Moody Eclipse 33 Sailing Performance

Russ Altendorff

Russ Altendorff

Temporary Member
Hello

I used to own a M44 and was a member of this excellent forum for many years.

I am now contemplating returning to the fold and buying a M33 Eclipse.

I had a look at the YM review here:

Moody Eclipse 33 review

The Moody Eclipse 33 was and still is highly sought-after. Duncan Kent looks at one to see why
www.yachtingmonthly.com www.yachtingmonthly.com

Where Duncan Kent says "She tacked through 88°-90° swiftly". That seems painful to me. Is this the real tacking angle?

I realise that there are bilge keel and fin keel versions and I would guess that the fin keel performs better when sailing than the bilge keel.?

I would be interested to hear from current owners if they experience a better close hauled performance than the YM review - and I would be very interested if someone could tell me how the fin keel version performs in particular.

Also, do current owners have experience of using an asymmetric on their M33?

Do owners think that a bow thruster is essential for manoeuvring in a modern marina?

Have any owners done any off shore sailing in a M33? if so what are they like in an ocean swell?

All the best
Russ
 
I wonder how they measured the 88-90 deg angle :rolleyes:

Does this suggest sailing at 45 deg to the wind? I think that's quite good actually.

Not a M33, but on our M31 the asymmetric in 8-10 knots of wind will give us 5.2 knots of speed compared to 3-4 knots with the genoa.

Pete
 
Thanks Pete,

Duh - You are right he must have meant 44/45 degrees ! ....... which sounds quite reasonable for this type of boat - unless an owner can add some info...

..... and yes an asymmetric would be well advised downwind... I used one on my M44 too with great effect.

Russ
 
Russ, I am going to say no a bow thruster isn't essential for a M33, though some have had bow thrusters fitted. In the past 16 years with out M31, there has only been a couple of occasions when we have needed a bow thruster, normally in a tight marina, in strong winds. Instead we tend to reverse out all the way out rather than turn through the wind in situations like this. The down side is also the extra drag and loss of space under the forward berths. We find this very useful space for stuff we don't need everyday, like the cruising chute, spare anchor, storm jib and second spare jib.
 
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