Freedom 28 cat ketch across the Atlantic

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pcobham
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:26 pm

Freedom 28 cat ketch across the Atlantic

Post by pcobham »

I have been asked by 2 contributors to this forum for some history of my trans-Atlantic crossing in a Freedom 28
centreboard cat ketch. I am not sure where in the forum it should go, but here it is:-

The boat, named Freeform, was bought in mid-1981 from builders in Hamble, England working under license from TPI in the US. For marketing reasons it was sold as a Freedom 30 but is basically the same as a US F28 CK. Similarly UK-built F35 CKs are equivalent to US-built F33s. I had recently crewed on a 36 foot Miura sloop from Cape Town to Rotterdam, and wanted a boat capable of crossing oceans with greater ease of handling and safety in rough conditions.

The first major voyage was from Portsmouth, old England to Norway and back, with a crew of 3, of whom one had spent some time in dinghys and on windsurfers, while the other two had almost no previous sailing experience.

The next long voyage was from Portsmouth to Madeira Island in the Atlantic with a single crewman with some coastal cruising experience. Due to work commitments, we could only get away on the 25th November and spent the first 3 days and nights tacking across the Channel from England to France and back before finally being able to turn south. The next landfall was Porto Santo Island, north of Madeira, 16 days after leaving Portsmouth.

In 1982 I sailed from Madeira to the Canary Islands and then into the Mediterranean visiting Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt and Tunisia, mostly single-handed.

In 1983 I left Gibraltar single-handed on 27th January and headed back to the Canaries. At Las Palmas I took on a lady crew-member who had sailed in on a 40 foot sloop which took longer to get from Gib to Las Palmas than I did, even though I had spent 2 nights at Lanzarote. Their navigator had apparently got them within sound of the surf on the Atlantic coast of Morocco!

We sailed from Gran Canaria to the Cape verde Islands and then headed west to Barbados, where we made the mistake of arriving (after 17 days at sea) on a Sunday and having to pay customs "overtime". From there to Grenada where I filled the fuel tank for the first time since leaving Las Palmas, at a grand cost of $7. Then up through the islands to Guadeloupe, where the crew left to go back to UK for work. I single-handed to Antigua, where the boat's designer Gary Hoyt knocked on the hull during his morning swim around the anchorage, and was impressed by the British flag, as a result of which I believe we got a mention in a later Freedom 28 brochure.

From there I wandered through the islands looking for work and ended up in Grand Cayman, where I met the lady who is now my non-sailing wife. A couple of years later I sailed the boat to Florida, where it was eventually sold in Fort Lauderdale, after a total distance covered of about 25,000 miles.

The boat had 2 reef lines in each of the main and mizzen sails, and a mizzen staysail which got a lot of use downwind. I still like the cat ketch wishbone rig, and prefer it to the cat sloop rig on a Freedom 32 which I bought in Mexico and sailed to Australia 5 years ago. That boat, also called Freeform, is now in Malysia in the capable hands of Dale Tournier who is also a member of this forum.

The centreboard, apart from reducing drag downwind, was useful in shallow anchorages and on a half-tide mooring in England. The centreboard trunk, while taking up cabin space, was also a safety feature reducing the risk of falling across the cabin in rough weather, which I did more than once in the later F32.

The F28 had an amazing amount of storage. Among other things I had 2 folding bicycles in the lazarettes and plenty of room for food and water down below. On the longer voyages I carried on deck jerricans of water and fuel in case of tank leakages, which never happened. Also on deck was a 4-man liferaft and a 12 foot Tinker Traveller inflatable sailing dinghy with oars, main and jib sails, but no outboard so as to reduce the amount and types of flammable fuel aboard.

Apart from 2 hurricanes that I sat out in Florida (Tampa Bay mangroves are good in hurricanes), the worst winds logged were measured at force 8 at deck level with a hand-held anemometer. We had no masthead wind instruments apart from a direction indicator, and there was no affordable GPS in those days, so offshore navigation was by sextant and then Radio Direction Finder when we got close to land. Charts were all on paper. The biggest seas seen were probably about 20 feet from trough to top. In high winds, if well offshore, I preferred to drop all sail and lash the wheel to windward, at which point she rode fairly comfortably while making little headway.

