Boat models · Freedom
Freedom 38 Shoal keel
Sailboat, coastal cruiser · built 1989 · designed by Gary Mull
Key figures
Comfort27.4moderate
Capsize screen1.95passes for offshore
SA/D13.9undercanvassed
D/L264moderate
Ballast ratio0.38average
Hull speed7.4kt
- Built
- 1989
- Designer
- Gary Mull
- Builder
- Tillotson Pearson Inc. (Freedom Yachts), USA
- Rig
- Fractional sloop (free-standing mast)
- Keel
- Fin (shoal), lead ballast, spade rudder
- Length
- 37.9 ft
- Beam / draft
- 12.5 ft · 4.5 ft
- Displacement
- 16,970 lb
Design figures as published, not for any one hull. Full specifications on sailboatdata.com.
Reputation
Classcoastal cruiseras owners use it
Forumsrespectedpicked over its peers
Easy-handling unstayed cat-sloop cruiser; skip it if you want to point high or race
- Coastal cruising
- respected · simple rig, roomy interior, easy short-handed
- Singlehanding
- loved · self-tacking jib, no stays, easy sail handling
- Club racing
- ordinary · doesn't point as high as conventional sloops
- Offshore passages
- mixed · shoal keel and light build give some owners pause
- Loved
- unstayed carbon mast, no rigging to inspect · self-tacking jib makes tacking trivial · shoal draft opens up thin water · comfortable, well-laid-out interior
- Gripes
- mediocre pointing to windward · shoal keel adds leeway · boom vang and sail shape hard to tune · limited sail options from specialty lofts
- Survey for
- mast partner and step wear or cracking · balsa deck core moisture · mast boot leaks · keel bolts and keel-to-hull joint
- Cross-shopped
- Freedom 36 · Pearson 37 · Sabre 38 · Tartan 37
Owner opinion from sailboatdata.com, practical-sailor.com, cruisersforum.com
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