Hi Everyone,
Yachting Monthly have published this article on Freedoms built. I am disappointed with what was written about our boat - a Freedom 33 as I feel it is misrepresented as it was made in Cornwall, UK in 1989 and its sloop!
If anyone else has any comments on their Freedom - let me know and I will let YM know to put things straight!
2 pages attached. Let me know what you think!
Emma
Crossjack - Freedom 33
Well, there’s a lot to say about the article, and the first thing is that their research has not been very thorough, as can be expected for a short summation like this. There is obviously missing a lot. And Freedom is out of business for quite a while now. They should not have overlooked that fact.
What surprises me most, is the derogatory mention sentence ‘the accommodation is excellent although somewhat American in it’s layout’ of the F40. Being Dutch, and having seen lots of both US and UK built Freedoms inside and out, I can say without prejudice that the Americans have a much better feeling of how to layout heads and galleys; they are roomier and much more functional. And I must add that the American quality of workmanship is higher than the British.
I always found it odd that on my UK built F33/35ck they put the galley at the companionway and shoved the chart table almost into the forecabin. In the days we used paper charts and fixed VHFs at the chart table, I ran miles up and down the companionway to and fro to the chart table. In the last few UK built F33/35cks they corrected this and exchanged galley and chart table.
Agree, their research is pretty naff. I have been waiting ages for YM to get to the F’s - and therefore Freedoms and knew I would be disappointed.
Are there not also other Freedom yachts in the range - a F25, F30, F32 and F37? (pls correct me on this…)
Have to admit our Cornish F33 built boat was pretty well made in 1989, but havent seen any of the US built boats yet to compare it with. Actually I have only ever seen one other F33 in the UK (in Ramsgate about 4 years ago and it was a few years old than Crossjack), though there are other Freedoms around in the Solent which is definately good so we know we are not completely alone!
Emma
Crossjack F33, Southampton UK
Isn’t that the same “winter pic” that George posted of his boat a while back? I didn’t see any attribution for it, but I hope he at least got recognized in there somewhere.
I’m with y’all on the “sniffy” British arrogance dismissing the interior as “somewhat American”…so WHAT?? It’s an American BOAT…in fact, the logo was the same as that of the American Bi-Centennial…and we all know what THAT “freedom” represents, don’t we? I suppose that the Brit’s would have put the companionway on the left (the same way they drive), and had a coal stove and button-tufted dark green velvet upholstery as “standard”…along with horsehair stuffing in the cushions, perhaps.
Beyond that, the “archetypal” cat ketch (by MY definition of archetype) would have been the F40…not the later-built 33/35, and, unless the F-40’s have been cloning themselves, there aren’t “several hundred” of them anywhere. I own Hull #61, laid in 1981…Mark Edwards told me that #63 was the last one off the line.
John,
Let’s not forget YM is a British magazine, so not surprisingly the focus is on the UK built and sold Freedoms. All other models were imported from the US by individuals. Apart from the coal stove I disagree; the British layout and decoration is less luxurious than the American, so perhaps green upholstery with buttons, but with ‘economy’ fabric and filling. And you forgot to mention the paraffin cooker with toastmaker option.
Hi All,
What’s wrong with horse hair anyway - I always thought the bunks were a little scratchy!!
Putting aside which country is best (UK of course 
except for some magazine editors), I now know that in 1976 Freedom Yachts started with a Freedom 40 Cat Ketch. After that there appears to be a F-21, F-25, F-29, F-32, F-33 and F-44 so YM have clearly missed of a few. I just want to put the magazine straight, since if they write crap, any future owner will think Freedoms are crap - which of course we all know they are not.
I didnt want to start an international relations incident about who makes the best boats! Honest…
Emma
F33 Southampton, UK
I agree Emma, and apologise / apologize for contributing to the controversy. There must be an extensive list somewhere on this site or on the other one on Yahoo Groups with all the Freedom models and their building period and characteristics. I can add the F36 sloop, F38 sloop (F36 with sugarscoop transom), the F39 pilothouse schooner and the F39 Express ketch. There is also an F65 three mast schooner, Kriter Lady II, an Ostar entrant. And there seems to be a design for a Freedom 50’ catketch with 15 m3 cargo hold between the masts.
Hey! They published my photo of our boat without permission! Freakin’ internet pirates!
George
Emma, you would be a complete darling if you could snag a copy of that magazine for us. It’s only the second time I’ve been published, credit or no.
And… I’m afraid to even tell you what color our upholstery is! heh heh I saw the picture and freaqued out before I read anyone else’s responses. Good catch John.
Michel, I didn’t know you were Dutch, your English is much better than mine so that should have been a clue. You make my fifth Dutch friend and all of you sailors!
George
George,
Green buttoned upholstery is nice! sure makes you feel as if you are in a stage coach. My next upholstery will be royal blue with embroidered gold French lillies and matching buttons every 4 inches. 
Thanks for complimenting on my use of English, but I feel I still have to learn a lot more of the finesses. E.g. the correct use of someone, somebody, anyone and anybody keeps on puzzling me. I searched for a language guide on this, but haven’t found one yet.
Hello Again,
George - Happy to grab a copy of the magazine for you (if you can put up with our arrogant English mag editors).
Michel - great upholstery choice, just suggest you keep the lights low at all times 
and your English is perfect! Veel dan beter mijn Nederlands!
Copyright - think I am playing with fire scanning in their article to start with, but should I get round to complaining about their article (and its looking more complicated with each post!) I will mention there is an angry boat owner in the US looking for some compensation…and more importantly a bunch of Americans who have taken great exception to certain comments relating to Freedoms that are “somewhat American in their layout” - whatever that means!