We had an early Autohelm with a drive-belt exposed to the weather, which required replacing or repair at regular intervals. For power there was a single solar panel and a small wind-generator, which between them were almost enough to keep the Autohelm going and the lights on at night, with the engine being used to top up the batteries every few days. In retrospect a wind-vane would have been desirable.

Would I do the same again in a similar boat? Yes, although the elements of more space and comfort in a 33 are more attractive as I get older.

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VeloFellow
Posts: 129
Joined: Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:41 pm

Re: Freedom 28 cat ketch across the Atlantic

Post by VeloFellow »

Thanks so much for the history! I went out again today on our boat. Calm, I got some boat experience motoring. Six dolphin escorted us back to our slip ftom Tampa Bay.
Fair winds!
Mike
s/v Clave'
1981Freedom 28 #112
Currently sailing Tampa Bay
Buit by Fairways Marine Hamble England
cat ketch, centerboard , wishbone booms, tides track slides
yanmar 2ym15 2blade prop

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1980raven
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:50 pm
Location: Warwick Cove, Rhode Island

Re: Freedom 28 cat ketch across the Atlantic

Post by 1980raven »

Wow, thank you for the summary of your journey. It is the first I have heard of a F28CK crossing the Atlantic so I wondered if any special modifications were made to the boat, sails or rig. I am sure that I will require more sea miles before I am ready for an Atlantic crossing. Be well. Art (ice bound in Rhode Island)
Freedom 28 CK Hull# 14, centerboard, wrap around sails with WB booms
Narragansett Bay, RI

User avatar
VeloFellow
Posts: 129
Joined: Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:41 pm

Re: Freedom 28 cat ketch across the Atlantic

Post by VeloFellow »

Our "new" freedom 28 ck cb is Clave' .
Formerly Freeform! I guess I have a high mileage vehicle!
Experienced.
Mike
s/v Clave'
1981Freedom 28 #112
Currently sailing Tampa Bay
Buit by Fairways Marine Hamble England
cat ketch, centerboard , wishbone booms, tides track slides
yanmar 2ym15 2blade prop

peaceandfreedom
Posts: 258
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:51 pm
Location: F33 CK & F38 CK Milford ct

Re: Freedom 28 cat ketch across the Atlantic

Post by peaceandfreedom »

Hello VeloFellow,

Is the boat, in the link below from 2009, your boat? ( last picture on the page)

http://www.freedomyachts.org/viewtopic. ... 2&start=10

Happy Sailing
Jim D

Defiance
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 4:27 pm

Re: Freedom 28 cat ketch across the Atlantic

Post by Defiance »

Great recounting of your boat's history, pcobham! I know my big brother, VeloFellow, will enjoy his trips around Florida, and I look forward to his future posts of his escapades, complete with pictures!! (Hint!) :D

pcobham
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:26 pm

Re: Freedom 28 cat ketch across the Atlantic

Post by pcobham »

In reply to 1980Raven, the boat was a standard UK production boat at the time with no major changes to the sails or rig. I did add safety features such as jackstays, liferaft, horseshoe and dan buoy, radar reflector, and a radar detector (this was before AIS). Sails were repaired when needed, including by backstreet canvasworkers in Turkey and Tunisia. The main mast broke just above the deck after about 6000 miles, due to inadequate securing of the base by the British builders who, unknown to me when I ordered the boat, were on the verge of liquidation and cutting a few corners. TPI shipped a new mast to Cadiz, Spain and I got it fitted at a boatyard in Gibraltar, after which I had no more than the usual gear failures.

Happy sailing to all
Patrick

User avatar
1980raven
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:50 pm
Location: Warwick Cove, Rhode Island

Re: Freedom 28 cat ketch across the Atlantic

Post by 1980raven »

Thanks again for sharing your information. Good luck with your Freedom search. Art
Freedom 28 CK Hull# 14, centerboard, wrap around sails with WB booms
Narragansett Bay, RI

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