High topsides, muscular bow sections and a formidable deck house make the Moody DS48 an imposing sight, even standing alongside her on the pontoon. Point her bows towards the open sea, set all 165m2 of her canvas and with 21 tonnes of boat in full motion, she becomes even more formidable.

Most boats these days aim to be lighter, faster and more open, but that doesn’t necessarily result in better seaboats or more comfortable passage-making. Not the Moody DS48, however. From the moment you scale her boarding ladder (there are steps which fold out from the solid guardrails to help surmount her deep bulwarks), and set foot on her recessed sidedecks, this is a boat that you are in, rather than on.

When it comes to boat tests, the Solent is normally an ideal test ground; sheltered enough to play in, but with strong tides and a decent fetch that can kick up a steep chop. I often find myself wishing, however, that we could just keep on sailing for the horizon. When it came to testing the new Moody DS48, designed to be a long-distance voyage maker, we decided that nothing but a Channel crossing would do.

So it was that I found myself on the pontoon one Monday morning in July, climbing aboard with Phil and Adam from Inspiration Marine, Peter, Phil’s dad who had volunteered as navigator, and Richard our photographer. We’d decided that dinner in Alderney would be really rather jolly, and with a booking for 2000 at the Braye Beach Hotel, it was time to get going.

Now, with a length of 48ft and all but 3ft of that at the waterline, boat speed promised to be fairly good, though I wasn’t sure what to expect from her sailing performance. Moody has continued its long association with Bill Dixon, who has a reputation for drawing seaworthy, high volume hulls with a good turn of speed.

As Simon Coles, senior designer, production yachts at Dixon Yacht Design explained, ‘The Moody DS48 is really an evolution of the Deck Saloon range, which started in 2007 with the DS45. Alongside the 41, the 48 is really version two of the concept.

‘We set out to draw a boat that maximised the inside-outside feeling of single-level living, while handling the extra displacement from all the kit people want with them on a world-cruising boat. At the same time, she needed to be a boat that sailed well and handled a wide range of conditions.

‘The hull shape aft has been refined to cope with more displacement, without dragging the transom, while maximising waterline length. She’s also got a relatively deep forefoot, though it’s not quite a vee, to make her more sea-kindly, and buoyancy has been distributed carefully to maximise stability, avoiding unbalanced shapes when heeled. It helps that she has a good ballast ratio and a very low centre of gravity.’

Heading south

Slipping Lymington, we were soon in the grip of a strong ebb, whipping us out past the Needles with little more than 5 knots of true wind from the south-east, but thanks to the 150hp Yanmar, we were making more than 9 knots over the ground.

Turbulent water closed in on either side until we were spat out over the Bridge at the end of the Needles channel. Clear of the Wight, we had closer to 10 knots from the south east letting us shape a course of 204º straight for Alderney. All being well, the tide would slosh us west, then east, before plonking us just outside Braye spot-on slack water.

With a lovely fetch ahead of us, the optional 87m2 overlapping genoa set beautifully, giving useful extra drive compared to the self-tacking jib, while being more versatile than a Code Zero. As with most boats equipped with a self-tacking jib, the mast is well forwards, the mainsail large and the boom long. This boat had in-mast furling main with full vertical battens in cruising laminate.

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As the breeze built, boat speed climbed from 6 knots towards 8 knots, even touching 9.5 knots over the ground with a knot or so of tide helping us along.

We romped along in a most stately manner across a magnanimously flat English Channel, the wind and tide in unusual harmony. Steadily, however, the clouds closed in and the first rain squall enveloped us, picking the wind up to 20 knots and drenching us in the process. We swapped from genoa to self-tacker and continued as we were, on an almost entirely even keel. While those handling sails got a bit wet, the canopy afforded some shelter at the wheel, and complete shelter for those cowering in the cockpit.

The rest of the crew could keep a lookout from the warm and dry of the deck saloon, while the inverter ran the Nespresso machine and toaster. The other benefit of the large coachroof is that it offers enough real estate for the optional 800W of solar panels that this boat was fitted with.

Taking it easy

Sail handling is easily done, with a powered winch either side (Lewmar 65EST), and a second manual 55ST winch (powered is an option). Each wheel pedestal has duplicate switches for the mainsail furler, genoa furler, and the two powered winches, so that sails can be furled, unfurled and sheeted without leaving the wheel.

