Posted by derek.plante (derek.plante@…>)
Hi All,
I have owned my Freedom 21 “At Last” for more than 7 years but have
just got round to joining the Discussion Group!
To date, I have only seen two other F21’s in Australia. There is one
moored on Brisbane Waters on the New South Wales Central Coast. And a
few years ago I saw one on Middle Harbour, Sydney. Plus there is one in
Melbourne now owned by Group member Nick Wiedeman.
I first became aware of the F21 in the mid 80’s when I saw the
promotional video shown at the Sydney boat show. In particular I was
greatly impressed by the 360 degree turns with spinnakers raised!
At the time I already owned a Hood 23 yacht, and I subsequently,
progressed to a Triton 24, then a Triton 28. It was only after my wife
became less interested in sailing/racing, and my son went his own way
becoming a racing fanatic in J24’s and more recently Etchells, that I
remembered the Freedom. It took some years before I located one for
sale near Sydney. It was subject of a divorce settlement, and had been
neglected; covered in seagull shit, full of rubbish, and with 6 inch
long growth underwater! After purchasing “At Last”, I spent a while
renovating, and improving. New windows, painting coach house, polishing
hull, replacing all running rigging. Then fitting electrics, water and
sink, stove etc.
She was built in Australia, by South Coast Yachts, to survey standard,
as I think her first owner was a sailing school?
She is fixed keel, with “Spunspar” alloy mast and boom, and MacDiarmid
mainsail. There is no gun mount gear, or spinnaker.
I sailed the F21 on Pittwater , Sydney, before we moved to Lake
Macquarie 5 years ago. We had her freighted up here on a truck, and she
now is moored just in front of our house. She suits my needs ideally,
as I single hand about 50% of the time; I can be out on the boat, and
under sail, less than 5 minutes after walking out the door! I find the
F21 is not the fastest boat upwind, but performs very well off wind;
and more importantly is just a lot of fun to sail!
There are now 3 pics of “At Last” (corny, but the original name!) in
the photo section of the Group pages.
I would be pleased to meet any F21 sailers who may come to Sydney.
Derek Plante