The Moody 36 is a fun and practical centre-cockpit cruiser
The build quality, comfort and seaworthiness of the Moody 36 makes her a popular family cruiser,
The Bill Dixon-designed Moody 36 combines practicality, comfort, sea kindliness and high-quality build, making her an ideal cruising yacht.
The Moody 36 MKII might be described as a family coastal cruiser, but she has a performance not previously seen in Moody’s centre-cockpit range of yachts and is easily seaworthy enough to cross oceans – as many have.
A development of his earlier 35, the MKII 36 had a slightly slimmer hull and longer waterline, which resulted in a noticeably quicker and better-balanced boat. Though most owners buy Moodys for the considerable comforts they offer, they were meticulously constructed and have excellent sea-keeping abilities too.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
The Moody 36’s near-plumb stem, attractive retroussé stern and pleasantly rising sheer line with teak-capped bulwark give her a classy, yet modern look. She carries maximum beam a long way aft, providing sufficient internal space for her trademark roomy aftercabin and offering way more useful stowage than is available in many of today’s popular cruising yachts.
Built at Marine Projects in Plymouth (now Princess Yachts), a total of 118 Moody 36 MKIIS were constructed to Lloyd’s 100A1 yardstick.
Hulls were laid up by hand, using mat and woven rovings with waterproof isophthalic resins. They were stiffened with balsa-cored frames and stringers, and finished with bonded floors and bulkheads for additional strength. The deck is balsa-cored, but with hefty plywood backing plates laminated in under winches and deck gear. Finally, the hull-deck joint was through-bolted and then bonded over, before being capped with smart teak.
A choice of bilge, shoal (bulbed) or deep- fin keels was offered and her large, semi-balanced rudder is supported by a halfskeg, making her more resistant to steering damage from floating debris and stray lines.
ON DECK
Some sailors like centre cockpits, some don’t. They tend to be a little small compared to aft cockpit boats but many owners prefer being high above the sea and love the extra-large aft cabin it enables. Downsides include more movement in rolly seas, a higher boom and centre of effort on the main, and poor visibility ahead to leeward with the genoa unfurled.
The cockpit layout is straightforward, with all sail controls led aft through clutches on the coachroof. The genoa winches are within reach of the helm, as is the mainsheet behind, making single-handing easy. The large sprayhood provides good protection and easy access to the winches.
A split backstay and wide rail gate give good access to the transom steps, although it lacks a deeper platform for deck showering and unloading the tender.
Her decks are wide and clear thanks to inboard chain plates and coachroofmounted genoa tracks. The foredeck is clutter-free and includes a deep chain locker with a windlass plinth. Six large mooring cleats are mounted on the bulwarks, making them dead easy to access when coming alongside. The decks continue all the way aft, where two deep lazarette lockers house most of the loose deck gear.
BELOW DECKS
Because of the centre cockpit, the companionway ladder is necessarily tall and steep. The saloon is spacious, warm and cosy with plenty of nicely finished solid wood trims. Headroom is just over 1.83m/6ft, but watch your head going aft through the corridor.
Set well forward, the saloon is slightly narrower than many, but well compensated for by placing the settees well outboard and making the overhead lockers fairly shallow. The convertible, U-shaped port settee offers seating for six around the table while thick settee cushions and abundant teak joinery provide a luxurious ambience. The dropleaf table doesn’t have a fiddled centre, which is irritating, but does have excellent bottle and glass drawers.
A small step down improves headroom in the forecabin, which contains a decent vee berth with reasonable floor space. There is ample stowage under the berth, as well as two hanging lockers with shelves, plus a further six lockers above the berth and a large forehatch.
Moving aft, the L-shaped galley is wellequipped, but arranged a little awkwardly. The worktop area is generous, especially with cooker and sink covers in place, but having the cooker under the cockpit sole limits both light and ventilation. Both the cooker and fridge are large and there’s storage galore for food, crockery and pans.
Behind the companionway steps is a central ‘pod’ that provides extra worktop and stowage, as well as housing the fuel tank, battery switches and washboards.
Opposite is a well-appointed nav station with large, forward-facing chart table, its own seat, a comprehensive electrical panel, and plenty of room for nav instruments.
Two corridors lead aft. The starboard one contains a single bunk; the port corridor houses the head, also accessible from the aft cabin. There’s plenty of elbow room and a separate shower but headroom in the heads is only 5ft 10in. It’s well organised with good stowage, a large hatch, and a deep sink.
The spacious master suite aft has always been a popular feature with any centrecockpit Moody. Although only 1.83m/6ft long, the Moody 36’s centrally-mounted berth is a luxurious 1.40m/5ft 4in wide. Headroom is limited to 1.75m/5ft 9in, but the cabin boasts a wealth of stowage plus a dressing table. Natural light is surprisingly good, with a large overhead hatch, opening side ports and a portlight above the bed head.
