Apollo Bay 2016 - Double Handed on a Moody 54 DS

As part of our preparation for the Melbourne to Osaka Yacht Race in 2018. We competed in the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria's, Melbourne to Apollo Bay race this year.

[@gschnog]

loved it. brave to be the drone catcher :) finally a video that really shows off the Moody and some good sailing fun.

[@sailing-moody54ds]

I was not sure that Sue wanted to even touch it, let alone catch it from a moving platform but by our third flight, she had it nailed. Just need to work on my drone flying skills so she does not end up overboard as well!

[@gschnog]

+Sailing - Melbourne to Osaka I can imagine. Those blades are pretty sharp especially in a rolling sea. perhaps tethering her in with a safety line and a thick pair of gloves might do the job to set her mind at ease :)

[@atadoff62]

That looked like so much fun! Beautiful boat!

[@jlenn0x]

Great video! that looks like a fun race!

[@martijnkoopman756]

nice...... reaaly like your boat, keep on going with the good work and films

[@miklovinn8025]

Great video! Excellent footage perspective , nicely edited. Keep it up.

[@sailing-moody54ds]

Thanks Mik. Sue and I are super excited to have the opportunity to take part in the M2O race in 20 months time. As the prep begins we are keen to see if we can document through video our experience.

[@billhanna5394]

thanks for the vid really enjoyed your narrative.

[@venomguysydney]

some great drone footage , awesome perspective of the moody sailing

[@sailing-moody54ds]

The weather was amazing, we could not have asked for better. Still need to work on our "carrier landing" as the drone almost took a swim.

[@selleluca]

Very nice boat and video! Thank you! ;-)

[@frenki958]

Beautiful yacht, enjoys it :)

[@tobiasburen8340]

Great pictures! The Moody's are my favourites together with Discovery.

[@cavalcantijulio8412]

me too.

[@cavalcantijulio8412]

but discovery is much expensiv

[@plstrom]

beautiful boat !

[@timlucas4014]

Late I know But Loved it thanks for sharing See you have done any U tube lately a pity Cheers Tim

[@user-lj3ro6kp8p]

Сколько смотрю роликов Европейского яхтинга, столько не перестаю удивляться! Господи! Где вы берете, таких страшных баб?!!! Это же ужас!!!

[@nigelha3699]

great video, thank you and also love the yacht. Do they make a bimini 7 clears to cover the helms for extended blue water passages?

[@jesperprimdahl6423]

Really nice filming, just love the boat, as multipurpose boats go this one is right at the top. Retiring in about 5 years (hopefully) and will go ocean cruising. Have done a few offshore races and love to off shore part, but the racing i not that important. Looking if the Moody 54 DS would be the right boat for me, you seemed extremely pleased and seemed also to be very competitive on it. If you need a crew member on the Osaka, I would be most happy to offer myself, should have the experience to be a benefit. Thank you for the video. Kr Jesper

[@sailing-moody54ds]

The racing is alot of fun, more so as the comradery down here in Melbourne Australia is very strong. The Moody, IMO, just ticks all the boxes, monohull so we can take part in club(s) racing, Deck Saloon which has excellent visibility not just for passage making but for the other 99% of time when at the marina/anchor. The whole cockpit design with the retractable bimini is ingenious. Bill Dixon the designer has done an amazing job, everytime I use the boat I can't help but marvel at what he has achieved. Thank you for your kind offer, the Osaka is a double handed only race. Sue & I are now working on our short handed techniques for example, when one is off shift the other will need to be deploy,manage and recover he kite in all conditions.

[@nigelmtb]

That's my dream! Although I have about ten extra years to wait. I saw the Moody at the Southampton boat show yesterday. What a boat - it's like a ship. There is nowhere you couldn't go in that. Beautiful.

[@davidnewton5141]

Great video. Sailing double handed and flying a drone! Impressive!! Great job on editing too. What editing software did you use to get that tracking map overlay?

[@sailing-moody54ds]

Thanks. I used Final Cut Pro X for the video editing, Inkscape to create the map outline and the Promap plugin from Pixel Film Studios to animate the tracks.

