Freedom 39 Buyer's Guide
The Freedom 39 is a 39-foot American cruiser designed by Ron Holland and Gary Hoyt and built by Tillotson Pearson for Freedom Yachts from 1983, a cat-rigged ketch with two free-standing carbon-fiber masts and an aft-cockpit hull on a fixed fin keel. For a buyer considering a used Freedom 39, the appeal lies in solid fiberglass structure and an unstayed rig that avoids conventional standing rigging, but the boat rewards a careful look at the specifics below.
Layouts on the Used Market
Every Freedom 39 carries the same core arrangement: sleeping for six, with a private aft double cabin under the cockpit to starboard, two pilot berths in the main cabin, and a double berth forward. The head sits just aft of the bow cabin on the starboard side, and the U-shaped galley is to port at the companionway foot with a three-burner stove and double sinks. The boat was introduced alongside the Freedom 39 PH, which shares the hull but adds a pilothouse and schooner rig, so a viewer should confirm which variant is offered before comparing accommodation volume.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
No equipment tiers are flagged as prevalent for this model, so buyers should treat any generator, watermaker, or canvas and sail-handling additions as individual owner choices rather than standard spec. The only equipment certain from the design record is the original U-shaped galley with three-burner stove and double sinks. Beyond that, assess each boat on its own installed systems rather than expecting a typical upgrade package.
What to Inspect
The Freedom 39 uses solid fiberglass for both hull and deck rather than a cored sandwich, which removes the balsa-core rot pathway seen in many contemporaries — focus survey attention on gelcoat and structural integrity of solid laminate instead. The free-standing carbon-fiber masts and conventional carbon-fiber booms should be checked for delamination or impact damage, since an unstayed spar carries all loads through its own shell with no shrouds to share the load. Confirm the skeg-mounted rudder and fixed fin keel show no grounding scars, and verify the aft starboard cabin under the cockpit is dry, as that space sits within the cockpit structure where hardware leaks would show first.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The United Kingdom is the typical market region for these boats. Before committing, run through a short checklist:
- Confirm the variant is the cat-ketch 39, not the PH schooner.
- Inspect carbon-fiber masts and booms for shell damage.
- Check the aft starboard cabin for cockpit leakage.
- Verify solid hull and deck laminate condition.
- Test rudder and keel for grounding damage.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Freedom 39. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 2 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 1 | $20,298 | — |
| Oct 25 | 1 | $23,012 | +13.4% |
Where they're listed
Freedom 39 listings appear across 1 country. United Kingdom has the most listings with 2.
Country view
2 listings · 1 country| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | $21,655 | 2 | 0 | 100.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
5 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom 38 | 37.92' | $ 70,569 | 18 | 5 |
| Dufour F39 | 39.3' | $ 68,245 | 13 | 3 |
| Feeling 39 | 38.39' | $ 135,492 | 13 | 4 |
| Tillotson-Pearson 36 | 36.42' | $ 45,000 | 11 | 3 |
| Freedom 39You are here | — | $ 21,655 | 2 | 0 |