Delivered worldwide, the Freeward 25 occupies a distinctive niche. It’s a mini ketch with a transom where other members of the Fisher family have canoe sterns, and it offers an unusual amount of accommodation for its length.
Design and Construction
The Freeward 25 measures 7.69 metres overall, with a 6.40 metre waterline, a beam of 2.85 metres, and a draught of 1.13 metres. She displaces 4.5 tonnes, including two tonnes of keel ballast. That 45 percent ballast ratio explains much of her steadiness.
The hull is solid GRP. Inside, the joinery combines solid teak with teak-veneered plywood. The forecastle deck creates a large foredeck area, while a high bulwark conceals the boat’s huge superstructure.
The 25 is the only member of the Fisher family with a transom rather than a canoe stern. This produces an extremely spacious, self-draining cockpit that occupies the full width of the hull behind the wheelhouse. A sliding door leads from the cockpit into the wheelhouse.
Rig, Engine, and Handling
The mini-ketch rig carries a 9.3 square metre mainsail, a 4.2 square metre mizzen, and a 14.0 square metre genoa. When sailing, the inboard steering is disconnected and the boat is handled directly by tiller. She is very stable on course and can sail close-winded to around 50 degrees of true wind.
Under power, the Freeward 25 uses a 27 hp Yanmar 3 GM diesel installed beneath the wheelhouse. The wheelhouse floor can be lifted out in a few steps, giving good access to the engine. At 2200 rpm, the boat delivers a solid cruising speed of 5 knots.
Accommodation
The cockpit, wheelhouse, saloon, and forward cabin divide the interior into several living spaces. The wheelhouse has about 1.80 metres of headroom, with the helmsman’s bench to port and a settee to starboard. The settee pulls out to provide a wider surface.
The saloon also has 1.80 metres of headroom. A large L-shaped settee berth to port converts into a double. To starboard is a dog bunk, with a pull-out navigation table above it and a refrigerator compartment below.
The toilet room lies to port, forward of the saloon and opposite a louvred locker. In a later facelift, Wyatt and Freeman moved the toilet room from the bow to the centre of the boat.
The galley includes a sink, a gimballed cooker with oven, drawers, and stowage for crockery. Forward, the standard long forecastle lowers, and the spacious foredeck carries very high berths lit by two portholes in the side wall.
Tankage is generous, with 180 litres each for fresh water and diesel.
Known Issues
Two dated defects affect early boats. On hulls built before 1990, the wheelhouse window frames corrode and begin to leak, requiring replacement. During the same period, the Treadmaster deck covering was not yet bonded with epoxy resin and can peel.
No structural problems are known at the critical joints after service life.
Refits and Ownership
The facelift by original designers Gordon Wyatt and David Freeman relocated the head and refined the interior arrangement without changing the boat’s essential volume.
Although the mould’s move to Sri Lanka means a new boat can still be commissioned, the used fleet consists mainly of English-built examples and later boats from Northshore’s Itchenor yard, dating from the 1975–2008 production run.
For maintenance, the removable wheelhouse floor simplifies engine access. The solid-teak interior has also aged as a durable and repairable material.
Verdict
The Freeward 25 is a genuinely roomy motorised sailing boat. Her mini-ketch rig, tiller steering, and stable helm make her manageable, while the transom-and-wheelhouse arrangement provides cockpit and cabin space well beyond what her 25-foot length might suggest.
Early boats need attention around the windows and deck covering, but the structure itself is sound.
Pros
- Unusual accommodation volume for the length, including a wheelhouse, saloon, and foredeck berths
- Stable on course and close-winded to around 50 degrees true
- Solid fibreglass hull with no known structural defects
- Spacious, self-draining cockpit
- Removable wheelhouse floor provides good engine access
Cons
- Pre-1990 window frames corrode and leak
- Treadmaster deck covering on early boats can peel where it was not epoxy-bonded
