Somewhat new Freedom owner...

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1

Posted by cpamba (dalligood@…>)

Hello all,

My wife and I purchased a 1985 Freedom 32, Hoyt I believe, complete with the
spinnaker
gun mount, about 8 months ago or so. Interior was in fairly nice condition,
engine
appears well-cared for, and the exterior was ok, but certainly had some (as I
found out)
expensive issues.

A few projects completed so far was the installation of a brand new Harken
traveler
system, replacing the old Kenyon track and cars which were in dire need of
repair anyway.
I replaced all the lines, including two high tech halyards for the main and jib
halyards. Did
my own tune-up of the engine, learned a lot along the way, and IMMENSELY enjoyed
the
sailing aspects!!

I have three boys, 6, 4 and 2, and the idea of “steering” with just one hand is
something
that my wife and I both love! No jibs sheets to release, no screaming at
passengers to “get
off the lines,” no worrying (at least not a lot) about little fingers playing
with lines under
load, and the interior space is actually phenomenal for a boat this size. I’m
sure these are
all things you long-time Freedom owners already know about.

Anyway, my previous boat was a Catalina 25, great for a while, but certainly too
small for
the family. The Freedom is quite a different boat, quite a step up in virtually
all aspect of
sailing.

Just wanted to say hi, and perhaps pose a small question: The mainsheet, when
the
traveler cars are in the middle, comes directly over the middle of the
companionway. This
sometimes gets in the way of folks heading into the cabin and out into the
cockpit. I
guess I could put the cars towards one side or the other, but wanted to ask
others their
opinions as well.

Thanks for any insights!

Jeff

2

Posted by lance_ryley (lance_ryley@…>)

Hi Jeff,

if you have an adjustable traveler car system, in reality the car
should spend only a little time ‘dead center’ on the traveler.

for instance, when beating upwind, the car should actually be pulled
to the windward side so that you have a mechanical advantage of
bringing the main on centerline AND your mainsheet acts like vang,
helping to shape the sail properly for upwind sailing. If the car’s
on centerline and you’re trying to bring the boom on centerline,
you’re liable to have too much sheet tension for the conditions.
Ease the sheet and pull the traveler ‘up.’ If the conditions are
gusty and the boat is overpowered, the first move is to ‘dump
traveler’ - let it slide to leeward - before releasing the sheet.
That way, once the puff has passed, you simply raise the traveler
again and your sail trim will be right again.

Off the wind, anything from beam reach to downwind, your traveler
should be to the leeward side (depending on the length of the track,
maybe all the way ‘down’). This, again, allows you to maintain good
sail shape while starting to allow your boom out to the proper angle
for whatever point of sail you’re on.

Lance
Bright Star
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “cpamba” <dalligood@…>
wrote:

Hello all,

My wife and I purchased a 1985 Freedom 32, Hoyt I believe,
complete with the spinnaker
gun mount, about 8 months ago or so. Interior was in fairly nice
condition, engine
appears well-cared for, and the exterior was ok, but certainly had
some (as I found out)
expensive issues.

A few projects completed so far was the installation of a brand
new Harken traveler
system, replacing the old Kenyon track and cars which were in dire
need of repair anyway.
I replaced all the lines, including two high tech halyards for the
main and jib halyards. Did
my own tune-up of the engine, learned a lot along the way, and
IMMENSELY enjoyed the
sailing aspects!!

I have three boys, 6, 4 and 2, and the idea of “steering” with
just one hand is something
that my wife and I both love! No jibs sheets to release, no
screaming at passengers to “get
off the lines,” no worrying (at least not a lot) about little
fingers playing with lines under
load, and the interior space is actually phenomenal for a boat
this size. I’m sure these are
all things you long-time Freedom owners already know about.

Anyway, my previous boat was a Catalina 25, great for a while, but
certainly too small for
the family. The Freedom is quite a different boat, quite a step
up in virtually all aspect of
sailing.

Just wanted to say hi, and perhaps pose a small question: The
mainsheet, when the
traveler cars are in the middle, comes directly over the middle of
the companionway. This
sometimes gets in the way of folks heading into the cabin and out
into the cockpit. I
guess I could put the cars towards one side or the other, but
wanted to ask others their
opinions as well.

Thanks for any insights!

Jeff