Looking for some help with a F25

[mpahl]

I'm considering purchasing a F25. It would be my first "big" boat, moving up from a 14' dinghy sailor. The boat I am considering is in rough shape, but it's cheap, and most boats in the price range I'm considering are not pristine.

I'm really attracted to the F25 because it has all the things I need in a boat (a bit of space and comfort and some stability) and I like the idea of having a boat that's really easy to single-hand as my wife has an insane schedule and I'll get a lot more sailing done if I'm comfortable sailing alone. I also like the simplicity of the rig and the extra headroom in the cockpit...

The boat I'm looking at has been out of the water since 2006, it's a wingmast with an inboard engine. The engine is running nicely and has a nice folding prop. The rest of the boat has some issues: at some point the portlights were leaking and some of the interior woodwork began to decay. The leak was fixed, but the woodwork never was, so it's not getting worse, but there's a fair bit of black water damage on the interior woodwork. The interior is kind of trashed, but not gutted. The cushions are dingy, but look like they're serviceable. The whole deck was stripped for painting- the painting was done and looks good but the fixtures were never replaced. It looks like they're all there, but I have no way of knowing for sure. The sails look well used, but I haven't seen them in person yet- the main appears to have two patches, and the spinnaker has some tears that look repairable along with some old patching.

I'm going to look at the boat in person next sunday, cash in hand, and my problem is that I'm not sure how to decide whether to buy the boat. The asking price is $1500, and I'm sure the boat is worth that, but I don't have a ton of money to sink into getting it going I'm going to be buying a boat, and I'm not gonna be spending much more than 1500 to do it. For that price, I could find a good, but not especially nice, generic fiberglass sloop in slightly better shape than this F25. I'd still be buying an old boat, and it'd still be imperfect and need some TLC. My question is, should I be especially afraid of the extra work that this boat would require- refitting of all the deck hardware, a bit of woodwork inside, a more thorough cleaning than other boats would need, new running rigging, and some sail repair.

For what it's worth, I'm reasonably handy and would do everything but the sail repair myself. And I know a lot of people shy away from the inboard, but I'm more comfortable with a small diesel than I would be with an outboard- diesel engine work is my thing and I feel more comfortable taking care of that than for any other part of the boat.

I suppose my questions are: Is a F25 going to be more difficult and costly to maintain than a more generic sloop in similar or slightly better condition? Is a sail that's been used and has a couple patches necessarily near the end of it's lifespan? I don't have the $$$ for new sails right now. Anyone care to offer any particular insight that would be of value for a first-time boat buyer?

[CrazyRU]

If you are looking at the boat in Catkills, NY region then the boat is a toast. I did inspect the boat for my friend. It is sad to see Freedom in such shape. Besides rotted interior, missing hardware, boat has massive hull core delamination problems. It can be completely gutted and rebuild, however, price will be high. I'd expect just material cost will be around $4000, and couple of years of weekend labor.
It has some structural problem with a keel too - it seems like there was some keel movement - fiberglass around it all broken and cracked.
Engine looks nice
My advise to skip this particular Freedom, and look for another one, albeit If I didn't have one project boat on hands already, I'd grab this one.

[mpahl]

Thanks for that. It is indeed the boat I was planning to look at, and I might not have been able to spot a hull delam problem. For future reference, how do you identify core problems? Just tapping the hull and listening for dead sounds? Or is it more apparent than that?

It's a shame about that boat- I was getting really excited about a Freedom... If anyone knows of any other Freedoms, 25 or larger, that are cheap and serviceable, let me know... And if anyone who is interested in this boat wants contact info or pictures, also let me know...

Thanks...

[CrazyRU]

Freedom used pretty thick fiberglass on outside and thinner, but still thick fiberglass on inside.
Sometimes there is no apparent signs of delamination. If there is some curvature in fiberglass, such as on a side of a hull, sandwich may be delaminated, however outside skin is strong and may not show any visible signs, such as cracks.
I tapped the hull, it sounded dull in many places. Also all deck hardware on this boat was removed and balsa core in holes was exposed to weather. Basically, boat was standing and collecting water for many years.

[harv17]

I have a boat for sale. Altho' I'm asking more money than you've indicated, it's a boat well equipped and ready to sail imediatly. Looking for bargains are what you get, trouble. If you want to go sailing then you have to spend more, unless you have the time to spend fixing up something. It takes know-how to fix and get ready to go sailing.
My F-25 has none of those problems and when I say it's ready to sail, I mean it.

Just find my previous posts that have the spec sheets and see what I mean it's ready. Other wise buy some thing that will give you pleasure.

Don't take my word for it, just read some of the posts that people have bought boats and the follow ups where they are looking for help and information. Also spending a lot of money rebuilding old engines and buying sails.

That all that I have to say, the rant is over!!!

Harv, Invicta II, F-25

[yarrow]

I've started a new blog about the work on my F25.
blog:
www.freedom25yacht.blogspot.com
just started but hope to document work on my boat and be a tool for people to relate and learn from