TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums Charter Boat Reviews and Questions Moorings NEW 4000

Looking to charter the NEW 4000 from the Moorings in Greece.
Upgraded engines, gen, AC, power dingy winch, power winch at helm, etc.

Much diff than the old 4000 that I had back in 2011 in BVI. Much like the Sunsail 44 or Moorings 46 that I've had the last two trips.

Main diff is only two heads. Though heads are elect also withe upgraded package. Any experience with this boat?

I haven't sailed the new 4000 yet, but I believe it is pretty much the same as the 3900 with interior changes. 3900 was fun to sail and we loved the owners hull. We did tour the 4000 and I like the forward galley and door to the bow - there's no forward cockpit area like the 44 or 48, just the door and walkway to get to the bow, but it is convenient and when open would still allow a good breeze to flow through.

We're hoping to charter one early May.

Thanks Matt...pretty sure it will be fine for us. Confirmed for early Sept.

Only issues is two heads, as the ladies are used to one per couple. But electric heads make up for it.

We are Three couples with a local skipper as I don't have the ICC ticket. Probably be best anyway with local knowledge. Just wish there was a website like TTOL BVI for Geek sailing. I keep searching, but can't find it yet!

I'll give you another update after we've been on - we did secure one for a week from now.

Lucky dog..
I was this close () to trading in my 3900 for a 4000. A lot of things I really liked, except the $$ I would have had to come up with after 5 years.
It is a bit longer than the 3900 and the beam is quite a bit wider, and it seemed they made the saloon feel so much larger by encroaching on the hulls because the interior of the hulls seemed quite narrow compared to the 3900. In fact, I think the head on the guest side seemed some smaller if I remember correctly. The huge saloon sure made up for any shortcomings in the hull though. I thought it was great.
Let me know what you think about the way they have the traveler rigged. I think I prefer the setup on the 3900. Tell me what it's like having so many lines back to the cockpit with so few winches. Probably a non-issue, but man they have lines there.
I did not sail one, but looked it over quite thoroughly. I am looking forward to your observations. I love our little 3900 but had the $$ been a little closer to even after another 5 year gig, I think I would have signed the papers.

So we're back. And we had a great time and loved the 4000. It is #1 on our list of boats that we'd buy if we had the money to upgrade to a Cat.

I can't say much about the sailing since we only raised the sails once. What I did notice though is it seemed to not go to wind as well as some of the larger cats we've been on - not a huge difference, but seemed noticeable to me. It was also not very forgiving if you went to close and had a tendency to pull you into the wind. Might have just been the specific conditions we were in though. I just recall having a little more forgiveness and time to recover on the other cats we've sailed. Again though, this was 1 sail on the same tack. Didn't really mind all the lines at the helm, although if we bought this boat, I'd probably put a 3rd winch in like the larger cats have for the main sheet. Huge bin for storing the lines though, so that helped.

So.. the rest of the boat? Awesome! The storage was amazing. So much of it. 3 floor boards come up in the salon for storage. There's plenty of storage in the bow area - with the forward walk through, I expected a lot less, but there's some space in the smaller locker (we stored one of the floating mats we rented there), storage for fenders, lines and anchor in the larger locker and even some storage under the stairs to the bow - we stored trash there until we had a chance to take it off the boat.

Aft storage was great too. There were shelves over the batteries so you could store stuff under that seat and there was a locker for snorkel gear with lots of room. Plenty of storage in the cabins too, especially the owners hull.

For us, the best part was the play space Conner had. The area in the salon/galley had lots of room - only issue was the stairs going below to each hull, but this boat has two movable seats and we just put one in front of each of the stairs.

The most unique aspect of this boat was the forward facing galley. And it was great. Doing dishes, cooking..etc you could look out at the view. I think it was also nice sitting at the table looking forward as well.

Another bonus - the holding tank valve is so easy to access. Just a panel in the head that you open and turn the valve. Not that it was a big deal before when you opened the thru-hull valve, but this was easier.

