Freedom Yachts

[caradow]

As a sideline to some of the comments made by clockwork orange regarding the build practices of TPI.
I have owned various J Boats and extensively raced a later model J35 here on Long Island Sound for 4 years in the mid to late 1980's.
One year decided to rebed some deck hardware after detecting wet spots. To my amazement there was no original bedding compound on a lot of the fittings to include the cabin top teak grab rales and sheet stoppers!
They must have been in a real hurry to finish my boat.
On the other hand it was one of the most fun boats I have ever sailed and performed beautifully throughout the years of hard OD racing.
Probably the majority of TPI J Boats are "wet" however have never personally seen one delaminate because of wetness alone.

[vamoose]

We love are 45 cc .very secure feeling easy to sail. A nice home at anchor. It is
well built and joy to own offshore sailboat.

[gulfcoastsailor]

I realize I am very late to the dance, but here is my 2 pesos.

As owner of a F-32 I can speak to several issues. First, the boat generally is a better built production boat. It is innovative even 30+ years after design. A number of these boat have ocean experience with no major issues to my limited knowledge.
Coring: Although produced at TPI, it was before they refined the coring process. I inspected six boats before purchase. Only the last hull that I bought did not have coring issues. Most on the port side, where there is a lite below the deck. On the deck there is a spot that several had wet spots forward of the mast on the port side. Mine has a limited amount too that I monitor. Crazing is mostly a cosmetic issue that thick gel-coat application delivers.
Sailing is a single-handed dream. Can my cat sloop point as high as a traditional rig? Maybe not but I can fall of the wind a bit and pass a pincher at the next tack.
Below decks, no other 32' can match space and storage for a boat of that era.

[gamayun]

It's always nice to get another testimonial about the Freedoms!!

There's a 32 cat ketch in Seattle for sale right now that I've suggested to friends who race with me and would love to get a Freedom of their own

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by gamayun

It's always nice to get another testimonial about the Freedoms!!

There's a 32 cat ketch in Seattle for sale right now that I've suggested to friends who race with me and would love to get a Freedom of their own

Well..... one of six without core problems is not a great testimonial!

[dangerfield55]

I have owned my 1984 Freedom 32 for 12 years and sail Lake Michigan. I have never had any issues with the boat and have been out in bad weather. My impression is that it is the quality of of the Tillot Pearson build more than the design that makes it so good. I was concerned about the free standing carbon mast but has handled bad conditions well.


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[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by speedoo

If you like the idea of a free standing spar and one big mainsail for ease of handling, you should also check out the Nonsuch 30 and 36. Excellent coastal cruising boats with a lot of room below due to the max beam being carried well forward and aft, but kind of pricey.

These are sneaky fast boats, easy to sail and with a modern underbody hidden by traditional looks. One thing though, I've seen a couple that have grounded hard and the grids on both those boats were compromised. Otherwise nicely performing, simply rigged boats.

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by caradow

As a sideline to some of the comments made by clockwork orange regarding the build practices of TPI.
I have owned various J Boats and extensively raced a later model J35 here on Long Island Sound for 4 years in the mid to late 1980's.
One year decided to rebed some deck hardware after detecting wet spots. To my amazement there was no original bedding compound on a lot of the fittings to include the cabin top teak grab rales and sheet stoppers!
They must have been in a real hurry to finish my boat.
On the other hand it was one of the most fun boats I have ever sailed and performed beautifully throughout the years of hard OD racing.
Probably the majority of TPI J Boats are "wet" however have never personally seen one delaminate because of wetness alone.

I live in the area and know several TPI people, they build to the designers demands, since they are a contract job shop they build what the original manufacturer wants. The amount of composite knowledge they have is quite extensive and they generally build a quality piece, their people have vast knowledge and experience, but, they can only build to the level of quality agreed upon by the people who contract them. Since they build for several boat manufacturers the level of quality is in line with the design parameters of those who pay the bills. They also build some of the largest wind turbine blades in the world, if you think boat hulls are challenging, just think of the demands put on a 100' wind turbine blade built to withstand hurricane force winds.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Well..... one of six without core problems is not a great testimonial!

Well, I saw that and wondered what kind of "core problems" he was talking about. Mine's dry and the others I had looked at (at least 6 of them) didn't have any identifiable problems. It's not that easy, in fact, to easily tell when the core is wet. From my experience, though, I think they compare better overall than others similarly built in that era.

[Acadia Traveler]

gamayun, got a link to that Freedom for sale? I'm on the hunt for a 33' or 28' cat ketch( I dont see it on Yachtworld). Seems like a single hander's dream to me.
John

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by lifeofreilly57

These are sneaky fast boats, easy to sail and with a modern underbody hidden by traditional looks. One thing though, I've seen a couple that have grounded hard and the grids on both those boats were compromised. Otherwise nicely performing, simply rigged boats.

What freedoms have grids? Mine doesn't or am I misunderstanding what you mean by grid?

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Acadia Traveler

gamayun, got a link to that Freedom for sale? I'm on the hunt for a 33' or 28' cat ketch( I dont see it on Yachtworld). Seems like a single hander's dream to me.
John

I don't know much about the ketches, but my Freedom is certainly a singlehander's dream. This one looked pretty nice, too.

Freedom 33 Sailboat - Reduced!

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by gulfcoastsailor

I realize I am very late to the dance, but here is my 2 pesos.

As owner of a F-32 I can speak to several issues. First, the boat generally is a better built production boat. It is innovative even 30+ years after design. A number of these boat have ocean experience with no major issues to my limited knowledge.
Coring: Although produced at TPI, it was before they refined the coring process. I inspected six boats before purchase. Only the last hull that I bought did not have coring issues. Most on the port side, where there is a lite below the deck. On the deck there is a spot that several had wet spots forward of the mast on the port side. Mine has a limited amount too that I monitor. Crazing is mostly a cosmetic issue that thick gel-coat application delivers.
Sailing is a single-handed dream. Can my cat sloop point as high as a traditional rig? Maybe not but I can fall of the wind a bit and pass a pincher at the next tack.
Below decks, no other 32' can match space and storage for a boat of that era.

Hi Gulfcoast sailor, I'm just interested to know what method you used to determine water ingression? Genuinely interested.
I've sounded my hull by tapping all over, but im not convinced this is very effective as the fiberglass and gelcoat are quite thick thus making it hard to determine if there is any water ingression. Moisture meters seem to be controversial. What are you views?

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by gamayun

I don't know much about the ketches, but my Freedom is certainly a singlehander's dream. This one looked pretty nice, too.

Freedom 33 Sailboat - Reduced!

I have a real soft spot for the 33. I think in many ways its the ideal cruiser for someone with moderate means.

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by daletournier

What freedoms have grids? Mine doesn't or am I misunderstanding what you mean by grid?

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Total brain fart, I was thinking of a couple of Nonsuch catboats at the time, after a certain age your brain isn't as sharp at certain times of the day. Because of their wide, spacious hulls they have reinforcement ribs in the bilge around the keel area, I had a friend interested in buying one years ago and looked at a couple auction boats for him. The two I saw both had grounded at speed and there were a number of ribs in the bilge around the keel which had obvious cracks that would have been too extensive to fix in a cost effective manner.
I've looked over several boats of a different design which had been subject to groundings and didn't find the same issues, except of course for one or two that hit hard enough to rip the keel stubs partially out of the boat, but those cases were much more extreme and catastrophic. Of course the auctioneers will all tell you they're simple to fix.
Next time I'll actually read what I wrote before posting it so I don't have a total lapse of memory.