Rig Specifications - Freedom 25

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jjspearson
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:16 pm

Rig Specifications - Freedom 25

Post by jjspearson »

We recently purchased a 1984 Freedom 25 with the round mast. We race the boat in the local club and have used the gun mount spinnaker with limited success. We saw a post in the "other" Freedom site, that talked about windward performance improvement using a Melges 24 jib tacked to the deck rather than to the top of the gun mount. We have a smaller jib that tacks to the gun mount, and just purchased a new/used Melges 24 Kevlar jib to try out. The measurements that we have for the Blade Staysail that tacks to the gun mount is LF = 26.51' and LP = 8.22. We measured the luff tacked to the deck at about 28.6', so two feet longer. The sail we bought is: LF = 28.2'; Leach = 25.7'; Foot = 9.9'; and LP = 9.1'. This boat has a short track with moveable lead car, mounted on the cabin top. Does anyone else have a track for sheeting the staysail? Is anyone using a blade statsail tacked to the deck and if so what should the measurements be for the sail?

Also, the measurements we have for the spinnaker is LF = 32' and SMW = 17.1'. Does anyone know if these are the correct specifications for a spinnaker using the gun mount?

Jim and Sarah Pearson
"Wenonah"
1984 Freedom 25 (Hull 207)
Round Mast
Outboard

unfetteredalexandria
Posts: 128
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:57 pm

Re: Rig Specifications - Freedom 25

Post by unfetteredalexandria »

Jim & Sarah,

My wife and I purchased hull number 206, also round mast, from its second owner in April 2007. The boat came with what the prior owner believed to be the original sails. Over the winter I had Steve Haarstick cut us a new Dacron cruising main and 3/4 oz chute. So far we have had the boat out only once since last week's splash, and I can say that I am quite happy with the results so far. The prior owner had made his own staysail from a Sailrite pattern, but we did not purchase it from him, so I can't help you directly. But FWIW, here are the measurements I personally made on the rig for the Haarstick order:

P = 29'-2"
E = 13'-4"
SH = 28'-3"
SMG = 17'-1"
LF = 26'-6"

As for LP, Haarstick offered us two options, one around 7' and one around 13'; he really pushed the bigger one for light air, and I nearly bought it, but in the end decided to wait, as this was already a pretty expensive order.

As for SL, I have a number written down, 29'-0", but I can't find any notes as to how I got it. The chute we got from Haarstick did not include measurements. I'm sure he would tell you if you asked him.

I'd like to hear how your staysail works out, as I do hope we might race "Unfettered" at some point, and I would need to get a staysail to have a chance.

If you are anywhere near Annapolis, it might be fun to meet & chat sometime about our "sister ships."
1984 round-mast Freedom 25
Western Shore of the Chesapeake

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GeoffSchultz
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Re: Rig Specifications - Freedom 25

Post by GeoffSchultz »

The following is a reply that the digest robot received from Herm Schiller. I guess that he thought that he could reply via e-mail as you do on the Yahoo forums.
Jim and Sarah,
I know that the mast on the round-mast version of the F-25 is taller than the wingmast. It's also slower upwind compared to the wingmast. How long is your spinnaker pole/yard? The measurement you give for the base of your spinnaker is too long for the wingmast version of the pole (16+ feet as I remember). Your spinny will always be useful for dead downwind, but unless you can flatten it some (equivalent to sheeting in a conventional spinnaker) you'll never get the reaching capability you should have. Herm
BlueJacket
1997 Freedom 40/40
http://www.GeoffSchultz.org

jjspearson
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:16 pm

Re: Rig Specifications - Freedom 25

Post by jjspearson »

Thanks to those that responded to my Freedom 25 rig questions. We have not used the Melges 24 jib tacked to the deck as yet. The foot was too long for the existing track on the cabin top. I have extended the track and we will probably try the jib with the new track in a race tonight. We blew out the 3/4 oz spinnaker that came with the boat and have not purchased a replacement. As I said in the previous post, the mid girth measurement I got for a new spinnaker is about 17.1 feet. I think that is consistent with a 16 foot pole in that I think the foot is usually shorter than the mid girth. Only used the old spinnaker downwind, so we didn't have any experience with it reaching.

We have not had much luck being competitive to windward, using the small sta-sail that tacks to gun mount. If the wind is in the 15 knot range we have been trying to carry the full main to windward so that we have more sail area for the down wind leg. In that wind range we are over powered with the full main and the sta-sail. With the large fully battened main, do you de-power by easing the traveler to leeward and sheeting the sail in hard, like you would with a standard main or are there other techniques we should be using? The main is an older, heavy Haarstick main and we wondered how much a lighter weight low stretch main would help? In what wind range should we be looking at reefing the main and what about un-reefing going downwind?

Does any one have any comments on the "chop top" main that Hansen Sails made for the Freedom 25 with the rotating mast. Would that sail work with the round fixed mast?

Jim and Sarah Pearson
"WENONAH"
1984 Round Mast Freedom 25
Outboard
Hull Number 207

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