Moody S31

[AIDY]

The majority, it seems, were tiller.

the later years 1997 - 1998 had the wheel steering... you lost some head room in the aft cabin. Most where for the charter market. Neilson bought 20 or so with wheel steering.

bad point's.... not many a super boat and very sea worthy.

galley sink noise and switch on the panel to remove water.

position of the throttle in relation to the tiller. but i guess your always going to get this with tiller steering.

stowage behind the seat's in the main cabin always looked a mess.

we had the original white plastic canopy not canvas and it was a struggle to put up when cold it shrunk / grew with temp.

 

[AIDY]

My boat was 1994. She was originally called Moody Mania and was the demo boat. We were discounted 12% for the demo boat.
We paid under 50k but I can not remember the exact figure.

If you still have the brochure, the photos are of my boat. Note the pushpit is connected with 8 ply rope. Later boats had stainless wire on the pushpit.
Cliff

yes got it in front of me and the price list ! well a 1996 / 1997 brochure. spotted the 8 ply rope. lady at the helm. the older one's had the words thirty one written down the side of the coach roof where as the newer one's had S31.

Tut Tut you sold for a targa 34..... least i went up a model

 

[cliffdale]

Moodys were kind enough to remove the thirty one chrome logo and replaced it with S31 as part of their warranty and after sales work.

Targa 34 came about as child number 1 got very seasick, even after 1 hour. Our cruise speed is now 30 knots and little one loves it!

She is older now, 12, and we are thinking of returning to sailing. We are quite interested in the Southerly RS35.

We liked the boat most at the SIBS.

Cliff

 

[AIDY]

just pulling your leg the targa a nice mobo

 

[Cantata]

........Reefing was early, top end of force 3 otherwise you got a lot of weather helm. 2nd reef was top end of 4.
Look at the tiller carefully. They are laminated together. Rain water runs down the tiller and collects at the base. This area can delaminate.....Cliff

Interesting to meet the first S31 owner!
The tiller on our (1998) boat was a mess when we bought the boat but came up well with a strip and revarnish. It's remained pristine for the three years since then as we had a canvas sleeve made for it for when boat is not in use.
Interestingly I don't share your experience with early reefing on our bilge-keeler. I generally put in the first reef at 19-20knots apparent, and the second at 23-25knots accompanied by a few rolls in the (monster) genoa.
Like any bilge-keeler she's affected upwind in a chop, but in smoothish water she goes like a rocket and we frequently see off larger fin-keeled boats to windward.

 

[AIDY]

Interesting to meet the first S31 owner!
The tiller on our (1998) boat was a mess when we bought the boat but came up well with a strip and revarnish. It's remained pristine for the three years since then as we had a canvas sleeve made for it for when boat is not in use.
Interestingly I don't share your experience with early reefing on our bilge-keeler. I generally put in the first reef at 19-20knots apparent, and the second at 23-25knots accompanied by a few rolls in the (monster) genoa.
Like any bilge-keeler she's affected upwind in a chop, but in smoothish water she goes like a rocket and we frequently see off larger fin-keeled boats to windward.

I would tend to agree with you (fin keel mast head rig) first reef at about 17Knots. Then a genoa change. had a suit of three genoa's the blade jib was the best sail i've ever owned. loved beating to windward in anything over a 6.

 

[starboard]

Thanks for the info so far....the more I read the more I like....come on guys please convince me to buy this boat !!

 

[quaelgeist2]

Reefing for S31

Reefing on our standard keel version has improved a lot with a new main.

With the old baggy dacron, we had 3 reefs and at <20, 25, 30 they HAD to go in.
In theory easy, as we have the usual one-line-reef from Selden. Need to think ahead though, as the 1st/3rd reef shared a line and changing under way (when invariably you had been to hopeful reg. wind) it was a bit of a challenge.

Since we have moved up to a Tapedrive main (same size, slightly bigger head section, as far as the aftstay allows), the limits have moved up significantly. As you can flatten it better, the combination of flat main, tight downhaul and traveller in lee allows for 25-28kn with full speed and limited heel.
Incidentally, we have gone to 2 reefs, one between old 1st and 2nd, and one at old 3rd reef. Works well, too, as long as you trim the main well in between.

We also have two foresails, a genoa No2 up to about 20 (max 25) kn and a high cut jib above that. They are both furlers and can thus be adjusted further, but she points much better in strong winds with a jib - particularly with the Tapedrive.

This summer we tested the strong wind handling when leaving Harwich with a forecast of W/SW 5-6, only to find SW 7-8 ;-) Not nice, and we eventually decided to go back, but we successfully beat into it for 2 hours and had a great trip back - surfing up to 10/11kn

Would still recommend it any time.

As another thought, there seems to be a problem with the exhaust elbow on several boats. We have been fine so far...

 

[AIDY]

Buy It it's a super boat....

 

[Sinc]

S31 vs 31 Mk2

We've been looking at a 31 Mk2 recently. Is the S31 significantly different?
The 31 Mk2 seems pretty good but also appears to be quite a 'small' 31 footer.

 

[JimC]

We looked at Moody 31 Mk2 and S31. Thought S31 was much better interior layout: lighter and roomier and would probably have bought but then saw Hunter Channel 31 and preferred that to either.

 

[MoodySabre]

We've been looking at a 31 Mk2 recently. Is the S31 significantly different?
The 31 Mk2 seems pretty good but also appears to be quite a 'small' 31 footer.

They are very different. I have a 31 mk2 (which I like very much) but I was amazed how much extra volume there is in the S31 for only a few extra inches. Partly the design with open back storage above the settees and a bigger bum to house the much bigger aft cabin (a real double) and more commodious heads. Having said that the 31 has more storage, looks (IMO) a bit less ordinary and sails very well. But if I had another £20K to spare then ....

 

[ditchcrawler]

I looked at a M31 and a S31 when buying my last boat.The S31 is a foot longer and 4 inches wider according to the Moody info.The waterline length is 10 inches longer.it does seem a bigger boat.The M31 has a ballast ratio of 37% and the S31 32% if the Moody Owners website is correct.Oddly according to the Byron handicap website the M31 is slightly faster than the S31(Fin keel M31 996 and Fin S31 1003).I could not find a good S31 and I went along the east and south coast.I ended up with a Mk1 M31 which was 20k less than a S31 but obviously much older,but it was in good nick.I have spent money on new sails,canopy,dodgers,feathering prop,fridge,plotter amongst other things.I would have probably bought an S31 but the only ones I saw had been well used.My wife does not sail so I bought a boat whiich suited me.It has less room than the S31 as Roger says but three of us have cruised Holland/Belgium comfortably over the last few seasons.I have also sailed in a 336 and it is ideal for cruising.Finding a good one is the problem.

 

[Cantata]

As another thought, there seems to be a problem with the exhaust elbow on several boats. We have been fine so far...

Yes, there's been a long conversation on the MOA website about the MD2020 exhaust elbow coking up. Everyone on there who has checked theirs, including me, has found the same, the thing almost completely blocked, to the point where you wonder why you never noticed anything odd about engine performamnce. Symptoms on mine, that I didn't take too much notice of anyway, were that the engine seemed to run warmer than I expected, and wouldn't rev beyond 2600. As I never rush when motoring it didn't bother me.
Having cleaned out the elbow, the engine now revs freely and runs cooler. Overall fuel consumption unchanged at about 1.0-1.2 litres/hour.
Perhaps you should take a look at yours! Interested to hear if it's not party blocked...

 

[Goldie]

Paul, sent you a PM.