wrote:
(Original poster). The Freedom has been on and off of my list. I have
read the pros and cons. They have great interiors and seem to have as
high or higher quality equipment than the Bristols and Sabres. I,
however, do worry about buying an older boat with a carbon fiber
mast.
Admittedly, I only know 'carbon fiber' as used on time trial bikes
(my
carbon fiber disc wheels crack and detach from other materials that
it
is adhered to - and it is $$$). The same may not apply to masts. On
the
other hand, any cyclist will tell you That you cannot beat carbon
fiber
for stability, weight and power transfer, so I imagine these same
features extend to sailing. I have looked at a Freedom 32. I have yet
to find the Freedom owners group that I have heard about. The Sailnet
group is dead.

When Freedom itself supported a board, it was great to go there. I,
too, know of no current Freedom ng.

IMHO, their construction/equipment/etc. is superior to most. TPI builds
great boats.

As for carbonfiber, there have been a coupla stories about mast cracks
on the earliest versions; but during the period of the boats we're
talking about (the later 32s and the 30), they're pretty damned
bulletproof.

If you've only read about 'em and never sailed one, do yourself a favor
and catch a ride on one. After you've sailed one singlehanded,
including flying a chute, you'll scoff when people talk about how easy
other boats are to sail solo. There's no contest.

My opinion and worth every penny you paid for it!

Frank

wrote:

Had you considered a Nonsuch? No jib, easy rig to handle, decent
performance, very roomy for the length, nice workmanship.

Nonsuch are awesome boats, but I wouldn't trust the cat rig on the open ocean in
changeable weather. I'd worry about the ease of reefing that huge single sail,
and balance under reduced sail. There's more to sail handling than tacking!
The 26 might be a great singlehander, but the bigger ones might be a handful.

Matt O.

(initiator of thread) I was in a class this weekend where I was
learning the proccedure to 'heave to'. Could one do this in a Nonsuch
30 or Freedom 30/32?

what are you sailing (or did I miss it in your text )? Nice boat!!

wrote:
(initiator of thread) I was in a class this weekend where I was
learning the proccedure to 'heave to'. Could one do this in a Nonsuch
30 or Freedom 30/32?

I had a Nonsuch 30 for 8 years and never figured out how to "heave
to." This is one point against them as a ocean passage maker.
Another is the huge cockpit, a third is the poor stability number
which comes from the large beam.

However, you were quite specific that you were looking for a
Chesapeake Bay cruiser, that could also be used for more extended
coastal cruising. In these situations it is very unlikely that you
would need to heave to. In fact its usually not desirable if you're
closer than 50 miles to land.

I sailed my Nonsuch three times in 40+ winds, each with only a single
reef. With hindsight, I should have gone to a double reef, but as a
ex-dinghy sailor, I'm used to handling a boat that's overpowered. I'm
confident the boat could be handled at 50+ knots with a triple reef.

Although I almost always had a crew, I effectively singlehanded except
for docking and raising sail. Were I to get another for
singlehanding, I would install an electric winch, as raising the 500
foot sail is rather tedious. Although I'm content with my current
boat (a PDQ 36), my next sailboat will likely be smaller, and I've
though of a Nonsuch 26 or a Marshall 22, depending on where I'm located.

Here's the polar for a Nonsuch 30. Although not known as a speed
demon, it will outperform most traditional 30 foot designs except for
pointing ability. However, you can easily win a tacking duel since
there is no jib to worry about. Light air is a bit of a weak point,
but even there, it will do 5 knots in 6 knots of wind - not that shabby.
http://www.sv-loki.com/True.jpg

Check out www.nonsuch.org

wrote:
(initiator of thread) I was in a class this weekend where I was
learning the proccedure to 'heave to'. Could one do this in a Nonsuch
30 or Freedom 30/32?

Guessing here, but I'd be hard pressed to think of how you could heave
to with a Nonsuch.

Also difficult to do with a Freedom rig 'cause it'd require some
special effort to back the jib. (It tacks on its own.) Maybe you could
attach a line from the clew to the toe-rail or something to prevent it
from tacking before you go into the tack-and-lock-the-helm-over
procedure.

But so what?

[Opinion alert] Heaving to belongs to the era of wooden boats, hemp
lines, and canvas sails. It's been lovingly preserved and practiced by
"blue-water cruisers", i.e. folks with full keels, low aspect ratio
sailplans, roachless and battenless mains, etc. It's not a technique I
have ever used or ever intend to use.

Frank

Lots of good comments here, BUT...

I'll return to shilling for Freedom by opining that absolute length
alone is not a decisive factor. For instance, under power in tight
quarters, I'd rather dock any 35 ft. fin keeler than a sub-30 ft. full
keeler.

Under sail, general handling while raising and lowering sails,
switching to engine, anchoring, mooring, etc. my experience has been
that a Freedom 36 (or 38) is infinitely easier to singlehand than any
"standard" Marconi-rig sub-30 footer. And yes that includes
singlehanding a tri-radial 'chute, which I wouldn't even try on most
keelboats.

And going to 40 ft., I'll remind y'all that Garry Hoyt singlehanded his
*engineless* prototype Freedom 40 all around the Caribbean, winning
races against full crews, and anchoring and docking in notoriously
crowded harbors.

And the Freedom 44 is essentially the same setup as the 40. So, AFAIC,
we're up to 44 feet and still comfortably singlehanding. With the right
boat.

Frank

On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 08:37:50 -0700, "JG"
wrote:

Peter, we have a Y30 in our fleet. I find it to be a great boat... the
engine in the front was a bit strange at first, but it seems to do quite
well in heavy chop.. much less hobby horsing that you typically get. How
long did you have it? Did you have any significant problems? I think the
only thing I don't like about it is that it has a full rig, and that means
no big jibs (we sail in SF bay). Our isn't set up for single-handing also.

I had a later model Yamaha 30 - it had the engine aft, but most others
around here had it forward. I think the yen got too expensive shortly
after the aft-engine model was introduced, as mine was one of the last
ones imported.

I had a tall rig, and had a 160% genoa, if i recall correctly. Don't
see why the tall rig would restrict you to small foresails.

My boat had a tiller, and the only modification I made for
single-handing was to rig a "tiller holder", so the tiller would stay
where I put it (for a short time, at least). I also had an autopilot,
which helped somewhat...

I had the boat for about 10 years, then decided to become a
stinkpotter, as I had spent too much time sitting outside in the rain.


--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

wrote:
A number of months ago I began my search for a sailboat...

Have you checked out the Contessa 32? It's not a whole lot larger than
my 28 is on the inside, but it is slick, easy to handle and built like
your proverbial brick ****house.

On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 17:23:58 -0400, Rodney Myrvaagnes
wrote:


From double-handed experience the J30 is more entertaining to sail and
much faster than the boats you mentioned.

If you've raced you would probably love "cruising" a J30 or most Js
for that matter. C&C 30s and 33s also make that "glorified daysailer"
mark in that they are safe and stable, but still can be actively
sailed fast.

If your accomodations don't need to exceed an Origo, a Koolatron and a
few sleeping bags, you have a lot of choice also in the 1/4 tonner
fleet, although headroom's an issue.

Solo and getting on a bit, I would say 33 feet is a good practical
limit, because you have to move fast or be quite skilled indeed to
dock alone with something much bigger in most fast cruisers.

A Westsail 32 or a Contessa, on the other hand, will just hit the dock
and stop. G

R.