I am Pieter, and I joined this platform because I hope to buy a Freedom 40 CC named “Gazella”. It is located in Greece and has been up for sale quite a while (2 years…). They started with an asking price of around 50.000 Euro, and are now asking 37.500, which might still be too much. It has the original Aluminium masts, now 42 years old, and the original 42 years old wrap-around sails. The engine is old too
My question to you all:
has anyone viewed this boat, or know more about it?
what are specifics I have to watch out for? Obviously the masts need to be inspected carefully, but what about hull/decks/cabins/rudder/steering?
I do not even know whether this F40 has a centreboard… There is 1 post on this platform from the (original) owner of Gazella (Geligert), where he stated that his boat is " hull number 9, built in Ramsey, Isle of Man in 1980", so maybe someone can tell me some specifics based on that…
I almost went and had a look at this boat. The broker was quite helpful and shared some additional photos and video, you might be able to get an old survey from him.
I didn’t like the collars around the masts. The ad said it would come with a new set of sails.
Best of luck,
Indeed I now have an old survey (april 2023) which is pretty devastating… but I am still interested. It does pose an interesting question though: the report states that the hull is solid fibreglass - is that possible? Have the UK build Freedom 40’s been build with a solid fibreglass hull? The report does not mention a centerboard, and it does mention bold-on lead ballast - so I guess this is a version without centerboard.
Furthermore it mentiones widespread osmosis, although a accurate measurement could not be done due to the antifouling (?). If the hull is solid fibreglass I guess osmosis does not matter all that much, but it does have great impact on the value.
All in all: engine worn and tired, masts old, effectively no sails, osmosis, and all portlights apparently brittle. The boat has been on the hard since early 2019 (I checked on google earth), and baking in the greek sun ever since… and looks like it.
I would say most certainly not worth the 37.5K asking price, potentially a money pit - but I still like her (damn!)
For information, my UK Freedom 21 has a solid fibreglass hull and decks, when I think other 21s are all cored, including one built in Ireland. So it is possible the 40 is as well.
Mine is definitely balsa cored, down I don’t quite know how deep, but was made in USA so maybe different.
Gazella definitely is center board. One of the photos I pulled shows winch.
I really liked her too. If I hadn’t found mine I would have made an offer and accepted that there would be costs. But, as the saying goes, no such thing as a cheap boat…
Thanks for the info on the centerboard… I will make an appointment to visit Gazella: the impression is that the survey report was very one-sided and maybe not all that professional, so I will have to see for myself.
One question regarding centerboard and ballast… The survey report says that keelbolts could not be inspected, the owner claims there are no keelbolts. Do the centerboard-versions of the F40 have external bolted-on ballast?
