Is the Freedom 35 (Pedrick) tender? In many respects the 35 is good candidate for our next boat. But the ballast/displacement of just 31% combined with a relatively shallow 4’6" draft gives me a little pause.
I have a F35 (P)- 1999 with wing keel - had her for 10 years. Way longer by far than I’ve had any other boat. This past week sailing in SF Bay in 25-28 kts tws, upwind at 6 kts boat speed, one reef in mainsail and full jib ( never used the first reef point as it didn’t do anything! So my first reef is the second), sailing pretty much on her feet, effortlessly. In nearly all points of sail, very little weather helm. In the Delta Ditch Run races I’ve sailed with 2 crew downwind with full main in 30-33 kts tws (I wouldn’t do that singlehanded). I would not call her tender at all.
3 Likes
Thanks! Just for perspective, what were your prior boats?
Sabre 34 ( currently in New Zealand- sailed single handed by a young lady from SF :). The Freedom sails way better IMHO especially for single handed), Winga 862 ( very tender!), Turbo Potter 19 ( good friend PO single handed sailed to Hawaii - incredibly stiff boat), more….
We have a freedom 36 with shoal keel and it is not tender at all.
I don’t have specific experience with the F35, but in general freestanding rigs carry much less weight and windage aloft, and don’t require the same B/D ratio or keel depth as more conventional rigs to achieve comparable stability.
1 Like