While the Moody name traditionally indicated a fairly spacious but not especially fast cruiser, a few of their later designs were aimed at buyers wanting a bit more performance, and were clearly aimed at competing with the French designs becoming popular in the UK at the time. The Moody S31 was one of these later Moodys. With more draught than the previous Moody 31, as well as a longer waterline length and broader beam, she offered both more speed under sail and substantially more accommodation volume, including a large aft cabin for a 31-footer.
The Moody S31 was designed by Bill Dixon, and was sold with either fin or bilge keels and masthead or fractional rig. This example illustrated is a fin keel masthead rig yacht. As with all the "production" Moodys, the yachts were built and fitted out for Moodys by Marine Projects in Plymouth, who now operate as Princess Yachts. 145 Moody S31s were built in total, compared to over 300 of the older, smaller Moody 31s Mks I and II.
'Yachting Monthly' used boat tested the Moody S31 in 2012 and wrote "....the S31 has a sense of space that belies her 31 ft length" and "....sails well and exudes competence ...... all in all a lovely airy, able boat". |
