Price vs Value of used Moody yachts

brainstorm said:
Thank you AIGSS! Please confirm that our boat is neither a MAB or an AWB? ( westerly storm with headlining in place! )
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Well deffo not an AWB.... that term is used somewhat pejoratively to mean mass produced Beneteau / Jeanneau / Bavaria / Hanse etc. As for MAB.. well if the headlining is intact and no sign of damp cushions then maybe not :)
 
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I owned a Beneteau 331 from new for 10 years I loved the Beneteau, good boat and value for money. I sold it and bought a 20 yo Moody S38, I looked at Beneteau 38s and 40s and could have got a newer boat with more bits for the same money. The Moody is a class up IMHO and built and sails extremely well, I've every intention of holding onto her.
 
Used to have a Moody 31 mkII and the couple who bought it had originally intended a newer MAB of some sort but their instructor friend who was guiding them said that he would not sail with them if they did. He approved of the Moody as a well built, sound and sea kindly boat which would look after them. All the sailing I ever did in it confirmed that and it held its price well.

Worth seeing if a previous owner has made some dire "improvement" - the guy previous to me had installed an extra massive battery (125Ah) to power an equally massive Eberspacher. (Surveyor reckoned that if the battery ever came loose from its amateurish fixings it would go through the side of the boat and the heater was ideal for a 45 footer). He had also installed lethal shore power. However, when these peccadilloes had been sorted SWMBO and I had some wonderful sailing in her.
 
Moodys are well built and last well if maintained(like any boat needs regular maintenance). My Moody33 mk2 was built in 1979 and is still going strong, even though the first owner was a sailing school so has a few scars. Got it for a bargain price 11 years ago as it 'had osmosis...) which it did not - I had 2 separate surveys and both confirmed no osmosis. Done lots of improvements, new engine after first season, several upgrades over the years and still looks pretty good, very comfortable, stern cabin is excellent for grandchildren - I'm very happy with it and would happily go on extended cruising with a more upgrades. Price I reckon is comparable with Westerlys, similar build quality but my headlining does not sag!
 
I appreciate that you may be looking in a different subset of the market than we were, so what follows may not apply to 1990's boats.

When looking for relatively smaller and lower priced boats (typically 31', mid 1980's), I felt that the value of Moodys was pretty decent. For sure we paid more than we could have done for a 2 cabin yacht that met our needs, but the overall condition, specification, configuration, inventory and quality meant that I think we got good value, and that opinion has grown as we've owned her and sailed her in mixed conditions. A very biased view obviously, but for where and how we use a boat and the budget we had, I think we hit the sweet spot.
 
Daedelus said:
the guy previous to me had installed an extra massive battery (125Ah) [...] Surveyor reckoned that if the battery ever came loose from its amateurish fixings it would go through the side of the boat
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Oh dear - should I worry about my 2 x 210Ah lumps? :p

Pete
 
Pricing for 20 year old Moody yachts is, rather like Westerly pricing, totally irrational. Despite that, many people have more money than sense and are happy to pay silly prices in the belief that they're getting something "traditional" or "better built".
 
pvb said:
Pricing for 20 year old Moody yachts is, rather like Westerly pricing, totally irrational. Despite that, many people have more money than sense and are happy to pay silly prices in the belief that they're getting something "traditional" or "better built".
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Much my sentiments expressed and derided on this forum a few years ago
 
pvb said:
Pricing for 20 year old Moody yachts is, rather like Westerly pricing, totally irrational. Despite that, many people have more money than sense and are happy to pay silly prices in the belief that they're getting something "traditional" or "better built".
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Better to go older then. We have lived on our Moody 33 ( built in 1977 ) since 1998. Taken her across the Atlantic and back twice. Seems better built to me.

When brand new, probably cost about 8k.
 
savageseadog said:
Much my sentiments expressed and derided on this forum a few years ago
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Agree - but as you will see from several posts already there are people who are happy with their decisions having paid the "premium". Don't for one minute doubt their sincerity. Others like me are just as happy making a different decision and not having paid the premium. We are both right - or wrong!
 
When we lived aboard for almost eight years, cruising the Caribbean and USA, our final boat of choice was a 1996 Dixon designed Moody 38.

Excellent sea boat.

Skeg or part skeg hung rudders, big solid keels attached to a decent stub, were all high on our priority list when crossing oceans or in between the reefs.

Stand in a boat yard next to an AWB and a Moody (or a Malo/Rassy) and look at the different rudder and keel design then you will see why some make the choice.

After a tough 19hr trip to Barbados from St Lucia beating the wrong way into the Atlantic swell, the skipper of a 45ft AWB we sailed in company with, and who we totally out sailed and left a considerable distance in our wake in the pretty awful conditions, described our M38 as "a strong, kick ass British boat."

She was.
 
A1GSS said:
Well I've been looking at a few Moodys or should that be Moodies. Surprised at the strong prices asked for 20 year old used examples, compared to Ben/Jen/Bav of similar size/vintage. Is it down to a strong demand coupled with a rarity factor? Or does it reflect the original cost of them? Or is it a sort of Hallberg Rassy effect? Or misguided pricing and they sell for half the asking price... ? Or have I missed some nugget.

Piece of string I know. Views welcome...
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Dont know about nuggets but certainly you have opened a can of worms. You will find your responses partisan. There will be many mainly older sailors who regard the old Moodies and Westerlies as solidly built boats - BMW/Merc standard if you like compared to the Ford / Renault standard of the French and German AWB builders like Bav. But without even looking at the replies, my guess is that there will be one or more from Tranona extolling the unparallelled virtues of Bavaria yachts.
Trying to be dispassionate I can see some arguments both ways. The old British yachts will have heavier hulls and more conservative designs than the lates imports. But they will be old fashioned inside and like it or not , yachts age just like any other man made article. Engines and masts dont last forever. Against that, the hulls of modern boats might be lighter but they will be better made of better materials, and the insides will be more up to datre. But likely they will be more caravan like and less comfortable in bad conditions.
You pays your money and makes your choice. Personally I bought a Starlight built by Bowman and I saw that as a compromise mid range boat

P.S. Just had a quick peek and sure enough there was Tranona. :encouragement:
 
At one time or another I've heard every marque declared as osmosis free, and if not the marque a statement like "they had problems with early boats but mines a later one and later ones don't get osmosis".
 
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