Moody 38 (90s) Behaviour in reverse?

K

Kerry Buchanan

Temporary Member
Hi,
We are in the market for a Moody 38CC, with a specific boat in our sights, based in the Ionian. This one has the shoal draft bulb keel. Please can anyone tell us how well these boats respond to the rudder in reverse?
We currently sail a long keel boat but eventually added a bow thruster to take the stress away from Med mooring (and this particular boat, although a lady in every other way, is a right old harridan in reverse). Previously we've owned a bilge keel Westerly, a swing keel Southerly and a variety of smaller boats, all of which were fine in reverse, but the Moody keel appears longish, so we're not sure how she'll compare.
We're hoping that the fact that none of the Moody 38 shoal draft boats currently for sale have bow thrusters is a good sign and that they have good manners in reverse, but would love to hear opinions from owners.
 
Hi Kerry,

I don't have a Moody 38 but a 425, which does have a bow thruster installed, however the thruster has morevto do with managing the wind age of a large furled genoa than poor steerage when going astern.

If you've lived with a long keel yacht you will find the 38 much easier to steer astern, but she will still require some way on to respond to the rudder. All the Bill Dixon designed Moodys before the Hanse built ones have a very similar underwater profile which always features a skeg hung rudder, so their steering performance astern is similar. Like all yachts, you can turn a bit when stationary by a short blast of ahead revs with a fair bit of rdder on as the flow of water off the prop is deflected by the rudder, but this doesn't work with a blast of astern revs - the only way to steer astern is to get the boat moving through the water, so the rudder has some water flow to work with.

The solution I learned many years ago for Med berthing with crosswinds is to turn round and start going astern before entering the harbour, that way, you make the whole manoeuvre without stopping until you have the stern lines aboard. If you try to change from ahead to astern in the confines of the harbour, you must necessarily stop moving through the water at some stage, which means you lose steerage and are at the mercy of the wind.

So, it's really up to you. The M38 won't be as difficult as your previous long keeled lady, but won't be as easy as a spade rudder Beneteau/jeanneau/Bavaria. A bow thruster won't, in my view, be essentialj, but will probably make your life easier n a windy day. Have you considered asking for avtrial sail to see how you get on?

Hopefullya M38 owner will be along soon.

Peter.
 
Thank you so much for the considered reply; it reinforces much of what I'd expected. Even with our long-keeler I generally reverse the whole way in for those exact reasons. The bow thruster is a great "get out of jail free card" if I mess up, but I would prefer to manage without if I can!

The specific boat we're looking at is pretty much land-locked in a packed Greek yard until the spring so we won't get a test sail on her until then (or never if someone else buys her before that). I'd love to find someone local to us (Northern Ireland) with a Moody 38 CC who might be prepared to take us for a wee sail and demonstrate her in reverse, but I realise that would be asking a lot, especially in winter.

I think we've pretty much decided that the shoal draft 38CC is the boat for us, preferably the one we've seen, but if that falls through then another 38CC, so this research will be of use to us whatever the outcome.
 
Hi Kerry,

Hopefully there is someone in Ireland with the right boat. Your description, 38CC, doesn't tell us which Moody you are considering. There were two centre cockpit Moody 38s one built from 1991 - 96, known as Moody 38 (1990s) and the other built from 2000 - 2003 known as Moody 38 (2000s), neither of which was referred to as CC by Moodys.if you let us know which of these you are looking at, a N. Ireland or Eire owner may read this and get in touch.

You can learn all about the various models of Moody yachts here:

Moody Boat Archive | Moody Owners Association

moodyowners.org moodyowners.org

Peter.
 
Hi Kerry
I had a M44 with shoal draft keel and bulb in the Ionian until earlier this year. While a little bigger the hull shape was very similar to a 38 and, talking to 38 owners handling was similar.
Handling astern was very easy and predictable once you had the boat moving and the rudder had a "grip" on the water. I had a bow thruster but tried to only use for close in adjustments to position unless it was very windy. I was berthed in Lefkas Marina and started reversing towards my berth when out in the open basin to get control rather than going right to the berth and expecting to immediately be able to steer astern.
Regards
Peter
 
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