,almost 100% of HRs over 40' have Selden in mast. Are they all wrong?

Have you ever wondered why others seem to have a low opinion of your opinions?

You can, of course order a 45DS with fully battened mainsail if you wish, so of course you can buy one.
That's a little harsh. I've always pictured him as the kind of chap who jams a couple of sail ties between his teeth and leaps up onto and out along the boom to flake the thing down beautifully. And then slides down the backstay, picks his still-burning cigar up from the winch handle socket and resumes his story of when he got knocked down on a 150ft Oyster in 12 Knots true.
 
Probably what they were designed for !!!!
Would not fancy one in heavy seas

That's also probably true - but, let's face it, very few boats go far off-shore these days. Ours is approaching a year old, has less than 20 hours on the engine had has been out of the marina five times - it's our floating holiday home. It is far from unique - half the boats in the marina don't seem to have moved at all in the last twelve months.
 
On patio doors and washboards.

As far as I know every modern catamaran has patio doors, no washboards, open transoms and sails oceans. We regularly take seas through the cockpit but nothing ever approaches overspilling into the interior. As long as the DS has reasonable patio doors do not actually reach the cockpit sole and the cockpit has decent sized drains - I'm not sure what the hang up is.

Halcyon - I enjoy your videos, for which thanks. I don't look at them all but they are really the only vids I would look at unless something had specific interest. So - thank you. Most vids, of sailing I see, are boring in the extreme - I don't see yours as an advertisment - you hardly need to keep making the vids to advertise, one or 3 would suffice. So keep up the good work, you should publish a list of yachts covered - you offer some background for people wanting to buy, yachts. I looked at this vid specifically as the DS overlaps with cats - in that both offer that view of the destination and allow that indoor/outdoor living accomodation - using those patio doors!

Jonathan
 
On patio doors and washboards.

As far as I know every modern catamaran has patio doors, no washboards, open transoms and sails oceans. We regularly take seas through the cockpit but nothing ever approaches overspilling into the interior. As long as the DS has reasonable patio doors do not actually reach the cockpit sole and the cockpit has decent sized drains - I'm not sure what the hang up is.

Jonathan

On the question of patio doors, perhaps I might quote a section from a friend's insurance report on events at the recent Italian storms. They were on board their large Lagoon , berthed on the inside of the outer seawall at a popular Italian port. During the night wind speeds exceeded 60 knots and waves broke clean over the harbour wall. My friend had set ten mooring lines to hold his boat to the quayside.

The waves built still further. Some of H******’s stern lines snapped, but perhaps 5 were still holding
her. Throughout this period H****** was continually being boarded by very large waves, her aft
deck was being completely swamped, and water was starting to enter the saloon through the patio
doors. The rain had stopped by then, and the winds eased back to around 40 knots. Sea water
leaked down from the saloon into both bilges, where both bilge alarms (there is one on each side)
kept sounding, with the centrifugal pumps automatically pumping them out. Sea water covered the
saloon floor. However, the amount of sea water inside H****** was not particularly large at all, it
was more that it came across the saloon floor and down the stairs into the cabins. My wife did her
best with all the towels she could find, but the patio doors are not designed to be watertight on
catamarans. However, at a guess, in total, perhaps significantly less than 100 litres of sea water
leaked inside.


The pictures the next morning were still scary. Both yachts alongside broke all their mooring lines and there was considerable hull damage as a consequence, but from this test one would have to say that the patio doors proved adequate in horrendous conditions.
 
That's also probably true - but, let's face it, very few boats go far off-shore these days. Ours is approaching a year old, has less than 20 hours on the engine had has been out of the marina five times - it's our floating holiday home. It is far from unique - half the boats in the marina don't seem to have moved at all in the last twelve months.
That may be fine if you use your boat like a static caravan but some of us actually sail?
 

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That may be fine if you use your boat like a static caravan but some of us actually sail?

Undoubtedly so, but I suspect that the number of boat owners who "actually sail" is a relative minority - leaving plenty of takers for boats that are comfortable homes but not necessarily vessels that you would want to face an Atlantic storm in. That really was the question being discussed here - the merits of the Moody DS with its big patio doors.
 
