Moody was one of the main yacht builders in the UK and when the company went out of business in the 2000's was the oldest yacht
builder in the world, dating back to the early 19th century.
This one was designed by Bill Dixon and was one of Moody's attempts to go more mass market and compete with the mass produced French boats (Moody's original market was very expensive gentlemen's
motor sailors). So this is a fairly inexpensive and simple
boat, but the good news is that the structure and structural design, a Moody hallmark, is absolutely first class and far better than other boats of this
price range.
This is a fairly fat boat with emphasis on
interior volume (which is large for 35 footer), and with a modest rig, the boat is not known to have great sailing qualities. The tankage is small for
ocean crossing. It's intended as a
family coastal cruiser.
If you are comparing this to Beneteaus and Jenneaus of the same era, which should be priced similarly, this boat will be slower but much stronger and better built. You may also prefer the layout, which has aft main
cabin instead of forward, and a better
galley which is not in the middle of the
salon. On the down side, this boat doesn't have a separate nav station -- you have to set at the edge of the
salon settee.
There is a very active owners' association.
These boats are over 30 years old now, so the most important thing in
buying one is to evaluate the amortization of all the systems, rig and other elements and understand what kind of costs you will have going forward. Depending on that, boats of this age may even have negative value, so watch out -- a superficially well maintained but basically never updated boat of this age might cost more to bring up to snuff than it will be worth afterwards. If, on the other hand, "well maintained" means that systems have been updated and replaced regularly,
sails and
rigging are fairly new,
electronics are not 20 years old and all
work,
electrical equipment is complete and not ancient,
engine has reasonable hours and has gotten more
maintenance than just
oil changes, then it could be a good deal. Pay particular attention to the
tanks -- if they are getting near end of life, this is very expensive to fix. Also to the bottom -- this is the era of
osmosis. Don't even think about going further without a
surveyor, and you will need to haul the boat to properly inspect it.
Good luck!