Moody v Westerly

boatmike

boatmike

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 Jun 2002
Messages
7,053
Location
Solent
Visit site
Some of you will know that I have been (and still am) a multihull freak. I sold my Prout Snowgoose however and bought an Aquastar 33 with the idea of going through the canals of France and belting around the Med for a while. Having got that out of my system I am now 77 but both SWMBO and I are still relatively fit and have a few sea miles left in us. Now back in Blighty we will be selling the Aquastar and looking for an economical relatively small boat that can be kept on my pontoon mooring in Portsmouth harbour at Quay Lane where it dries. Will probably only use it for pottering along the coast and occasional cross channel trips so looking for a comfortable cruiser with shoal draught at a price that wont break the bank. Looking forward to just hearing the water gently burbling under the keel under sail again rather than belting along sitting on top of two noisy diesels! Have looked at centre cockpit Moodys like the 346 and Westerlys of around the same price. Both bilge keels. What do forumites think? I have been told the 346 performs better to windward and is generally a bit more sprightly under sail. Being used to a fairly heavy cat I am not too concerned about a few degrees off the wind but ease of handling at my age is important. I am an old bull and happy to walk slowly down the field........ Any experience of these marques (or advice regarding others to look at) will be welcome.
 
Last edited:
I am not much older than the OP and also sail with my wife, we gave it up in 2016, then bought a motor boat which we used for one season, in winter 2017 we bought a Moody S31, I don't like centre cockpits and fancied going back to the directness of a tiller. We find the boat comfy for two and with no soft furnishings, (teak slatted hull linings and moulded Grp head linings) very easy to keep clean and tidy. She sails well enough and while I had planned to move the main traveller in to the cockpit we are gettig on fine with it on the coachroof. With the fold down transom step it is very easy to get in and out of the dinghy which we stow inflated across the rather broad transom.
Issues- only 2 out of the 6 winches are self tailing, self tailing main halyard winch would make life easier, the rig is masthead and very stiff (there is a type of fractional version on a few) the engine is 19hp with saildrive and the folding prop that came with her struggled against the weather, an expensive 3 blade flexifold seems to have sorted that. Full width aft cabin means there is only 1 (largish) cockpit locker so less room forbikes etc. Stowage inside is well detailed but limited by the focus on big bunks.
Overall I am pleased, the design particularly of the rig is a bit old fashioned but the build quality and design detailing is generally good, where it scores over a westerly I think is in its resistance to showing its age. Its fin keeled, out here we don't do bilge keels much, though Moody made plenty with them..
 
Thanks for that reference chaps but that was comparing a Discus with a M34. I am particularly interested in an Oceanquest and comparing it with a Moody 346. Am I right that the Oceanquest is heavier and better built but the Moody would have better performance under sail?
Oh and ps I hate saildrives so it has to be conventional shaft drive and I rather like the centre cockpit layout with aft cabin although I have never sailed one......
 
Last edited:
My feeling is that both types are good boats or what you want. The Moody 346 I found a bit "dead" to helm, though it actually sailed pretty well. Difficult to describe but some boats just feel nicer on the helm. The Westerly Seahawk equivalent also sailed pretty well, and felt more responsive, also had more headroom below. On the other hand I personally disliked the cockpit being so high (the headroom has to come from somewhere) and I thought that viewed side-on it looked a bit too topheavy. The Moody looks much more svelte side-on - in fact with dodgers on you can't really tell its a centre cockpit.

Both builders used very similar hulls for several models: Westerly cockpit/deck mouldings seem prone to fine surface crazing (UV?) after 20-30 years, but Westerly interior joinery seems better finished, especially in the later model years when it got really quite good. Moody interors nice enough but too often I see black mould streaks growing in the grain under the varnish/lacquer - maybe not enough finish on them when they left the factory.
 
