Moorings 51.5 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design Brief & Intent 5 4

The core mission of the Moorings 51.5 was to provide a stable, high-volume platform that could comfortably house up to nine guests and crew while withstanding the near-continuous use of bareboat chartering. Compared to other 50-footers of its era—such as the premium Beneteau Oceanis 50 or the Beneteau 523, which featured highly refined, owner-centric interiors with rich, heavy joinery—the Moorings 51.5 prioritized raw utility and space efficiency. It was built to compete directly with high-volume production cruisers from manufacturers like Bavaria and Hunter, offering superior structural longevity and ease of system access.

The interior layout reflects this pragmatic approach. The salon is situated in the widest part of the hull, utilizing a massive 16-foot beam to provide a straight galley along the port side and an expansive U-shaped dinette opposite 5. The choice of materials highlights its commercial pedigree: low-maintenance laminate cabin soles that resist scratches and water damage, simple Moabi hardwood trim, and smooth fiberglass headliners that are easy to wipe down. Rather than the dark, enclosed feel of traditional bluewater cruisers, the salon is bright and airy, flooded with light from five opening ports and dual overhead hatches.

Crucially, the entire accommodation plan was conceived with future private conversion in mind. The two forward cabins were engineered with a removable centerline bulkhead, allowing a future owner to easily convert the forward double cabins into a single, luxurious master suite once the vessel was phased out of charter service.

Variations & Configurations 6

Unlike its commercial sibling, the Beneteau Cyclades 51.5, which was typically offered with a standard masthead sloop rig and a traditional fin keel, the Moorings 51.5 was customized specifically for fleet operations. The Moorings variant was built with a more powerful fractional sloop rig, featuring two sets of swept spreaders and a larger total sail area of 1,184 square feet compared to the Cyclades' 1,090 square feet. This fractional configuration allows for a more adjustable sail plan and easier depowering of the mainsail when the trade winds pipe up.

The underwater profile also differs. While the Cyclades utilized a standard deep fin keel, the Moorings 51.5 was fitted with a fixed fin keel featuring a heavily weighted bulb. This bulb keel concentrates ballast lower in the water, offering a draft of 6.58 feet. This design choice provides a sensible compromise between sailing performance and the ability to navigate shallow, sandy anchorage zones in the Caribbean and Bahamas.

In terms of interior layouts, the Moorings 51.5 was uniform in its four-cabin, four-head arrangement, supplemented by a dedicated crew cabin in the bow. This layout is highly symmetrical, with mirror-image double cabins aft and forward of the salon. In contrast, the Cyclades was occasionally sold to private buyers in three-cabin configurations that prioritized a dedicated master stateroom from the factory.

Sailing Performance & Handling

The hull of the Moorings 51.5 has an exceptionally low displacement-to-length ratio of 109.28, which speaks to its modern, light-displacement hull form. This lightweight profile, combined with a long waterline length of nearly 50 feet, allows the yacht to slip through the water with minimal resistance and easily approach its theoretical hull speed of nearly 9.5 knots. With a sail area-to-displacement ratio of 18.32, the fractional rig delivers plenty of power to drive the massive, beam-rich hull, ensuring surprisingly spirited performance in light-to-moderate air.

However, the boat's comfort ratio of 23.12 is on the lower side for a 51-foot offshore cruiser. This lower rating is a physical consequence of its wide, flat-bottomed hull shape, which carries its 16-foot beam well aft to maximize cockpit and cabin space 5. While this design provides incredible initial stability and keeps the boat flat in moderate breezes, it produces a quicker, more active motion in a heavy seaway. Going to windward in a chop, the boat may slam occasionally rather than slice, which can be fatiguing on long offshore passages. This characteristic is reinforced by its capsize screening ratio of 2.06, which sits slightly above the traditional ocean-passage threshold of 2.0. This confirms that the design was prioritized for tropical trade winds, coastal cruising, and island hopping rather than high-latitude storm survival.

At the helm, the dual steering wheels offer excellent visibility and easy passage to the walkthrough transom. Operating the boat shorthanded is remarkably straightforward; the primary jib winches are positioned on the cockpit coamings just forward of the helms, allowing a single watchkeeper to tack and trim without leaving the wheel. The fixed centerline table in the cockpit provides a sturdy foot brace when the boat is heeled.

Market Snapshot & Economics 3

Because the Moorings 51.5 was built exclusively for fleet operations, nearly every specimen available on the brokerage market today has a history of high-utilization charter service. Consequently, these boats trade at a significant value discount relative to private-owner models of the same era, such as the Beneteau Oceanis line. For buyers seeking the maximum volume per dollar, the 51.5 is highly attractive, but it comes with a built-in charter tax in the form of deferred maintenance.

Buyers must look past the cosmetics and evaluate the vessel on its structural and mechanical integrity. A thorough refit budget is essential, as elements like the standing rigging, sails, gelcoat, and interior soft goods are likely near the end of their operational lifespans if they have not already been replaced. However, for those willing to invest in a systematic refit, the Moorings 51.5 offers a highly economical path to acquiring a capable, 50-foot cruising yacht.

Known Issues & Triage 5

Operating five heads and five independent holding tanks represents a significant plumbing challenge. In the charter configuration, each cabin features its own marine toilet, and there is an additional manual head in the bow crew quarters. The holding tanks are located in lockers outboard of each head, which makes them easier to access than under-floor tanks, but old sanitation hoses are highly prone to permeation and calcification. Triage usually involves replacing the original sanitation hoses with premium, odor-free hose and replacing or rebuilding the manual flush pumps.

A much more critical area for investigation is the structural matrix or grid bonded to the hull. In charter fleets, groundings are common, and the impact forces are often absorbed by the solid fiberglass laminate near the keel attachment points. A marine surveyor must perform detailed hammer-sounding tests along the bilge to ensure there is no delamination or separation between the structural grid and the hull skin, particularly around the keel bolts.

Additionally, water intrusion can occur around the forward crew cabin hatch and the chain locker bulkhead. If the seals fail, rainwater or deck wash can seep into the bow compartment, causing mold or damage to the forward structural bulkheads. Mechanically, the robust 100-horsepower Yanmar engine must be checked for signs of excessive idling, a common practice on charter vessels used to charge batteries. This can lead to carbon buildup in the turbocharger, clogged exhaust elbows, and scaling within the heat exchangers.

Modernization & Upgrades

Modern owners of the Moorings 51.5 are transforming these former charter workhorses into highly capable long-term cruisers. The most common and impactful upgrade is a total overhaul of the electrical system. Replacing the traditional lead-acid or AGM house banks with a high-capacity Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery system is highly recommended. Because the boat features massive refrigeration and freezer space, a robust lithium bank allows owners to run these appliances, and even cabin air conditioning, without the need to run an auxiliary generator for hours on end.

To charge these modern battery banks, owners take advantage of the vessel's wide transom and robust cockpit bimini frame. By mounting custom stainless steel arches or reinforcing the existing bimini structure, it is possible to install high-yield solar arrays.

Furthermore, private owners frequently choose to simplify the boat's interior layout. Because maintaining five marine heads is a chore, a popular modernization involves permanently decommissioning the forward crew cabin head and one of the guest heads, converting those spaces into utility lockers, workshops, or dry pantries. Some owners also permanently remove the centerline divider in the forward cabins to create a single, expansive owner's stateroom, fulfilling the design's original conversion brief.