[@oguzkilitcioglu7139]

süper. hayallerimi süslüyor 👍

[@sailing-moody54ds]

If you are not already sailing, most yacht clubs have racing on the weekends and during the weekday. The clubs will have boat owners that are looking for extra help (crew). You don't need any experience so make contact with them and start the dream!

[@rustyjeff3007]

i do like the Moody DS's

[@patrick35400]

Great video ! Thanks for sharing. What do you expect in a very bad weather with this great glass door ? Such as the 45DS The galley looks small for a long course ??? Thanks for your answers. Kind regards. Patrick - Brittany of france.

[@sailing-moody54ds]

The glass door is very well protected from the elements, in the 2015 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race we were hit hard on the side by a rogue wave, knocking the helmsmen clean off his feet. A large amount of water entered the cockpit seating area but drained amazingly fast without entering the cabin. The only thing we do is put a piece of dowel at the base of the door to ensure it can't accidentally close when heeled over as it could easily break someone's arm. We modified our 54DS to have a 3 person couch in front of the kitchen and moved the nav station to the back. While the kitchen is 20cm smaller, we gained an amazing living area forward.

[@patrick35400]

Thanks. Kind regards, Patrick.

[@howardcullum6464]

Hi, nice video. My Wife and I have been considering buying a 54DS but have been slightly put off by the Yachting Monthly review that said that testers of the European Yacht of the Year award took it out in a lumpy force 7 and reported that it slammed and they needed to use the engine to keep it tracking when sailing upwind. I wanted to know if this squared with your experience of the 54DS. I guess it depends upon whether you've ever sailed it upwind in those conditions. Also, given that you seem to sail just 2-up, which is what we would do, how have you found her when mooring, especially in strong conditions. Any info you can provide would be gratefully received. Happy sailing!

[@sailing-moody54ds]

All boats will slam when going to windward for a given wave length. My last boat was an Elan Impression 434 (13m) and it slammed just at a shorter wave length. In any heavy weather sailing, I find it better to wait until the wave length has stretched out so the boat will ride it comfortably. The boats pointing ability is excellent and we quite often surprise the racing boats at how well we can point given we are a cruising boat. As far as mooring goes, my pen faces into the prevailing wind, which I normally back into except when the wind is over 18kts in this case I'll drive it in bow first (bow down wind), all very easy. I would be very happy to have a chat over skype (grant.dunoon) call to cover off all your questions. Just ping me a message.

[@kanan360]

Hello from Switzerland :-) Great video by the way I'm planning and training to sail around the world next year :-) I will be by myself most of the time. I like the DS54 because you have 360 view at all time, as i'm planning to be solo most of the time I find the DS54 safer for such journey. from Sailor to Sailor do you recommend the DS54? and why in your professional view I should consider buying one? Thanks a lot and wish you the best Kanan

[@sailing-moody54ds]

One word sums it up... comfort! I have sailed from Melbourne to Port Fairy (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipwreck_Coast) nurmous times solo, first in an Elan Impression 434 and then the Moody. Being able to navigate from inside and out of the weather makes a huge difference on any passage, that is I now spend 80% of my time in t-shirts and not in heavy wet weather gear. And then in port/at anchor (best real estate around) you still have full water views from the saloon compared to the more traditional monohulls. It really is living on one level. The boats perfermance is very close to the polars (www.moodyboats.com/us/boats/moody-ds54/documents.html).

[@kanan360]

First thanks for your replay I totally agree with you about the comfort point. Some reviews describes the DS54 as heavy boat, not the best ocean crossing in heavy weather, I wanted to have your view on the DS performance in rough waters. I think my main liking of the DS is being able to see ahead all the time specially when sailing solo.

[@sailing-moody54ds]

The boat is heavy but also very well built. I have no concerns with the boats sailing ability in heavy weather, in fact it's the opposite for our up and coming Melbourne to Osaka race. We are preparing the boat for light air sailing as we will have to pass through the horse latitudes (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_latitudes) and the doldrums. Next race for us will be the Melbourne to Stanley in November. This race takes us across some of the worst water around, Bass Strait (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Strait#Maritime_history), subject to the conditions, I hopfully will get another video of that adventure.

