Sorry for another request for your opinions

[Moose]

I am still hunting for the perfect yacht. I am now looking at a Ben 461 and a 473 which I am fairly happy with (being newish) But I have now seen a Moody 40 (late 90's) and I really really like it, especially the nice aft cabin and generaly chunky feeling relative to the Beneteaus. However, I can't imagine the Moody being a fast boat because it seems to have loads of windage and is heavy. Any thoughts? Is the Moody more of a slow, ocean yacht?
Also, In mast furling....I have been put off this because of the risk of it getting jammed and having to get up the mast with a sharp knife to get rid of the sail. I have since heard that some systems can be manually dropped from the deck if anything goes wrong, anybody know what systems?

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[boatless]

The Beneteau (used to Be Oceanis) range are not 'performance' boats either. If you compare sail area to displacement ratio it gives a good idea of speed potential (all other things being equal); other comparisons such as ballast to Total displacement will give an indication of stability. Haven't sailed many Moodys, but I would expect it to be a pretty solid performer, even if not the fastest boat on the water.

Not a fan of roller mainsails at all. Would have slab reefing every time. Causes problems when I charter...

<hr width=100% size=1>my opinion is complete rubbish, probably.

 

[tcm]

um dunno what systems names , but the charter guys have inmast reeefing and even the fairly knackered ones work fine mostly. They can jam if you treatem like a charter boat/car and try to wham them whilst doing something else but i do feel you may be being a bit overcautious.

Newer fatter boats wil be more spacious, but can lose out upwind. Some git in an otherwise ancient old heap just left us on lots more tacking and i noticed we were slithering sideways far more than he was. Er also the windage thing may be a red hering - putting the sails up will cause a lot of windage won't it you stinkiepotter you!...

The ability to go thru *anything* in some comfort rather than oer crashity bang is not to be underestimated unless you are all-out race race racing.

They are all a bit slow, cos no masivediesels. Consider a marina other than chich otherwise you will get sickof that trundle thru the harbour followed by more trundle outside the harbour and no time for lunch anywhere, mebe?

another idea would be to charter some of these boats a bit first to have a play?
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[Robin]

Both the ranges, Moody and Beneteau Oceanis are cruisers rather than cruiser/racers and both will give adequate performance, losing out upwind or in light airs to the more performance designs. Beneteau's performance boats are their 'First' range.

I'm not a fan of in-mast reefing either, mostly for performance reasons but also the slight chance of a jammed sail. Lots of people do use and prefer these systems however and there is no doubt that they are easy to use especially if you are newish to sailing. I am not aware of a system that allows a part furled sail to be dropped in the event of a jam. My personal preference is for a slab reefing mainsail system with 3 reefs all of which can be put in from the cockpit, we use a double line system (more lines, less friction & complication) but some use single line (less lines, more friction and generally only reefs 1 & 2 are single line).

If you like the Moody 40, have a look too at the Westerly Oceanlord 41, similar style and beefiness and recognised round the world boats, very capable.

On a general note, have you also considered the optimum size from a point of view of moorings/berthing? There is no doubt that bigger is always better out at sea but parking it is a different matter, many harbours still have much more limited space for visiting biggies even though average sizes have increased significantly in recent years.

<hr width=100% size=1><font size=1>Sermons from my pulpit are with tongue firmly in cheek and come with no warranty!</font size=1>

 

[Talbot]

<<Tongue in Cheek Mode>> Why are you bothering with these slow half boats when you could double your space and have a boat that under power or sail could shame some semi displacement mobos!

I rather like the look of the Owners version of the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.cata-lagoon.com/UK/frameset_uk.html>Lagoon 41</A> and you can even buy it with an electric propulsion system! - now where was my lottery ticket /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[rwoofer]

I think you will be surprised how fast Moody's are for their internal volume and their displacement/length/sail area numbers.

I have a Moody 44, which on paper does not compare so well with more modern boats eg. bavaria 44. Personal experience has shown that I am as fast in most instances.

Although I have always had racing boats before (so their is a chance I'm trimming better) the factors that I think my help on the water are:
- Higher ballast ratio, which makes them stiffer and able to take more power.
- More surface area on the keel, this means I get up to speed quicker out of the tacks ( a lot of people with low surface area keels don't realise you need to bear off and gain speed before pointing up).
- large masthead genoa which really gives some ooomph
- the extra weight makes it more stable in the rough stuff

Other factors that make a big difference on speed are quality of running rigging, quality of sails, folding prop and clean bottom.

Best to have a go first.

RB

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[billmacfarlane]

None of the boats you mentioned are particularly quick for their size. If you're not into racing why worry ? If performance is an issue look at the Beneteau and Jeanneau sports ranges. They have a cruiser type interior and are more performance orientated. If you fancy a centre cokpit layout and would like a more sporty performance then have a look at the Maxi 38 or 1200. They're not cheap though.

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[starboard]

How about one of the larger Westerlys? Oceanlord etc. I do not know a Westerley that does not perform well, also made pretty bomb proof with loads of nice Teak around.

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[plombier]

How about a nice Bowman 40. Built like the proverbial outhouse and can handle anything thrown at it. Also quite cosy below.

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[davidfox]

I got a Moody 346 after selling my westerly GK29 a cruiser racer, I much prefer the comfortable solid feel of the Moody if it starts to blow, sailed from the Hamble to the east coast and averaged 6.5 knots for the trip so its not that slow

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[BlueSkyNick]

We have a Moody 346 which is clearly smaller than what you are looking for, and have no concerns about the relative performance. Have sailed past bigger, new AWB's on more than one occasion.

If you visit the MOA, at <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.moodyowners.org.uk>http://www.moodyowners.org.uk</A>, you will find a very active group with lots of helpful information (all for 20quid a year - although its free to visit the site). Click on Boat Archive - there are details of all Moody's which have been produced. It shows that the Moody 40 comes in two or more different aft cabin arrangements. If and when we upgrade, it will hopefully be to one of these.

In mast furling is fine, particularly where it is integral to the mast as the original design, rather than an add-on like ours.

<hr width=100% size=1>Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

 

[Peppermint]

Re: Moody\'s make

surprisingly quick cruising boats. Not sporty, not great to windward but if your Ben took an hour out of one on a simple channel crossing that would be the most of it. If it piped up a bit windy it would be less than that.

Furling mains are the work of the devil. They are a labour saving device that makes work, they turn your mainsail into a dishrag and if they go wrong big time they cost a few quid to fix and sailings is no fun without a main.

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