Access to the 40hp Volvo diesel engine beneath the cockpit is particularly good, thanks to all-round removable panels, and the steering gear is easily reached under the aft bunk. Both water and fuel tanks are a good size for cruising too.
RIG & SAILPLAN
The Moody 36 is masthead-rigged with a thick-sectioned, well-supported twinspreader Seldén mast, boom and gas-sprung kicker.
A triple-reefed, semi-battened mainsail was standard, with luff and leach reefing lines for the first two leading into the cockpit. The standard headsail was a 125% furling genoa with coachroof-mounted tracks, giving a tight sheeting angle for increased pointing ability.
UNDER WAY
With the exception, maybe, of the ‘S’ models (31S & 38S), which are reasonably swift, Dixon’s CC Moodys are steady cruisers with conservative sail plans. All are capable of a respectable pace in open seas, however, where they offer a particularly sea-kindly motion. Thanks to the inboard genoa tracks they are also pretty close-winded, but they will lose speed rapidly if pinched too tight. Her fastest point of sail is 50° off the apparent wind, when she surges forward relentlessly, almost oblivious of the sea state.
The Moody 36 is simple to sail singlehandedly, with all the sail controls within easy reach of the wheel, and her excellent balance results in little or no weather helm.
She also boasts a healthy 35% ballast ratio and even with the shoal draft keel she is reassuringly stiff thanks to her weighty ballast bulb.
On a reach with a fair breeze she will easily average between 6.5-7.5 knots in all but the choppiest conditions. Downwind, she requires a good size spinnaker or chute to keep her flying.
Moody Owners Association (www.moodyowners.org)
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WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY... Nick Vass B,SC B,ED HND FRINA MCMS Dipmarsur YS, Marine Surveyor www.omega-yachtservices.co.uk
The later Moody 36, built by Marine Projects in Plymouth, is a contemporary-looking yacht that has stood the test of time.
During surveys I have found fairly large blisters on the topsides on several boats, mainly around the portside anchor locker drain but these are from delamination rather than osmosis. I have concluded that water has entered through the drain hole and saturated the plywood stiffeners that protect the hull from the anchor chain. The area then stays wet and might delaminate. My advice has been to keep the anchor locker drain holes free of debris, only have chain in the locker and no other clutter, and paint the area around the drain hole with epoxy to prevent water ingress.
Keel bolts are also a concern on the Moody 36. Moody used high-tensile steel studs, nuts and backing plates rather than stainless steel. Although high-tensile steel is stronger than stainless, it rusts, so it’s a good idea to keep the bilge dry and paint the exposed parts of the studs, nuts and backing plates to keep them rust-free.
Rather than using real teak slats, Moody used teak veneer on plywood for deck and cockpit seat coverings, which quickly delaminated. Fortunately, most did not have it on the decks.
Most Moody 36s I have surveyed have had Volvo Penta MD2040B engines, which are more robust than their D1-40 successor. However, they do suffer from limescale build-up in the coolant system and their iron castings can become porous. Check the engine for signs of overheating and get an engineer to take the cover off the heat exchanger. The exhaust elbow will need to be replaced every 10 years or so, too, as they clog up.
The saildrive diaphragm seal will likely have been replaced several times by now, even on a late example. Check the service history to make sure that the seal has been replaced, as it can be costly. There should be a date stamp on the seal but it’s sometimes hard to see.
Ben Sutcliffe-davies, Marine Surveyor and full member of the Yacht Brokers Designers & Surveyors Association (YDSA) www.bensutcliffemarine.co.uk
I’ve surveyed many Moodys over the years and they do sell quickly on the second-hand market, but it is essential to look carefully at them before purchase. Check the ply-faced teak in the cockpit. This material was popular with many boat builders during the 1990s and 2000s. On most of the boats I’ve surveyed over the last eight years, the ply-faced teak has needed replacing. Nick mentions the keel bolts being hightensile; I, in many ways, prefer the reliability over stainless but it is essential to keep an eye on the fastenings. This can be difficult on the bilge-keel version due to the water tanks under the side berths! The main cap chain plate anchorage within the saloon is impossible to inspect with the fitted internal joinery. This is a concern especially if high moisture is identified on the side decks in that area and the covers are wet internally. Many owners have cut small inspection hatches in the sides of the covers. I am aware of at least two failures of the chain plates after the fastenings behind these panels failed.
The rudder is supported by a substantial skeg and I have had several experiences of very high moisture in both the blade and the skeg around the support shoe where fastenings have loosened over time.