Moody 336 Advice on Potential Purchase

E

Ewen Bruce

Temporary Member
I am interested in a Moody 336. I have owned a small 23 ft sailboat on an East coast drying mooring for 18 years and in that time I have chartered various yachts: Mediteranean flotillas – the usual Bav’s and Ben’s 36 – 40 ft, but also West of Scotland Bav 36, Mirage 29, Rustler 36 and a Moody 31.

Now just semi-retired, I want to buy a boat to keep on west coast Scotland. We enjoyed the Moody 31 many years ago, but now with adult family and having got used to much more space we feel she would be very cramped.

My dilemma is probably a fairly common one. I need a boat that has the accommodation to keep wife, family and non-sailing friends enthusiastic, but I also need to be able to single-hand (and continue to enjoy that!) maybe 50% of the time.

Other than West Scotland, I intend sailing to Orkney and Shetland. With ambitions to cross the North Sea to cruise Norway in the future.

Being used to a swinging mooring, I sometimes find mooring in a marina single-handed quite daunting, so would definitely want a manoeuvrable boat and am thinking that 34 ft or under would be an advantage.

Also I can’t find the difference between M336 MK1 and MK2. Does the MK1 have a sugar scoop?

Budget – under 60K.

I like the look of the M336 (fin keel). She looks like a big sister to the M31, and apparently sails a little better. Can anyone with experience give me some advice?
 
Differences between the 336 Mk 1 & 2 discussed in these threads

We nearly bought a 31 but it fell through, then looked at/bought a 336 and the wife is pleased with the additional accommodation in the larger boat. Personally not a good enough sailor to single hand mine yet, hopefully someone else will answer that bit for you.
 
Thanks for reply Barry
Unfortunately I'm a guest member only, so can't access those threads. Have to buy a Moody first and join! Haha!
 
the most detailed bit from one thread is as follows.

Thank you Dick and Richard. I have searched through the images of various M336s for sale, and can now clearly see the difference between Mk1 and Mk2. Externally as Richard says, the rounded front end of the Mk2 saloon windows is a give-away. The opening port over the cooker would be a definite improvement, and avoiding the saloon window over the chart table extending past the bulkhead into the heads would seem a much better arrangement. And yes, the cabinetry below does look much more basic. All the images I found up to 1992 were Mk1, and there was a Mk2 from 1994, so one assumes the change-over was somewhere between the two. The change to Volvo MD2030 was in September 1993, so maybe that's the date - yard number L1180. So if this is correct, the final 40 M336s were Mk2. The question mark remains over how many were built in total.

However, I am still confused about the displacement. The increase appears to be between 1988 and 1989, so nothing to do with the Mk1 / Mk2 changes. Did the initial 40 or so M336s have a lighter hull? As ours is the 40th hull, I am interested to know if it is lighter, heavier, or perhaps they are all just the same and the early figures Moodys released were incorrect? Can anyone shed any light on this?

Ewen to this I would add the earlier ones had more cupboards in the saloon. If you do decide on a 336 then I suspect it's a case of buy whatever comes up, as not many do, assuming condition is OK. Good luck.
 
Hello Ewen,
You could join as a Temporary member - "You don't own a Moody but have one in your sights" - which gives you full access to a wide range of info on all the Moody yachts via the forums plus the Technical Library. At £22 you might consider this good value if you find the Moody you want.
I wish you success in your boat search!
 
Ewen Bruce said:
I am interested in a Moody 336. I have owned a small 23 ft sailboat on an East coast drying mooring for 18 years and in that time I have chartered various yachts: Mediteranean flotillas – the usual Bav’s and Ben’s 36 – 40 ft, but also West of Scotland Bav 36, Mirage 29, Rustler 36 and a Moody 31.

Now just semi-retired, I want to buy a boat to keep on west coast Scotland. We enjoyed the Moody 31 many years ago, but now with adult family and having got used to much more space we feel she would be very cramped.

My dilemma is probably a fairly common one. I need a boat that has the accommodation to keep wife, family and non-sailing friends enthusiastic, but I also need to be able to single-hand (and continue to enjoy that!) maybe 50% of the time.

Other than West Scotland, I intend sailing to Orkney and Shetland. With ambitions to cross the North Sea to cruise Norway in the future.

Being used to a swinging mooring, I sometimes find mooring in a marina single-handed quite daunting, so would definitely want a manoeuvrable boat and am thinking that 34 ft or under would be an advantage.