The winches sit atop the cockpit coamings, so can be handled from in the cockpit, or from standing on the sidedecks, though the overhanging canopy slightly obstructs working the winch when standing on the sidedeck. The only thing we actually picked up a winch handle for in the entire trip, was to add backstay tension to the 9/10ths, three-spreader fractional rig to deal with a bit of forestay sag when the jib was sheeted in hard.

The breeze was far from settled, requiring frequent adjustments to the sailplan to keep us powered up, and as we hit the east-going traffic emerging from the Casquets TSS, another squall brought the visibility below a mile and the wind up to 35 knots, giving us 42 knots over the deck.

Two button-pushes left us with a scrap of main and two thirds of the jib. As the chop built, this lacked a little power to keep us going, but we were comfortable and still making progress of six knots or so. It also gave us the chance to sample how well the boat handled waves – nothing huge but enough to send spray flying over the bow. Occasional steeper waves hit the bow with a thud, but the boat ploughed on unperturbed.

By the time we’d dodged some shipping, the wind was on the nose and Alderney was on the horizon. Not wanting a protracted beat (dinner was waiting, after all), the jib was furled away and the optional larger 150hp Yanmar engine went on, drinking 7.5-8 litres of diesel an hour at 2,100rpm while the Gori overdrive prop helped us motor-sail at 8 knots boat speed.

Time for dinner

Toasting our arrival in sunshine, we hailed the water taxi, though had we had a tender in the garage (up to 2.8m), we could have swung it out on the integral davit arm. Dinner ashore was everything we had hoped it would be – the seabass was delicious and I’m told the steak was superb – and we fell into bed sated and satisfied, aware that tomorrow promised rather punchier weather.

I was given the honour of the master cabin in the bow, where a large island berth of over 2m long and 1.87m wide sits on the centreline, enjoying views out of the hull windows, ventilated and lit by opening hatches in the coachroof and deck. Standing, there’s palatial amounts of space to move around, without feeling too exposed at sea, and stowage has been fitted into every available space, with three wardrobes, and numerous smaller lockers and drawers. The en suite heads has a separate shower compartment, more locker space and an electric-flush toilet. It felt more like a hotel than a boat.

Not that any of my crewmates were slumming it. Phil and his dad Peter were sharing the VIP twin cabin on starboard, where two generous singles have their own large en suite toilet and separate shower, hull window and ventilation hatch in the sidedeck. Richard got the double to port, with access to the day heads and shower – essentially his en suite. This cabin alternatively can be a bunk cabin, or a utility space, with or without the third heads compartment, which would become more stowage space. Adam, being the youngest, had to make do with the large double in the saloon, made by lowering the table and adding an infill cushion.

Heading for home

We woke to a strong, gusty southwesterly that would be rubbing the tide up the wrong way for most of the crossing home. It wasn’t long until we were under way with most of the genoa out and a partially reefed main in a solid Force 5. Before long, we’d furled more of the genoa away and were broad reaching in 20-26 knots of wind at 7.5 to 9 knots through the water.

With the short, steep seas building to 2-3 metres with breaking crests, the autopilot was working hard, and once or twice let the boat round up when things got too much – some time spent adjusting the settings would probably correct this.

Having taken the steering in hand, it soon turned into a competition to see who could get the highest speed and skipper Phil held the record of 12.3 knots for almost the whole crossing, pipped only in the closing miles by a lucky surge with yours truly at the helm, nudging 12.6 knots. In flatter water back inside the Solent, a maximum speed of 9.3 knots, close reaching in 12 knots of true breeze, is a truer reflection of the boat’s speed potential.

Rough weather test

The rough weather certainly gave us a good insight into what the boat is really like to helm and sail, compared to a sail in flat water. As naval architect Simon Coles had said, ‘A deep single rudder gives her plenty of grip, while making her easier to manoeuvre and more responsive on the helm. Clearly, with her displacement, she feels like a larger boat to helm than a more lightweight cruising boat of similar length.’

This was certainly my experience. There was no limit of grip and in flat water she would happily bear away with full sail pinned in hard. Only once, when a breaking wave caught her stern did she round up, though not badly. She is, however, a more physical boat to helm in these conditions on a broad reach than a lighter boat might be. The plus side is that despite her substantial displacement, this boat is still fun to sail and the helm is responsive enough to reward properly trimmed sails and to keep her in the groove upwind by feel.

