HOME WATERS FIRST YEAR OF FREEDOM
Searching for a new boat to replace our beloved Victoria 26 wasn’t easy. During September 2020, after nine months of looking, we placed a Facebook ad that read: ‘Thinking of selling your Freedom 35ft ketch? My wife and I are keen to buy one. Any age and any condition considered.’
We had looked at hundreds of ads online and examined nearly 20 boats in the flesh, including everything from Hillyards to Tahitianas and any number of Sadlers, Saltrams and Standfasts. But the boat that had really excited us was a Freedom 35 we saw out of the water in Plymouth. My wife, Anna, and our children loved the modern (well, ok, 1980s!) interior and I was intrigued by the boat’s rig. For years, I’d noticed the Freedom range and liked their clean, unfussy lines and bold free-standing ketch rig. But they’d always been out of my budget – until now.
We saw that first Freedom on a Saturday, but by the time we called on the Monday to put in an offer, she had already been sold. It was peak pandemic and the boat-buying fever meant anything good was being snapped up very quickly. We saw two more Freedom 35s in the
