Southwinds - April 1999

Reviewing the Moorings 3800

By Charles E. Kanter

The Moorings 3800 is a refreshing move towards sanity in the cruising catamaran field. Having been a voice in the wilderness for years, I finally found a company that actually listened to their customers and designed according to customer suggestions.
         It's things like well protected decks and walkways with toe rails and handholds; easy access to the cockpit without the necessity for clambering over wall-like bulkheads; like convenient low stress dinghy access that can be handled by less than expert cruisers; like a clean, uncluttered cockpit.
         The Moorings 3800 incorporates almost all of the features I have professed as necessary for a proper cruising boat. In my opinion there are only two deficiencies. The boat lacks a rub rail and comes with a difficult-to-service and operate anchoring facility.
         The salesman suggested "if you want a rub rail, we will install one...no problem." He went on to say that the boats used in the Caribbean and South Pacific were always anchored out or on moorings so it was not important.
         I countered by saying, "Of the used boats being sold from the charter fleets, the ones without rub rails usually have topsides scarred far worse than those with rub rails."
         And there is also that neatly tucked away foredeck anchor. As long as you stay in the protected anchorages of the tropical tradewind charter routes and within VHF contact of home base, you can get away with the system. Once you're out on your own, you'd better have not only a greater knowledge of anchoring, but proper equipment that can be deployed, rigged, and serviced from an accessible location.
         The Moorings also offers an interesting charter/ownership plan. It likely will not make the owner much money, but it will defray some of the ownership costs. The best part about the plan is that it allows people who might otherwise be overwhelmed by the logistics of cruising boat ownership a real opportunity to sail some of the world's prime waters with minimal ownership concerns, and in their own yacht.

         The Moorings 3800 is a study in how to design a boat that is aesthetically pleasing yet meets the essential requirements for cruising sailboat safety and convenience. It is built with easy access to flat decks with lots of handholds and well developed lifelines and toe rails.
         On deck, walkways are secure, and there are plenty of places to enjoy sunbathing. The helm is both convenient and protected. Really innovative features include slated sunshades over the forward windows, which are actually steps leading up to the top deck. The top deck itself is flat enough to be a secure platform to handle the mainsail. An arch arrangement holds the traveler and mainsheet and is yet another innovation. Seems a large percentage of charter people complained about those items taking up space and creating a hazard and nuisance in the cockpit. The archtop arrangement eliminates those complaints quite nicely
         Below decks there are three double cabins, an ergonomic U-shaped galley up with a matching U-shaped saloon. One nice feature is that the starboard hull can be an owners suite while the port hull has the head between the two cabins. This is a spacious boat that has not been ruined by squeezing every possible inch for bunk space. Visibility from the interior is very good.
         Underwater we find the ubiquitous mini-keels--quite satisfactory for a cruising boat. Rudders are skeg mounted, the strongest and most secure way to protect rudders (except having them attached to the end of a full keel). Props are mounted through integral molded struts. The hull/beam ratio is modest, giving lots of weight-carrying ability and only losing a slight bit of mythical top speed performance.
         Sail rig is also modest. Taking a hint from those who deal with extreme sail plans and get the feedback from people who have difficulty raising or lowering an extreme roached mainsail, the sail plan is powerful but conservative.

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