As a Westerly Fulmar owner I am slightly biased, but to honest there is little to choose between the brands. My advice would be to find which features mean most to you, then go and locate the design you prefer and find it in the best available condition.
 
boatmike said:
Thanks for that reference chaps but that was comparing a Discus with a M34. I am particularly interested in an Oceanquest and comparing it with a Moody 346. Am I right that the Oceanquest is heavier and better built but the Moody would have better performance under sail?
Oh and ps I hate saildrives so it has to be conventional shaft drive and I rather like the centre cockpit layout with aft cabin although I have never sailed one......
Click to expand...

I have a Discus Mike, i find it sails pretty well, is well built and comfortable. I have several customers with various Moodys, none with the 34 though. I have a customer with a 346 and although on paper this should be bigger than the Discus it doesn't feel that way, apart from the aft cabin. I don't think it's too unfair to make a comparison between these two boats. I've sailed against the 346 and she couldn't quite keep up, but that's not much of a sample for comparison. Depending upon personal choices i don't think there's much to choose between the two in many respects, build quality seems generally comparable. I prefer the saloon layout of the Discus. with its two linear sofas the comfortably seat 6, or you and the wife can put your feet up in the evening. The Discus galley has the edge. The Moody aft cabin is much bigger than that of the Discus, you need to be good friends to use the Discus aft cabin as a double. The price you have to pay for that bigger aft cabin is the centre cockpit and higher topsides. I prefer aft cockpits. It's much easier to get on and off of my boat than it is the 346 (the 376 is even more of a climb). It's also easier to move around the cockpit on the Discus (the Moody wheels need some clambering around), it's easier to get from the cockpit to the side decks too. You mention your age, i've thought about how i'll get on with sailing in a few years and think that less freeboard and an aft cockpit would be easier on older knees etc.
 
I looked at a Moody 346 before buying a Westerly Corsair, to me there seemed to be a lot of wasted space, in particular the basin in the aft cabin - almost as if the builders thought, 'here's a square metre what can we put here that will look nice at the boat shows, but be totally useless in practice'. The moody 35 is available in twin keels and is much nicer.
I looked round a Parker 325 ( or was it a 335?) a year or so ago. I was bowled over ! Extremely well thought out and high quality. I would certainly look if one came up, but that's the problem, few were made and those that were now command a much higher price than the likes of Moody 346 ( maybe £30k) or Westerly Discuss/33 ( maybe £22k)
 
PaulRainbow said:
I have a Discus Mike, i find it sails pretty well, is well built and comfortable. I have several customers with various Moodys, none with the 34 though. I have a customer with a 346 and although on paper this should be bigger than the Discus it doesn't feel that way, apart from the aft cabin. I don't think it's too unfair to make a comparison between these two boats. I've sailed against the 346 and she couldn't quite keep up, but that's not much of a sample for comparison. Depending upon personal choices i don't think there's much to choose between the two in many respects, build quality seems generally comparable. I prefer the saloon layout of the Discus. with its two linear sofas the comfortably seat 6, or you and the wife can put your feet up in the evening. The Discus galley has the edge. The Moody aft cabin is much bigger than that of the Discus, you need to be good friends to use the Discus aft cabin as a double. The price you have to pay for that bigger aft cabin is the centre cockpit and higher topsides. I prefer aft cockpits. It's much easier to get on and off of my boat than it is the 346 (the 376 is even more of a climb). It's also easier to move around the cockpit on the Discus (the Moody wheels need some clambering around), it's easier to get from the cockpit to the side decks too. You mention your age, i've thought about how i'll get on with sailing in a few years and think that less freeboard and an aft cockpit would be easier on older knees etc.
Click to expand...

Paul, you are right about the Westerly gel coat crazing, and not much you can do about it other than keep it clean. In the case of mine I think it spent too long in the Med.
 
jwilson said:
My feeling is that both types are good boats or what you want. The Moody 346 I found a bit "dead" to helm, though it actually sailed pretty well. Difficult to describe but some boats just feel nicer on the helm. The Westerly Seahawk equivalent also sailed pretty well, and felt more responsive, also had more headroom below. On the other hand I personally disliked the cockpit being so high (the headroom has to come from somewhere) and I thought that viewed side-on it looked a bit too topheavy. The Moody looks much more svelte side-on - in fact with dodgers on you can't really tell its a centre cockpit.

