Freedom Yachts

[Mule]

Are Freedom Yachts considered high quality, long life and tough? I have ask about new vs old on here and got great answers and I have pretty well been converted to higher quality and older vs newer. I have not heard any comments concerning Freedom. I did a search and only found 1 worthwhile post.

What do you guys know? Do they sail well?

[LeftRoamin]

I cruised on Freedom 39 Cat-Ketch for two months out of Annapolis from Nov. 07- Jan. '08 and enjoyed the boat very much. I think it was a 1985 Model (not the Wishbone boom). Very user friendly for single-handed sailing too.

Have you read this piece?

Live Aboard 9910: RE: lv-ab: Freedom cat rigged ketch

[jdoe71]

Geoff Schultz has cruised extensively in a Freedom 40/40, has a really good blog at
Geoff Schultz's BlueJacket Sailing Site

Also try:
FreedomYachts.org • Index page

[gbanker]

Freedoms are one of the better built sailboats. I believe they are cored and if so you want a good survey of possible delamination.

check out: Boats.com - Boat Review/Test: Perry Design Review: Freedom 45
Freedom 33 - Is it really an ocean crosser? - Boat Design Forums.

Practical Sailor also has reviews on the Freedom 30 - 36 models.

[gonesail]

the 44 looks really nice to me:

[speedoo]

If you like the idea of a free standing spar and one big mainsail for ease of handling, you should also check out the Nonsuch 30 and 36. Excellent coastal cruising boats with a lot of room below due to the max beam being carried well forward and aft, but kind of pricey.

[Cheechako]

They are reputed to be well built and fast except into the wind. They would surely sail as wellinto the wind as a cat though I would think.... Gentlemen never sail to weather anyway!

[speedoo]

And to try to answer the question about how Freedoms sail, my impression is that most, if not all of their models feature fin keels and spade rudders, relatively flat bottoms, long waterlines and low wetted surface so they are relatively fast and probably point high.

I think they were built at Tillotson-Pearson in Rhode Island, which is the builder of all the J-boats, which are also cored with balsa throughout the hull and deck. I think a cored boat built by Tillotson-Pearson can be assumed to have been built very well with a lot of toughness and far less probablility of core problems than most builders... they have probably built more cored boats than any other current builder in the world.

[Abaco]

Gonesail,

That Freedom 44 is in a marina near my house. I job by that boat everymorning and there usually an orange cat hanging out on the bowsprit. It's been on the market for 6 or 7 years.

[Cheechako]

I paced a 44 in Puget Sound some years ago with my Tanton 44 cutter. (The Tanton has a 38 or 39 foot waterline.) We were both working our way upwind for a couple of hours into a light chop and about 15-18 knots of wind. My Tanton was under a 110% high cut lapper. He was not quite up to the task to windward, but flew along well when he cracked off a bit. Pretty similar to my experience with my 42 Catamaran against a Perry designed 48 mono my friends owned. The cat got to the windward destination just a little late but was marginally competitive. The newer Freedoms with the little jib are likely better to weather. I love the simplicity of these boats, "just turn the wheel where you want to go", low upkeep (little wood outside, no rigging) etc. You dont see many... but they seem to maintain a high price.... not sure that makes sense!

[Curmudgeon]

Freedom makes a sloop with a self-tending jib as well as a cat ketch, do they not?

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by speedoo

And to try to answer the question about how Freedoms sail, my impression is that most, if not all of their models feature fin keels and spade rudders, relatively flat bottoms, long waterlines and low wetted surface so they are relatively fast and probably point high.

I think they were built at Tillotson-Pearson in Rhode Island, which is the builder of all the J-boats, which are also cored with balsa throughout the hull and deck. I think a cored boat built by Tillotson-Pearson can be assumed to have been built very well with a lot of toughness and far less probablility of core problems than most builders... they have probably built more cored boats than any other current builder in the world.

Are you kidding, dont confuse quantity with quality, J boats are a very poor example of cored construction, i would sure hope that they did a better job with the freedoms,I wouldnt dispute that TP are capable of building a good cored hull if the customer watches them like a hawk, or is willing to pay for it.I have seen a survey on a Freedom 39 where the core was very bad,a potential customer was looking to buy it and have us recore it but he couldnt make the numbers work, i really like some of the older boats such as the 33 Bob Perry did a really bad writeup on its sailing qualities.
Steve.

[speedoo]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

Are you kidding, dont confuse quantity with quality, J boats are a very poor example of cored construction, i would sure hope that they did a better job with the freedoms,I wouldnt dispute that TP are capable of building a good cored hull if the customer watches them like a hawk, or is willing to pay for it.I have seen a survey on a Freedom 39 where the core was very bad,a potential customer was looking to buy it and have us recore it but he couldnt make the numbers work, i really like some of the older boats such as the 33 Bob Perry did a really bad writeup on its sailing qualities.
Steve.

Steve, I'm not confusing anything. I owned a J-24 for more than ten years and raced it hard. The hull was very stiff and tough... never any flexing or oil canning. I never had any problems with mine and never heard of any problems with the cored hulls and deck from any of the hundreds of J-24's I competed with. That Class was and probably still is as competitive as any one design class so the sailors push their boats hard.

And I doubt very much that J-Boats would be as successful as they are if the boats were not well built.

[r.furborough]

Freedoms sail very well, is there a particular model you are interested in?

[clockwork orange]

Speedoo, the j24s in fact most small boats with few hull penetrations have less core issues in the hulls than larger boats but have lots of deck rot problems,i would have to say that 100% of the local j24s have wet decks. I have done a lot of recoring on the hulls of both of the local J35s so have had the opportunity to see how they were built and i can tell you that they did almost everything poorly,its like they were trying to make them not last and yet they have despite everything,there are many many many boats out there happily sailing with wet if not rotten cores with owners who are completely oblivious to the fact. Im sorry if i offended you but unless you have had one of these things cut open and actually have the knowlege to know what you are looking at you dont know what you are talking about. The reason j boats have been so sucessful has nothing to do with their build quality, the J35 is probably one of the best raceboat DESIGNS of that size ever, they cant even better it themselves,its still a POS.
Now TP built some of the Deerfoots or Sundeers and while i have never inspected one i doubt if Steve Dashew would have allowed them to build crap for him,its possible the Freedoms are of better quality than the Js,i just dont know from personal experience.
Steve.