Pedrick intended the Freedom 35 to be fast, easy to handle, and roomy enough for real cruising while remaining competitive in club racing. The hull has a subtle sheer, a shallowly raked stem, and a reverse transom, with the beam carried well aft.
Design and Construction
Pedrick’s underwater lines are modestly round and full at the turn of the bilge, then flatten toward the stern to let the hull surf when pressed.
The structure pairs skins of biaxial and unidirectional E-glass with vinylester resin over an end-grain balsa core. This hand-laid sandwich is bonded with both vinylester and polyester for strength-to-weight and blister resistance. The hull-to-deck joint uses a 3-inch reverse flange bonded with 3M-5200 and through-bolted on 6-inch centers. Stainless carriage bolts pass through the anodized aluminum toe rail.
Bulkheads are glassed directly to the hull, with the furniture fastened to them. Solid fiberglass transverse supports sit beneath the floorboards. A 10-year transferable warranty against hull blistering backs the construction.
Rig and Sail Handling
The Freedom 35’s defining feature is its freestanding carbon-fiber mast, which eliminates shrouds, backstay, spreaders, and chainplates. With nothing constraining the sail plan aft, the boat carries a large, full-batten mainsail with a generous roach.
The standard foresail is a self-tacking Camberspar working jib. Its internal wishbone shapes the lower luff upwind and wings the sail out downwind. A hard, fixed vang controls the mainsail without backstay tension.
The unstayed spar is lighter than a conventional aluminum mast, keeping weight out of the rig and helping the boat stay upright. Freedom later transferred spar construction to Goetz Marine Technologies. The builder claimed that the change produced a lighter, stiffer spar and reported no rig failures on the Freedom 35 either before or after the move.
The mainsheet, jib sheet, halyards, and reefing lines lead through turning blocks and Lewmar stoppers to Harken winches on the cabin roof. Virtually every sailing and motoring function can be handled from the cockpit, a useful arrangement for short-handed crews.
Performance Under Sail
The helm shows slight weather helm. During test sails in more than 20 knots, the hull heeled less than 10 degrees while reaching at or near 8 knots and touched 8.6 knots on one tack.
Owners describe quick, accurate steering through the Edson wheel and whale-tail rudder. The balanced sail plan allows the boat to spin through 80 to 85 degrees upwind in a tight radius. One owner reported very little weather helm even in gale-warning winds and described reefing as simple, with minimal loss of speed. That owner also advised reefing the mainsail sooner rather than later as the wind builds.
The standard rig carries a PHRF average of 114.
Accommodations
Below, the saloon is finished in cherry and teak, with a holly-and-teak sole, five opening ports, a main hatch, and 6 feet 2 inches of headroom. A drop-down table stows against the port bulkhead, while louvered doors conceal outboard stowage.
The L-shaped galley includes deep stainless-steel sinks, a gimbaled Force 10 stove with oven and broiler, and a large insulated icebox with a separate provisions compartment. The head is to starboard of the companionway and has its own shower stall and wet locker.
Both the forward and aft cabins have two opening ports and a hatch. The aft cabin contains a generous athwartships berth. Behind closed doors, each cabin offers 6 feet 1 inch of standing headroom and a 6-foot-7 bunk.
The navigation station places instrumentation above the starboard settee, near the electrical panel.
Known Issues and Tradeoffs
The galley draws mixed feedback from owners. Two respondents to a Practical Sailor survey specifically criticized the lack of counter space, and the boat has no standard fresh- or salt-water foot pumps in either the galley or the head.
Hull #1, an early boat rigged with a 120% Mylar genoa, proved fast but lacked a dedicated mainsheet winch and had an undersized traveler. The unstayed carbon rig also cost roughly ten thousand dollars more than an equivalent aluminum spar and standing rigging, although the absence of chainplates and related structures offset some of that premium.
Verdict
The Freedom 35 is a thoughtfully executed cruiser-racer that exchanges conventional rigging complexity for a clean deck and a powerful, easily managed sail plan. Its construction is conservative where it counts and clever where it shows, while the cockpit-centered control layout is well suited to short-handed sailing.
The galley compromises and carbon-rig premium are real. Even so, the boat’s poise under sail and comfortable accommodations make those tradeoffs understandable.
Pros
- Freestanding carbon mast eliminates shrouds, backstay, spreaders, and chainplates
- Stable, quick helm, with strong light-air and reaching performance
- Cherry-and-teak interior with full forward and aft cabins
- 10-year transferable hull-blister warranty
- Cockpit-centered controls suit short-handed sailing
Cons
- Galley criticized for limited counter space
- No standard fresh- or salt-water foot pumps in the galley or head
- Carbon rig costs roughly ten thousand dollars more than an equivalent aluminum rig
- Early hull #1 lacked a dedicated mainsheet winch and had an undersized traveler