Also I can’t find the difference between M336 MK1 and MK2. Does the MK1 have a sugar scoop?

Budget – under 60K.

I like the look of the M336 (fin keel). She looks like a big sister to the M31, and apparently sails a little better. Can anyone with experience give me some advice?
Click to expand...
Bought my 336 just over 12 months ago, from the west coast actually and moved her to Devon in June. Very pleased is an understatement! Mine is bilge keel purely for ease of winter storage.

Sails single handed without difficulty and responds to helm astern far better than my old 26' Hunter.

New sails and feathering prop for this season should improve what I thought was a good performance even further. It is a cruising boat not a racer, although I race round the cans in the twice weekly club races.

It is a boat which is admired everywhere I go.
 
Thanks for the replies
I've joined as Temporary Member
Thanks Rob Masters - very reassuring over the handling and single-handing. It is a cruiser that I want, she just has to sail well and have a good motion at sea. I'm quite sure we'd be happy on the accommodation side.
 
Hi
We had a Moody 28 before our 336 Ghoster.
I would say the 31 is a slightly bigger 28, and the 336 is significantly bigger and better specified.
They all however sail really well, (thanks Bill Dixon) and the 336 Rig is double swept back which is a bit more versatile.

On Manouverability, the 336 as specified has two blade fixed and kicks a bit (but no more than the 28 or 31 (I've just fitted a flexofold folding prop and hope to have reduced this somewhat) however the turning circle is excellent and therefore can be used to great effect. easily turn just 9ver a boat length.

There is a Mk1, a Mk2, and an S336 which has some enhancements (Winch spec, boom spec, spinnaker gear etc - I don't think there is a comprehensive list)

Both Mk1 and Mk2 have Sugar Scoops

The main differences internally is that in the Mk1 there are more cupboards in the saloon, and aft cabin - basic storage however is pretty similar, good size wardrobes fore and aft, - the extra cupboards are above the saloon seat backs but a bit of joinery (Fiddles) easily makes good use of the shelf space.

The Mk1 were mostly VP 2003, GHOSTER has VP MD2030B.

Last prices I've seen are around then £40K mark.

For a 336 from 1990s, expect to do Sea Cocks, battery upgrade, maybe Prop, maybe exhaust elbow, maybe windows - if leaking, can be re-bedded ok, if its been raced hard.

If you want any more detail - happy to share

Cheers
Andy
 
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We had a bilge keel M31 MkII and upgraded to a fin keel M336 MkII.

We loved out M31 but upgraded for a more modern feeling boat and the extra space. I think the forecabin is about the same, but the aft cabin gives you a proper double bed and a little settee - it is a lot more comfortable. Also we have found having the separate shower area in the heads useful both for showering when at anchor and for hanging wet oilies (the original oilies locker contains the holding tank).

The M336 Mk II/S336 looks more modern down below - very similar feel to the S31 which you should also consider. However the M336 Mk1 has more cupboard space in the saloon - again more like the M31 MkII.

As for performance, the M336 would leave our M31 Mk II standing - but she was a bilge keeler. I do miss having bilge keels and having the ability to dry out or at least anchor in shallower water.

Another consideration is that our M31 II had a raw water cooled VP2003 rather than the fresh water (indirect) cooled VP2030 we have now. I ended up spending quite a lot of money on the VP2003 getting the silt out of it so that the coolant system worked properly. Not an indictment of the engine or raw water cooling per se, but that these engines do need looking after and flushing through regularly in my experience.

Both boats can be single handed - but you need a good autopilot. Again in my experience autopilots tend to work better with wheel steering (the M31/S31 can be wheel or tiller, the M336 wheel only). You lose what feels like significant height in the aft cabin in the M31 with wheel steering.

With the M336 the sheet winches can't be reached from behind the helm and adjusting the mainsheet requires access to the winches and lines on the coachroof so single-handing requires you to move forward of the wheel to tack - hence the comment about a good autopilot. On our M31 we had a tiller which made the winches more accessible.

Another consideration might be the position of the mainsheet track. On the M336 this is on the coachroof out of the way - on the M31 it is in the cockpit which might be an issue with small children.

On advantage of the M31 - the spreaders aren't swept back so going downwind you can have the main further out without rubbing your mainsail against the spreaders.

Regards

Neil
 
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