[@kanan360]

you are awesome. thanks a million.

[@toddparsons5780]

Wondering if you still have the boat? How is she holding up over the past few years? Looks like you've put some good miles on her. Well done. I am a fan of all those windows and the living space about the waterline.

[@sailing-moody54ds]

The bow thruster from Quick has been an ongoing issue. I understand Moody is now fitting Max Power. We had a lot of issues with the boat for the first 3 years but now they have been sorted and the last 2 years have been excellent. In 2018 we did the Melbourne to Osaka double hander race. We had to call into Sydney to have the bow thruster removed before we could continue, after that the boat performed without issue. That's over 10,000 nm return. More info can be seen: facebook.com/BlueWaterTracks/

[@toddparsons5780]

@@sailing-moody54ds Thanks for the reply. Any other issues beyond the thruster, or just normal shake out stuff? Looks like she sails well and can handle herself in a breeze. I was aboard a 54 DS at a boat show a few years ago. I like the concept, but I just wondered how she would hold up over time. I suppose it's like any boat. As long as you give them attention and money, they'll be alright.

[@michaeldrugowitsch]

Hi, this is Michael from Switzerland. I just signed a contract for the purchase of the Moody 54ds (galley down). I'm very excited to start sailing with her next year. I just have one question: I want to cover the roof of the deckhouse with solar panels. Because I saw solar panels on your boat too I wonder if you're satisfied with the power output? Any recommendations...?

[@sailing-moody54ds]

The deckhouse has a nonslip surface in the centre which would have to be smoothed. We found that we could fit the slim panels down the side which has a smooth surface. We have a total of 500w but to date I have not been able to gauge the effectiveness of the system as we keep having to replace the regulators and the latest one has not been installed yet. If you would like to email me, I would be happy to answer any other question.

[@bbbvvhk]

Hi, thinking about buying this yatch. To sail around the world. Some say this yatch is not a Bluewater and not safe. Can you give me your opinion?

[@sailing-moody54ds]

I wonder what information they base that on... stability, structural.. or just way to much comfort for the old salts? Last year we sailed this boat from Melbourne, Australia to Osaka, Japan and return a distance of over 10,000 nm in a race to Osaka. A sister ship "Calypso" sailed from the EU to Australia. More info on the boats adventure: facebook.com/BlueWaterTracks/

[@bbbvvhk]

@@sailing-moody54ds thank you, I also wonder the same. These are mostly comments and their view is based on from what I can tell is that it design is made for coastal and not for passages but I really think they are not comfortable with the modern and comfortable design.

[@DavidSmith-nb3td]

Hi guys, I'm over in May/June to Melbourne, I would love to have a sail, she is my dream boat?

[@sailing-moody54ds]

Hi David, we have this race again in May however we will be sailing double handed as a prep for the Osaka race. If you happen to be at Royal Brighton Yacht Club when we are around I would be happy to show you over the boat.

[@selleluca]

9:18 hahahaha :D

[@steetonsales1]

Is it trust that this Moody will do 25 knots ?????

[@sailing-moody54ds]

Was it the wind we referred to as being 25 kts. The moody has a LWL of 15.5 m = hull speed of 9.5 kts.

[@steetonsales1]

Hi, thank you for the reply, we were at the Dusseldorf show looking at the Moody 54 and the sales guy was adamant that the boat would reach 25 knots !! lol I have a Sense 50 and regularly reach 10knots.

[@sailing-moody54ds]

Close hauled, 30 deg to the wind we get 7.5 kts. For cruising we tend to be happy sitting on around 8.5 kts. Got to love a sales guy, "25kts"... you could only do that down a large wave and then that would scare the life out of me.

[@JohnSmith-zv8km]

must be nice to be rich = good luck to you

[@youngypaul]

They probably worked hard, made good decisions and deserve it.