In the conditions, the true value of the deck saloon was clear. The crew distributed themselves around the boat – the stern seats made a great place from which to helm or to view the action, though I’d have liked some armrests amidships to break up the wide stretch of flat seat.

The deep cockpit felt brilliantly secure and offered seamless connection with the saloon and galley. Beside the full-height sliding door, a slide-down window-cum-serving hatch meant that a steady stream of food and hot drinks could be passed straight out from the oven to those on deck. The only thing lacking, at least in wet conditions, was somewhere to hang dripping foulies and lifejackets when coming inside.

Making life comfortable

There was space for anyone wanting a kip on the leeward cushions of the saloon (the leeward cockpit seat was the other prime spot), and for the navigator to work his art from the table to port. Even as the spray flew, heel stayed mostly between 10-20º, or less further off the wind. The saloon, not really ‘below decks’, remained light, warm and supremely comfortable, while offering all-round views to make watch-keeping in shelter entirely feasible.

This, combined with the boat’s steady motion, made a potentially gruelling Channel crossing into an exciting but entirely manageable day-sail. The impressive new Moody DS48 is a boat that takes the brunt of the weather so you don’t have to, making rough conditions feel much more pleasant.

Better views

Our test boat layout had a dual-purpose table to port. From the aft seat, you look forwards, with VHF radio, autopilot and throttle controls immediately to hand, with space to wield a pair of dividers on a paper chart on the table in front of you.

If you’re going to be doing serious passage-making, you might be tempted to opt for the dedicated navigation station positioned right forwards, close to the windscreen. This gives better all-round views while offering more space for chart stowage and for instruments, making for a properly useful space, though you lose a possible sea berth and two seats for guests at dinner.

In either configuration, I would have liked an additional pair of hatches at the forward corners of the coachroof to make it easier to look up at the sails, as well as aiding ventilation, though it didn’t get hot enough to test this on our trip.

Below the cabin sole, the larger 150hp Yanmar, upgraded from the 110hp fitted easily into the engine compartment alongside a generator, double fuel polishers, inverter, air conditioning and diesel heating.

Moving aft, the two cockpit lockers are cavernous, needing steps to get all the way down into them. These house the steering gear and autopilot – it’s an option to have two fitted for redundancy, one to each side. There’s also a washing machine, of course, plus more than enough space for bikes, tools, and whatever else you want to bring with you – which is why the hull was designed to handle a big displacement.

In the transom seat, you can either have a handy shallow locker, or a gas grill and fridge. Rope tails from the winches stow neatly in deep rope bins in the coaming, though I’d have liked some stowage for cups and binoculars, which is currently missing.

Home to summer

The isles of Purbeck and Wight had been growing steadily larger on the horizon, and as the tide turned in our favour at last, we were swept past Hurst Castle and into the Solent. It felt like stepping out from Narnia’s wintry wardrobe back into summer. Warm sunshine, flat water and a fast sail took us back to the pontoon in Lymington.

The crossing had taken just eight and a half hours from Braye to Bridge off the Needles, and only half an hour more than that on the way out. In a boat like this, hopping across the Channel really was a nice little day-sail, safe in the knowledge that we’d be able to get back, pretty well regardless of whatever the weather threw at us.

Moody DS48 specifications

Price as tested: £1,317,177 inc VAT
LOA: 15.42m / 50ft 7in
Hull length: 14.65m / 48ft 1in
LWL: 13.83m / 45ft 4in
Beam: 4.85m / 15ft 11in
Draught: 2.15m 7ft 1in (Shoal 1.80m / 5ft 11in)
Mast height: From WL 24.09m / 79ft 0in
Displacement: 21,160kg / 46,650 lbs
Ballast: 6,175kg / 13,614 lbs
Sail area: (main + jib) 130.90m2 / 1,409 sq ft
Bal/disp: 29.2%
Disp/length: 187.5
SA/D Ratio: 17.4
Engine: Yanmar 110hp (150hp option)
Transmission: Saildrive
Water: 766 lit / 202 gal
Fuel: 570 lit / 120 gal
RCD Category: A-12
Designer: Dixon Yacht Design
Builder: Moody / Hanse Yachts

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