Back in the day, after Cruising World launched in the mid-1970s, a steady helping of rugged, well-built cruising boats—from a collection of British builders that included Westerly, Nicholson, Oyster, Contessa and many others—frequently appeared in these pages. Personally, I was most attracted to the Moody line, perhaps because one of its frequent naval architects, Angus Primrose, was a close friend of the magazine’s publisher and a regular contributor. Plus, having been founded by boatbuilder John Moody in the early 19th century, Moody struck me as the quintessential English shipyard.
Moody began to produce fiberglass sailboats in 1965, with Laurent Giles and Bill Dixon joining Primrose as the principal designers. During the next 30 years, Moody launched 39 models and knocked out more than 4,000 yachts, a notable run that concluded…