Seems like we may have a list of all the Freedoms which is a great start. Now I just need a pic of each to send them as well?!
Great forum by the way…its fantastic there are so many like minded souls out there!
Emma
F33 Crossjack VI - Southampton, UK
I’m not a copyright attorney (or any other kind), but I think that once George put that photo out on the internet (here) without a copyright mark on it, the photo became fair game for anyone else to claim and/or use…in fact…methinks that the MAGAZINE now holds copyright on his work.
My “horsehair” banter, etc was intended to be “all in good fun”…sorry if I offended anyone. We colonists sometimes forget our place.
Michel…don’t look HERE for improvement in your (already good English)…there’s no hope for us, as we reside in a country where the “football field” is an acceptable unit of measurement…as in “That aircraft carrier is over three football fields long”.
Oh my goodness, I am so far from angry. Life is way too short.
Thanks Emma, I’m sending you our snail mail address. Happy to pay for postage and price of the magazine of course.
Michel, If you can get a copy of “Strunk and White” it answers all questions. 
I’m also emailing Lord Strathcarron who cruises the Freedom 40 “Vasco de Gamma” and see what his take is on all this… heh heh! I mean I wonder if he realizes how very “American” his interior is? 
If that doesn’t get the magazine editor’s nose to drop to the point where he is not looking down it at us, then I suppose it’s a lost cause, and I don’t bother with lost causes unless they are noble ones.
Life is so short…
George
George, thanks for the suggestion of Elements of Style of Strunk&White. Sounds fun.
Hey Emma, you speak Dutch! Where did you pick that up? Or did you have Google translate a sentence for you?
If you look in the documentation section on this board, you can find a lot of material, including photo’s of many Freedom models. I am mostly into the two-mast Freedoms and have collected material since some 15 years, so I could supply photo’s of most of the ketches and schooners.
Here’s the only photo I ever found of the Kriter Lady II. It was built by Freedom UK; it bears the official Freedom sail logo. This is not the boat sailed in the OSTAR 1980 by Naomi James, that was Kriter Lady. Kriter is a Champagne brand and sponsored several race yachts in the 70s and 80s. I could not find for which race Kriter Lady II was built, who sailed it and if it was successful. I vaguely recollect that there were wishbone problems that ended a race prematurely. Not sure if that was an OSTAR. any info on this is appreciated.
Wow what a picture. I wonder where she is now?
Sorry Michel - I dont speak Dutch…cant you tell!!
I have started to think of a suitable response to YM and I may even use that image to get them going a bit. I do think that Freedoms need a bit of promoting as the UK magazines spend their time going on about Moody’s and Sigmas etc and Freedoms NEVER get a mention.
Since Mike Golding hired Crossjack twice in the last 2 years (as he couldnt get his Ecover Open 60 up the Beaulieu River), its clear that Freedoms are just awesome boats so we just need to tell everyone!
Emma,
I have tried to uncover facts on Kriter Lady II and on the Freedom Freighter (with the cargo hold) since about ten years but there is nothing to find. Perhaps your acquaintance Mike Golding (wow, that you know him; he’s one of the gods!) can dig up something about Kriter Lady II.
Some really sloppy proof reading here, too! Just look at the dimensions of the F33/35, with a waterline longer than the LOA; there must be a dimensional twist in there if it’s true. Everyone seems to have a different value for the draught with centerboard lowered; I’ve seen everything from 1.8 to 2.2m. Does anyone know what it really should be?
In their centenary edition, I think, they produced a “Hundred Best Boats” supplement, which included the F35, with a nice, but tiny , picture of Castaway, so they aren’t always scathing about Freedoms. Castaway made the cover of YM once, when the PO wrote about an Atlantic knock down (it was only published after he had sold it to us!).
Gerald
Gerald, I measured it once when my UK built F33/35ck ‘Tumlare’ was on the hard. Total draft was 2.3 m or 7.5’ . Don’t know it’s the same on the US built F33s.
Gerald, I would be interested to read this article on the knockdown; do you have a copy of it?
Attached is a paragraph from the home page of Eric Sponberg’s website re. The three-masted Freedom. His website is ericsponbergyachtdesign.com
In March, 1980, Eric joined Tillotson-Pearson Inc. (TPI) of Warren, RI, as a staff engineer, responsible primarily for the production engineering of fiberglass windmill blades that TPI was building for US Windpower. At that time, TPI was also building Freedom Yachts, J-Boats, and Alden Yachts. By July of that year, TPI named Eric their Chief Engineer, and at that time, Freedom Yachts were undergoing a redesign of their free-standing masts from aluminum to carbon fiber. Eric carried on that effort which culminated in the three 65’-tall carbon fiber free-standing masts for Garry Hoyt’s 70’ Freedom schooner Kriter Lady II, intended for the 1981 Two-handed Transatlantic Race and that year’s Whitbread Round-the-World Race. At that time, and for many years afterward, Kriter Lady II’s masts were the tallest and strongest free-standing masts in the world. Eric has been one of the primary advocates of free-standing rigs ever since, and his latest designs, such as for the Freedom 38 Wobegon Daze, can be seen in the FREE-STANDING MASTS section.
– a friend passed this info on to me. He’s also a friend of Sponberg, and has e-mailed him to try to find out a bit more.
Tom
I was talking to someone who said he was connected with Freedom in the UK towards the end. He claims that one of the three masted boats sat unused for a very long time and I believe he said there was a lot of rot in it (built as glass over ply or something like that), which pretty much meant that it was a write off. But I don’t know if he really knew or was just blowing hot air…