Looks like a pleasant change from the gloomy cave style of sailing boats I suffered for 40 odd years! I think it looks great if you're not hell bent on hard-core voyaging or racing round the cans. Perfect for casual style med boating and using as a country cottage off season. Obviously won't appeal to the grizzled old salts who lurk on this forum and won't sail anything that doesn't reek of Stockholm Tar! I'm at something of a loss to figure out how you can see where you're going though … maybe they stand on a box … or a ladder!
 
Undoubtedly so, but I suspect that the number of boat owners who "actually sail" is a relative minority - leaving plenty of takers for boats that are comfortable homes but not necessarily vessels that you would want to face an Atlantic storm in. That really was the question being discussed here - the merits of the Moody DS with its big patio doors.
I am not aware that my lack of patio doors makes my boat any less comfortable to live on. After all we probably spend 90% of our time at anchor. My post was a little tongue in cheek and a fully understand that lots of marina based boats are holiday homes but a few do actually sail long distance. I think for crossing oceans on a monohull, one without patio doors might be a better choice?
 
I am not aware that my lack of patio doors makes my boat any less comfortable to live on. After all we probably spend 90% of our time at anchor. My post was a little tongue in cheek and a fully understand that lots of marina based boats are holiday homes but a few do actually sail long distance. I think for crossing oceans on a monohull, one without patio doors might be a better choice��

Ah, but have you ever tried patio doors? We have recently switched from a boat with patio doors to one with conventional wash-boards and I've been surprised at how much I've missed the convenience of simply opening a door. Don't get me wrong - we absolutely love the new boat and the lack of patio doors was nowhere near a deal killer, but I really ro miss them.
 
Looks like a pleasant change from the gloomy cave style of sailing boats I suffered for 40 odd years! I think it looks great if you're not hell bent on hard-core voyaging or racing round the cans. Perfect for casual style med boating and using as a country cottage off season. Obviously won't appeal to the grizzled old salts who lurk on this forum and won't sail anything that doesn't reek of Stockholm Tar! I'm at something of a loss to figure out how you can see where you're going though … maybe they stand on a box … or a ladder!

It is certainly a strange experience helming from the cockpit, but no box needed. There is a clear view through those patio doors and the forward facing windows of the DS cabin, so you can stand at the helm. That said, the owner that we got to know did seem to steer quite a lot of the time on the wireless remote to the autopilot, thus being able to walk around the boat at will.
 
Two further comments from looking at them in the marina:
IIRC it is really a Hanse wearing a Moody label, so I suspect that the hull shape is fine and sailing qualities ditto.
The high bulwarks are fine for comfort/ safety at sea, but must make coming alongside a pontoon a very big leap. No trouble for stern-to mooring in the Med, but not so good in a typical UK marina.

All in all, a good take on doing something differently.
 
Two further comments from looking at them in the marina:
IIRC it is really a Hanse wearing a Moody label, so I suspect that the hull shape is fine and sailing qualities ditto.
The high bulwarks are fine for comfort/ safety at sea, but must make coming alongside a pontoon a very big leap. No trouble for stern-to mooring in the Med, but not so good in a typical UK marina.

All in all, a good take on doing something differently.

We always moor stern-to in the UK - never understood why there is this Med vs. UK split.
 
Two further comments from looking at them in the marina:
IIRC it is really a Hanse wearing a Moody label, so I suspect that the hull shape is fine and sailing qualities ditto.
The high bulwarks are fine for comfort/ safety at sea, but must make coming alongside a pontoon a very big leap. No trouble for stern-to mooring in the Med, but not so good in a typical UK marina.

All in all, a good take on doing something differently.

Well I like it too.

Would also say that I generally dock bow to for privacy no matter where I am, unless it's a very big boat.

High freeboard is simply solved. Drop a line over the dock cleat rather than step ashore, I find it much safer and easier to control the boat.

Patio doors? No problem. :encouragement:
 
I've actually sailed one. And straight away it went to the top of my list for "boat to buy to live aboard." As distinct from "boat to go world cruising in".
The layout is frankly brilliant for just being on whilst at anchor. And it sailed more than adequately for "day or short overnight hops between nice places to live on board for a while."
 
We always moor stern-to in the UK - never understood why there is this Med vs. UK split.

Some Med Marinas and harbours have low docks that make it a scramble to get over the bow onto shore. Can be solved with a passarelle arrangement but sometimes awkward.
 
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