I really can't think of any complaints we had with it. If I had to pick something, I guess it would be the A/C. Like all these cats, the A/C blows much stronger in the bow vent. The stern vent has much less airflow. In addition, the main salon is vented from each hull - again with low flow.. so the salon was warmer. Not a huge deal and things were still comfortable. Hulls were comfortable too, only issue with this is if you are using both cabins in the port hull (or either hull on a 4 cabin version) since one cabin will be colder then the other.

Really glad we got to try it out - great way to use our last upgrade.

Great info Matt!
Thanks for your input.

Hey Matt! How about a trip report, or just some photo's of the trip/cat we unfortunately missed! I'm posting our UTAH report on the US site now, check it out! I'll get my sailing fix later this week, moving a boat from Charleston to Annapolis with a couple of the guys from the ARC trip. See ya!

Yes, I should put up at least some pictures. Traveling for work right now, but when I get back home I'll do that. Sorry you couldn't join us! Very different trip for us, but a blast!

Look forward to the photo's, safe travels!

Hi all, long time between posting here. We rented a Moorings 4000 in the BVIs in early May. In terms of sailing characteristics I would agree with Maytrix. Close hauled is not an easy point of sail for her at all. So much weather helm that if you lose focus you are dragged into irons and the only way to get out is to turn on the engines. If going up wind, stay 50-60 degrees off. Now I am definitely a novice sailor and fellow co-captain was the same so there may have been some tricks and sail trim adjustments that we could have done to make this easier. Tacking was also an adventure with many failed attempts and engine starts. My experience is you need to get as much speed and make that turn as fast as possible into and through the wind and then ease off the rudder (to about 20 degrees.) to allow her to gain speed. By the end of the week we were tacking like pros but it was a steep learning curve. We also had a constant battle with keeping the lines in the cockpit orderly. In my opinion they need some space on the port side of the helm for a winch and lines. Everyone I talked to, including a former Moorings captain with experience on them said the same thing..."they sail like a pig!".

Don't rent the 4000 for its sailing qualities, rent it for its Cruising qualities! And what awesome cruising qualities it has. An awesome boat to enjoy the sun, beach weather, company. galley was very large with an abundant amount of storage. I was astounded on how well the freezer and fridge worked. Put some gallon water jugs in it and it was frozen the next morning... and that was without a gen!

We liked the 4000 enough that we are renting two next June so that both my family and his can go down together. I will be getting the four cabin and my buddy will be getting the 3 cabin (I really liked the owners version.. the owners bathroom was awesome!)

To sum up, the mooring 4000 is a cruiser not a sailer. know what you are getting before you rent. At the end of the day we were sailing for about 2-4hours each day and relaxing, enjoying the other 20 hours so it was a good choice.

Just off the new 4000 in Greece. Marina Zea was lovely, the 4000 even more so. We enjoyed the Saronic Gulf a lot. Fine boat for three couples. would do it again unless price wasn't an issue, then maybe the 48'

I disagree with Uncle in the above post. Prio two charters were R&C 46 and 44' and I think the 40 did great. We had her tacking well at less than 60 into the wind easily. Will admit we used the iron genny the first time. but we weren't properly prepared. Following tacks were quick and proper, no back winding. She can be as good as the crew.

Uncle is correct, great cruising cat. And he's right that you spend more time motoring and relaxing than sailing. Still, a great boat.

Hope to update trip reports when back home. In Paris now after Athens stay.

Like I said, The difficulties we faced were probably a result of poor sail trim. The courtesy captain provided was less than helpful with sail trim tips. Did quickly learn that back winding the jib was not helping the situation with all the lines running to the starboard side of the helm and I agree with not needing to back wind the jib to tack once we got the rhythm down. In fact trying to back wind just messed things up further with the timing and all the lines running to the starboard side of the helm.

I am glade we agree on the cruising aspect of it! Can't wait until June 2017!

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