Freedom 40 CC Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

What Herreshoff produced at Hoyt's request was essentially a traditional long-keel hull shape, with a spoon bow, a wineglass transom and a centreboard. Owners who know the boat describe a really sweet underwater shape, not unlike a working boat or a smack, with slack bilges, a centreplate, and a bit of flare in the bow. The hull itself is a sturdy fibreglass layup, later paired with carbon-fibre masts and wooden wishbones in the rig configuration that many examples carried. The deck is steeply cambered with no coachroof, leaving a wide open working space forward of the deep and secure cockpit that benefits from the beam of a wide stern. A large coaming protects the cockpit and creates a protected stowage area for deck gear.

The original boat was built with a large centre cockpit and an enormous aft cabin, and the dark green hull with brown sails was Hoyt's deliberate statement of a "proper colour for a proper yacht." Beneath that styling, the design was offered in several hull configurations: the original centreboard type, a shallow-draught version with a stub fin keel and slightly smaller rig, and a fin-keel version with a tall rig.

Rig and Handling

The defining feature is the cat-ketch rig with twin wraparound sails on unstayed aluminium masts and wishbone booms, the forward mast set far forward and no jib or genoa at all. The unstayed masts reduced the clutter and structural stresses of standing rigging while allowing the mast to bend as the wind got stronger, spilling wind from the top of the sail where it was least wanted. Wraparound sails gave a clean trailing edge, maximising the area of the sail. Unstayed rigs allow the sails to be sheeted out beyond 90 degrees for goosewinging, and the rig's magic is that when goose-winging you can put the fore sail on the wrong side and sail by the lee to a huge degree, eliminating fear of gybing.

Flexible masts spill wind in the gusts to keep things on an even keel, which is ideal for family sailing. The prototype beat all comers in its class at Antigua Week in 1976, and Hoyt claimed unusual speed and sensitivity to windward, but the boat's performance was less impressive once laden with an engine and other modern conveniences, though it still performed tolerably well, especially off the wind. Test sailors found exceptional performance off the wind but not so good to windward, while owners report the boat is more comfortable in a seaway, not as quick as some, but great downwind and steadier than many modern yachts that overtake the wind too quickly.

Carbon-fibre masts were a natural and beneficial development, producing a weight saving of 30 percent while making the masts stiffer, and eventually many boats switched to conventional sails with regular booms and sail tracks in place of wishbones and sleeves. An electric winch located in the cockpit is an essential piece of kit if a boat still has sleeve sails.

Accommodations

For a design of that age, the boats are amazingly spacious below decks. The layout places the heads opposite the large galley and two decent cabins all aft of a large saloon, with the original centre-cockpit scheme giving an enormous aft cabin. Headroom is good over the galley, but the lack of hatches makes the space rather dark. On deck, solid ground tackle and good working space in the bow is well-used when cruising, and there is plenty of space on deck for a solid dinghy in chocks.

Known Issues

The unstayed mast style carries a known failure mode: in rough seas the mast can break loose, potentially holing the hull, and this is commonly due to the tangs that hold the mast in place failing. Lowering the sails can also be problematic due to friction in the sleeve-and-mast arrangement, a particular concern on boats that retain the original wraparound rig rather than the later conventional sail plan.

Refits and Ownership

Many Freedom 40s migrated away from the original wishbone-and-sleeve rig toward conventional booms and sail tracks, a refit that eases sail work and does away with the cockpit electric winch that sleeve sails demand. The carbon-fibre mast option addressed weight and stiffness, and the multiple keel configurations mean a buyer can choose centreboard, stub fin, or fin keel to suit cruising ground. The 20,000-pound displacement and 5,530 pounds of ballast give the boat a settled, seakindly character that owners value for extended family cruising.

The Verdict

The Freedom 40 CC is a genuinely individual cruiser that trades outright windward pace for comfort, simplicity of rig, and a roomy, secure hull. Its unstayed cat-ketch arrangement remains its greatest strength and its principal caveat: liberating on deck, but dependent on mast tangs that must be trusted in heavy going.

Pros