Freedom 33 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The Freedom 33 hull and deck are of balsa-cored construction anchor, and the hull-to-deck joint is through-fastened with 5/16-inch stainless steel bolts and bonded with 3M 5200 adhesive sealant. Bulkheads are tabbed to the inside fiberglass skin, leaving the core intact so hard spots do not telegraph to the topsides. Stability comes from 3,800 pounds of lead ballast cast in wedge-shaped pieces and glassed into the bilge, supplemented by a 1,200-pound centerboard of lead and fiberglass that pivots in a channel, eliminating any hull-breaching pin. That board carries a triangular profile and constant chord, and it fits its slot closely to reduce drag while giving hydrodynamic lift at any angle. The board does not thunk annoyingly in the trunk and is rugged.

Early boats left the factory with two-part aluminum tubular masts that were heavy, reducing stability and increasing pitching moment. Tillotson-Pearson answered this with a research program that produced one-piece carbon-fiber laminate spars, cutting weight roughly 30 percent and yielding considerably stiffer rigs. The 25-gallon aluminum fuel tank sits deep in the bilge alongside the ballast, a location worth noting for any future owner.

Rig and Handling

The wishbone cat-ketch carries wrap-around, two-ply sails loosely connected at the leech. The wishbone boom permits a longer luff than a conventional boom and does not interfere with the draft at the foot, though it does create windage. Draft control on the mizzen is through outhaul tension and on the mainsail through adjustment of the effective length of the wishbone. The rig uses slab or jiffy reefing, but when reefed the excess material gathers at the wishbone in aerodynamically messy folds rather than stacking above the boom. Furling is easy: the sail gathers into a basket of shock cord stretched across the wishbone, with more cord across the top securing it.

All halyards, sheets, outhauls, reefing pennants, and the centerboard pennant lead aft to the cockpit, where a pair of self-tailing Barient 23 winches and an array of sheet stoppers handle them. Because the mizzen traveler is mounted aft, the cockpit is a rarity among production boats: usable without a traveler threatening legs or the mainsheet garroting crew. The steering wheel on a pedestal is mounted well aft, the helmsman standing or sitting on a fold-up seat on a teak grate, under which the steering cable and quadrant for the outboard rudder are uncommonly accessible. The grate also serves as the cockpit drain with scuppers through the transom, a most effective arrangement for quickly draining a flooded cockpit.

Practical Sailor found the 33 stiffer and, foot-for-foot, faster than her sisters in the Freedom line anchor. Her sailplan gives optimum performance in 10 to 15 knots, but in winds below 10—especially to windward in chop—the stubby hull, centerboard, and wetted surface make her sluggish, and she is not closewinded, as much a result of hull shape as rig.

Accommodations

The first design carried an aft cabin that ate cockpit space and a main cabin divided by the centerboard trunk. The production version drops the aft cabin, puts the galley at the base of the companionway, and arranges a dinette convertible to a double berth to port of the trunk and a settee berth to starboard. A 5-foot-long, waist-high centerboard trunk runs down the middle of the main cabin, with the mizzen mast rising at its after end. The interior joinerwork of oak, ash, and spruce, plus a teak and holly sole, is done to a high quality. Stowage is by far the best seen in a boat of this size, and the galley drywell—with a sliding section for seldom-used items—is nonpareil.

The comfortably wide quarterberth to starboard has little overhead foot room, and the pilot berth there is accessible only to a person under 4 feet and 40 pounds. The forward cabin closes off completely, head included, by its own door. A sliding door at the after end of the cockpit houses propane bottles, and the anchor sits in an optional fiberglass bowsprit with man-sized chocks integrally fitted to the teak toerail.

Known Issues

The principal structural caveat is the deep-bilge fuel tank and ballast layup: with the 25-gallon aluminum tank seated low among the wedge ballast, any corrosion or fitting failure puts diesel precisely where it is hardest to reach and most consequential to structure. The balsa-cored hull and deck, while well fastened, carry the usual vulnerability of end-grain core to sustained wetness at penetrations. Early aluminum two-part masts were a known weakness corrected in production by carbon-fiber spars, so a surviving original rig is a downgrade in stability and stiffness. Reefed sail gathers at the wishbone in messy folds, a handling nuisance rather than a defect. Below, the centerboard trunk intrudes through the main cabin and the starboard pilot berth is effectively unusable by any adult.

The Verdict

The Freedom 33 is a thoughtfully resolved cruiser whose unstayed cat-ketch rig, closely fitted centerboard, and carbon-fiber spars deliver stiff, quick motion and uncommonly clean cockpit handling. Her accommodations trade a little headroom and a phantom berth for stowage and joinerwork that punch above her length. She is not a light-air or closewinded boat, and her deep bilge demands respect.

Pros

Stiffer and faster than other Freedom sisters; carbon-fiber spars cut 30% of mast weight
Centerboard pivots without hull breach and fits its slot to cut drag
Cockpit free of traveler hazards; steering gear unusually accessible; transom scuppers drain fast
Best-in-class stowage and high-quality wood interior

Cons