Questions about F36/38 performance, stability
Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 10:26 am
Hello,
My wife and I are considering purchasing a Freedom 36. Prior to looking at this one, we had no familiarity at all with the model so I have been scouring the Internet for information. We're impressed with the layout and build quality and we've heard a lot of favorable things about handling and general performance.
Our remaining questions are mainly about sailing comfort factors and windward performance. On this board and others it is pretty broadly acknowledged that the F36 isn't at its best close on the wind, and I have seen some reviews that suggest it doesn't do particularly well in light winds. Here in the Pacific Northwest, a whole lot of our sailing is done going upwind in light winds, so I am looking for some real-world feedback on exactly how high the boat points and what the minimum windspeed is that you can sail in. The broker says it will point to forty-five degrees and make no leeway, but, well, it's the broker talking.
I'm also curious about pointing in higher winds. We also do a lot of sailing on lee shores up here, so I also want to know how practical it is to work to windward when the windspeed picks up. A lot of people just motor, but we really like to sail, and want a boat that can safely work off a lee shore without resorting to the iron genny. Is the Freedom 36 that sort of boat?
Finally, my wife gets seasick fairly easily. We have seen at least one comment that this model can be "rolly" and when I look at the plots for the roll period, comfort factor, and lateral acceleration (http://svbreakaway.info/bd/ShowPlotsGoD.html) they seem to confirm that... the F36 looks like it has a pretty high initial stability, but would tend to roll more, and more violently, than comparably sized boats when it gets going. This might be of no consequence to more experienced sailors but we're concerned that it's going to make life very uncomfortable in a seaway for us. The capsize ratio, coming in over the golden "2" is also a little bit of a worry, since that's often considered the cut-off for off-shore safety, and we do plan to be out in open ocean at some point with this vessel.
The broker is saying that the stability and comfort are similar to other comparable sized cruisers, such as the Catalina 36. It certainly doesn't look like it based on the numbers but I don't want to make my judgment just based on paper. My hope is that those numbers are just numbers, and that there is something about the unconventional design of the Freedom that makes those motion and stability formulas irrelevant for these boats. But I don't know enough about how they are derived to figure that out, so I am hoping to get some information from actual owners.
I've already gone through many of the threads here; the ones on storm tactics and knockdowns were particularly helpful. I'm particularly interested in real numbers, if you happen to have them; how high can you point, what does your boat speed look like in x knots, what is your roll period when in a beam sea? How difficult is it to get forward in that big cabin to use the head in eight or ten foot seas? What do you do for sea berths? What's the lowest wind speed that you are able to sail in?
Thanks!
My wife and I are considering purchasing a Freedom 36. Prior to looking at this one, we had no familiarity at all with the model so I have been scouring the Internet for information. We're impressed with the layout and build quality and we've heard a lot of favorable things about handling and general performance.
Our remaining questions are mainly about sailing comfort factors and windward performance. On this board and others it is pretty broadly acknowledged that the F36 isn't at its best close on the wind, and I have seen some reviews that suggest it doesn't do particularly well in light winds. Here in the Pacific Northwest, a whole lot of our sailing is done going upwind in light winds, so I am looking for some real-world feedback on exactly how high the boat points and what the minimum windspeed is that you can sail in. The broker says it will point to forty-five degrees and make no leeway, but, well, it's the broker talking.
I'm also curious about pointing in higher winds. We also do a lot of sailing on lee shores up here, so I also want to know how practical it is to work to windward when the windspeed picks up. A lot of people just motor, but we really like to sail, and want a boat that can safely work off a lee shore without resorting to the iron genny. Is the Freedom 36 that sort of boat?
Finally, my wife gets seasick fairly easily. We have seen at least one comment that this model can be "rolly" and when I look at the plots for the roll period, comfort factor, and lateral acceleration (http://svbreakaway.info/bd/ShowPlotsGoD.html) they seem to confirm that... the F36 looks like it has a pretty high initial stability, but would tend to roll more, and more violently, than comparably sized boats when it gets going. This might be of no consequence to more experienced sailors but we're concerned that it's going to make life very uncomfortable in a seaway for us. The capsize ratio, coming in over the golden "2" is also a little bit of a worry, since that's often considered the cut-off for off-shore safety, and we do plan to be out in open ocean at some point with this vessel.
The broker is saying that the stability and comfort are similar to other comparable sized cruisers, such as the Catalina 36. It certainly doesn't look like it based on the numbers but I don't want to make my judgment just based on paper. My hope is that those numbers are just numbers, and that there is something about the unconventional design of the Freedom that makes those motion and stability formulas irrelevant for these boats. But I don't know enough about how they are derived to figure that out, so I am hoping to get some information from actual owners.
I've already gone through many of the threads here; the ones on storm tactics and knockdowns were particularly helpful. I'm particularly interested in real numbers, if you happen to have them; how high can you point, what does your boat speed look like in x knots, what is your roll period when in a beam sea? How difficult is it to get forward in that big cabin to use the head in eight or ten foot seas? What do you do for sea berths? What's the lowest wind speed that you are able to sail in?
Thanks!