Moody 38
MARINE PROJECTS · Bill Dixon · 1993
Updated
The Moody 38 is a 11.43 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by Bill Dixon and built by MARINE PROJECTS, first launched in 1993. It races in Class C.
Length
11.43 m
37′ 6″
Beam
3.84 m
Draft
1.64 m
Displacement
8.1 t
Sail area
67 m²
On the podium
Where a Moody 38 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
52%
of 27 starts by 2 boats
Wins
11%
Read from 27 starts by 2 boats between 2021 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Moody 38 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
9ο Κυπελλο Καλλιθεας2026- "Αγκιστρι 2026"2026
- 43ος Ιστιοπλοικος Αγωνας Κορφος ΄262026
- "Κυπελλο Χριστουγεννων"2025
- "Αγ. Νικολαου 2025"2025
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: 1 race of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
54%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Moody 38 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Sun Odyssey 42 (Lombard) (6 meetings), Maxi 95 (5 meetings), Dufour 30 (5 meetings), Dufour 365 (5 meetings), First 211 (5 meetings), Bavaria 31 (6 meetings), Dehler 41 (Judel/Vrolijk) (4 meetings), Carter 33 (4 meetings), Sun Odyssey 440 (4 meetings), Sun Shine 36 (4 meetings), Atlantic 31 (4 meetings), Oceanis 473 (3 meetings), Oceanis 440 (3 meetings), Dufour 38 (3 meetings), First 41 (3 meetings), Dufour 33 (3 meetings), Ohlson 29 (2 meetings), Granada 31 (2 meetings), Dromor 26 (2 meetings), Bavaria 37 (2 meetings), Feeling 920 (2 meetings), Sun Odyssey 39 (2 meetings), First 38 (2 meetings), Gib Sea 33 (2 meetings), Moody 34 (2 meetings), Oceanis 41.1 (2 meetings), Sun 2000 (2 meetings), Oceanis 390 (2 meetings), Bavaria Cruiser 34 (1 meeting), Dufour 35 (1 meeting), Oceanis 311 (1 meeting), X-482 (1 meeting)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Moody 38 has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
4.91
41°
Beam reach
8.04
90°
Broad reach
8.45
135°
Downwind VMG
7.55
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
It needs pressure to show what it can do. Give it a fresh day and long legs and it delivers more than it promised; in a drifter it is working uphill.
Where it gains
Its best ground is across the wind in a working breeze, where it does more than its size and sail area promise, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short upwind in the light stuff, giving away time it never gets back.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.6 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a Moody 38
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 2.83 | 3.97 | 4.63 | 4.91 |
| 52° | 4.45 | 6.04 | 6.83 | 7.18 |
| 60° | 4.78 | 6.35 | 7.05 | 7.42 |
| 75° | 4.98 | 6.57 | 7.26 | 7.73 |
| 90° | 4.94 | 6.81 | 7.56 | 8.04 |
| 110° | 5.09 | 6.95 | 7.70 | 8.54 |
| 120° | 4.92 | 6.85 | 7.67 | 8.57 |
| 135° | 4.44 | 6.48 | 7.48 | 8.45 |
| 150° | 3.78 | 5.83 | 7.13 | 8.09 |
| Run VMG | 3.28 | 5.05 | 6.40 | 7.55 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 550 kg.
Rigging
Moody 38 rig and sail dimensions
A Moody 38 carries 12.52 m of mainsail hoist on a 4.21 m boom, a forestay 14.27 m above the deck and a 4.59 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 2 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 77 to 85 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.