Dear Steve and Linda, I’ve been in the process of looking for a used boat to spend the next number of years sailing…everything from long offshore passages to time in the Caribbean. For many years, in the late 70’s and early 80’s, I built very traditional wooden boats, sailed mostly traditional boats.
While looking at a 31′ Camper Nicholson the other day, I spied an older Freedom 33′ Cat ketch. She was really beautiful, and I remembered how fascinated I was the boats when they were first introduced. I know that you and Linda have pushed the edges of innovation in designing and sailing offshore boats. What’s your opinion of the boat as an ocean passagemaker? Thanks for your opinion and a great web site. Sincerely, Michael
Hi Michael: I have always been fascinated by Gary Hoyt’s work and the freestanding rigs he pioneered. His first boat, the Freedom 44 cat ketch, is a very cool design. I like the rig layout, the dinghy storage ideas, and the interior works too. The major issue with the freestanding rigs is to make sure the spar weights are reasonable, and that the boat has a low enough center of gravity to insure good range of stability. With later rigs done in carbon fiber, the spars are theoretically lighter than conventional aluminum extrusions, spreaders and standing rigging.
The other factor to consider is how the sails are attached to the spars. If they wrap around, it is very efficient aerodynamically. But these are somewhat of a pain to handle. With tracks on the back side of the mast the sails go up and down easily, but then you take a big hit with mast form drag and turbulence when sailing uphill. Let us know what you find out if you check out the Freedoms. Steve Dashew
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