Both builders used very similar hulls for several models: Westerly cockpit/deck mouldings seem prone to fine surface crazing (UV?) after 20-30 years, but Westerly interior joinery seems better finished, especially in the later model years when it got really quite good. Moody interors nice enough but too often I see black mould streaks growing in the grain under the varnish/lacquer - maybe not enough finish on them when they left the factory.
Click to expand...

We went for the 346 because of the height of the Westerly but were disappointed. Quite a quick boat but directionally unstable, particularly when on autohelm. Galley is a stoop as is the passage to aft cabin. The woodwork would have benefitted from grain filling before lacquer spraying.
 
steve yates said:
If you are pottering around the Solent and occasional cross channel, do you need such big boats? Would smaller not be easier to handle?
Click to expand...

Yes Steve a smaller boat would probably do but I don't consider 35ft as a big boat. Handling a larger boat at sea is always easier and the motion more comfortable. Accommodation generally is much better and being 6 ft tall with a bald top I don't like bangin me ed!
 
boatmike said:
Yes Steve a smaller boat would probably do but I don't consider 35ft as a big boat. Handling a larger boat at sea is always easier and the motion more comfortable. Accommodation generally is much better and being 6 ft tall with a bald top I don't like bangin me ed!
Click to expand...

You won't like the 346 galley then. I found a big difference between single handing the Berwick at 31ft, compared to the 346 at just 3'6" longer, 346 was much harder work hoisting main or reefing it.
 
Although I’m a little younger than you I have tried to “age-proof” my sailing by buying a boat with a self-tacking jib, furling gennacker (effectively in place of a cruising chute in a snuffer) and electric winch, in a Dehler 36, but it’s not bilge keel so I’m a little further up the Harbour at Wicor on an all tide walkashore mooring.
 
boatmike said:
Any experience of these marques (or advice regarding others to look at) will be welcome.
Click to expand...

I've bought 3 new Westerly yachts, but I wouldn't now buy a used one, or indeed a used Moody. There are loads of newer AWBs around which are better value, nicer to sail, nicer to live with. So if I were you I'd move to an all-tide mooring and look at what sort of AWB you can get for similar money.
 
Well a push for Westerly, especially the Seahawk.

It is a settee with a sail, but it works for 2, 3 or 4. More than that you have to be good friends, especially if it gets wet.

Reasonable sail, roller and in-mast reefing, comfy in harbour. The centre cockpit is high, but also dry in all but the very worst. Having the main sheet out of the cockpit helps a lot for comfort and ease of sailing.
Bilge keel, go anywhere, well nearly.

Regarding looks. Compare yourself with a photo taken 30 years ago. Scrubs up well for all tan. The boat, not me!

Just re-done the cabin sole. Amazed at how thick the veneer is. Soggy headlining is legendary and curable.

Decent size water and diesel tanks, especially if there are only 2 on board.

Would I buy another? Probably yes, just need to retire from this type of sailing. Anno Domini taking their toll.
 
As far as mainsail handling is concerned in mast reefing systems take all the work out of that and you don't have to leave the cockpit. Obviously not all boats of this age will have this feature but it can be retrofitted. Thanks for all the input though guys. At the moment I am leaning towards a westerly ocean quest or similar. Looks like I will need about £50k for a good one. Still open to other suggestions though. Need to sell my Aquastar first!
 
one for the 346 here, probably the best boat i have had over the years , sailed with the children all over the place in all sorts of weather ,always stiff and sea kindly . owned and sailed bigger and more expensive but rarely better . fond memories of passing a sigma 33 racing fleet all sitting on the rail to windward - 11 year old daughter at the helm whilst we all drank tea . i would definitely have one again , Bill Dixon s best for me .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

boatmike
Merry Fisher 695
Replies
3
Views
204
Bouba
Bouba
D
Solar Panel wiring question
Replies
3
Views
219
William_H
W
I
Sadler 32
3 4 5
Replies
93
Views
3K
Mark-1
Mark-1

Share this page

Top