Posted by reedjayt2004 (reedjayt@…>)
I’m considering purchasing a Freedom 35 and the layout is perfect
for my wife, our 115 LB tall lab. and I. I’ve done a lot of
sailing, but have never sailed a Freedom rig. I’m somewhat
apprehensive and would appreciate any information you could give on
the positive and negative aspects of the rig.
Posted by Michael Katz (mgsb@…>)
I’m relatively new to Freedom–bought my 38 this year, and have only sailed one season. But I have owned two previous sloops, and have chartered 25 other sailboats–including a Freedom 35 down in the BVI a few years ago. I think the Freedom rig is fantastic, and would be hard pressed to go back to a traditional sloop with a big genoa. There is nothing like tacking by simply turning the wheel. We have often seen other boats motoring into a 15 kt breeze headed in the same direction we are going, and yet we sail and tack our butts off with little effort. The huge main generates plenty of power, and going downwind is great with a jib that has a wishbone in it for shape. For example, wing and wing is very easy, and the Freedom does not “accidentally” jibe–unless your stern goes way across the wind.
(I have no desire for a spinnaker of any type, but understand you can rig one if you like.)
Most important my wife loves the boat–especially the rig. She was really impressed by our ability to toss a piece of bread in the water, hold the wheel hard over, and do a circle, coming back to the exact place where we started–and pick the slice of bread up from the transom swim platform! It is really a slick maneuver, and I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t done it myself. The boat will just keep circling, slower and slower each time. It makes me feel confidant that I could pick someone up if they fell overboard.
Downside to the rig? Can’t heave-to in the traditional way. Worth the trade off.
Michael Katz
----- Original Message -----
From: reedjayt2004
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 8:21 AM
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Freedom 35 help
I’m considering purchasing a Freedom 35 and the layout is perfect for my wife, our 115 LB tall lab. and I. I’ve done a lot of sailing, but have never sailed a Freedom rig. I’m somewhat apprehensive and would appreciate any information you could give on the positive and negative aspects of the rig.
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Posted by svrosebosco (svrosebosco@…>)
Great boats from the 35 to 38 range!
We really appreciate the walk thru transom since we sail with three
dogs. Makes life easy for the late/early morning trips.
As with the previous post, close quarters sailing is an ease and
tacking with ease is one of the better features of this line.
Email direct with any specific F35 questions.
Pete F35 #74
Posted by lemonsbgi (sklklemon@…>)
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “reedjayt2004”
<reedjayt@h…> wrote:
I’m considering purchasing a Freedom 35 and the layout is perfect
for my wife, our 115 LB tall lab. and I. I’ve done a lot of
sailing, but have never sailed a Freedom rig. I’m somewhat
apprehensive and would appreciate any information you could give on
the positive and negative aspects of the rig.
We have 40/40 hull 21, that was in the BVI for 3 years and is now in
Santa Barbara. The 35 is a similar rig. Previously I owned/raced a J-
35 for 12 years. We love the Freedom, but you need to have realistic
expectations. The rig doesn’t point all that well, but on a beam
reach it is a “rocket truck”. The ease of tacking can’t be beat, but
after 7 years we decided to give up the camberspar to clear the
foredeck. Installed a Schafer 3100 furler, but with a cabin top track
to keep the self tacking. Blocks on the rail and combing winches were
needed to maintain sail shape off the wind, but you don’t tack back
and forth much when off the wind so it hasn’t been a problem. We
replaced the original main design with a radial cut spectra main and
6 battens. This gives even more roach than before, helps performance,
but needs to be reefed a little earlier. The mast will outlive me. I
talked to Goetz Marine about the mast structure when considering
whether to rig a masthead asymmetric. I don’t think you can break the
rig without a very very concerted effort. We decided to keep the
fractional asymmetric configuration simply because I quit all that
racing foolishness several years ago. The boom supplier for my boat
in 1996 was Charlston Spars. At least on the 40/40 the boom is not
the best designed structure. I have blown apart two separate
mainsheet padeyes on the bottom of the boom (but I admit that we
occasionally sail hard). If your boom was built by a different
supplier it might be better. This year I will add doublers to the
boom midsection and change to three boom bales for the mainsheet. All
in all I am very happy with the Freedom. It will not outsail a J-35,
but it sure takes less effort. Stephen Lemon
Posted by Mark&Peg (lzranch@…>)
Michael Katz summed it up very well. It’s hard to go wrong with the
F35. She’s a wonderful boat. We sailed a Tartan 28 for a number of
years and when it came time to upgrade we looked a larger Tartans but
settled on the F35, primarily because of the rig. We’ve only had her
part of one season but spent a week on her at the end of last summer
and had a great time. The rig makes the boat a joy to sail. It’s really
effortless sailing, with no more Chinese fire drills in the cockpit
during tacks. She’s not as fast close to the wind as a boat with a big
Genoa but put up the cruising spinnaker and she’ll keep up with the
best of them. If you like changing head sails, cranking on winches and
worrying about the tension on your mast stays, then the F35 isn’t for
you. For short handed sailing the rig is hard to beat. Best of luck.
Mark & Peg
F35 FreeRadical
On Jan 9, 2004, at 7:21 AM, reedjayt2004 wrote:
I’m considering purchasing a Freedom 35 and the layout is perfect
for my wife, our 115 LB tall lab. and I. I’ve done a lot of
sailing, but have never sailed a Freedom rig. I’m somewhat
apprehensive and would appreciate any information you could give on
the positive and negative aspects of the rig.Yahoo! Groups Links
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freedomyachts2003/To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
freedomyachts2003-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.comYour use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/