Tartan, Sabre, Freedom

[gknopp]

Im starting to get more serious about looking higher quality boats in the 35-37 range. Im also looking to buy a boat from the 1988-1995 range with a bidget of 120-150k.

Any opinions on these makes in terms of

- Ease of sailing for a couple
- Quality of constuction and lower cost of ownership
- Ability to hold its value

[Jeff_H]

Your inquiry is a little like those college entry exams that ask: "Which item does not match the other three: grapes, apples, tomatoes and tennis shoes". Obviously the Freedom and the tennis shoes are the odd item in the mix.

Depending on year and model the Tartan and Sabre are similar boats offering goof performance, nice finish and good accomodations albeit set up for coastal cruising conditions. Both come reasonably well equipped to be handled by a cruising couple and offer the tools that are necessary to shift gears with wind speed changes.

Freedoms are something different. They are designed around their unusual choice of rig. In that they only come with comparatively small headsails they are are easy to tack and jibe. Thier mainsail is self-depowering and the lack of a backstay allows them to use a big roached mainsail to try to make up for the lost drive of not using a bigger genoa. In a general sense fractional rigs are easier to handle short-handed although the absense of a backstay negates some of the ususal fractional rig advantages. This comes at a price. Freestanding rigs generally offer less performance. This is partially caused by the inability to carry a properly tight forestay and the disproportionately large portions thier mainsails operating in the turbulance behind thier significantly larger mast diameter. The higher weight if the freedtanding rig also tends to mean more rolling and pitching. Freedom appears to have tried to reduce pitching and compensate for the increased weight near the bow by increasing the volume of the bow and in doing so further reduces the ability to go to windward and to comfortably drive into a head sea. These full ends are the opposite of the current design theories which try to keep the bow finer to improve motion comfort, reduce spray and increase speed.

All three are pretty much of equal quality but the later Freedoms that were built by TPI using the SCRIMP System have probably a little better built hulls and decks.

One serious issue with Freedom''s carbon fiber rig is getting it insured. Quite a few marine insurance companies are refusing to insure boats with Carbon Fiber rigs (or else excluding the rig and any damage that the rig causes when failing). This is a bit ironic since Freedom''s rigs have held up quite well. The problem turns out to be lightning strikes. Carbon fiber is conductive and so a lighting strike or even the induced current from a lightning strike will move through the fiber. This also happens with a conventional aluminum and stainless steel rig but unlike a conventional rig, once the carbon fiber has conducted this high amperage it looses a lot of its strength and so can look normal but fail prematurely. When I was looking for a boat a few years ago I looked at a boat with a carbon fiber spar (conventionally stayed) and was told about the insurance issue. I would check this with your own insurance carrier.

As to holding values, both Tartan and Sabre seem to hold their values quite well. Freedoms are a harder call. The company has a core group of strong followers and what I would guess to be a much larger group od sailor that don''t buy into the inherent inefficiencies of Freedom''s rig. They seem to be harder to sell but seem to hold thier value pretty well once a ''true believer'' is found.

Jeff

[SailorMitch]

Jeff covered this pretty well, but I want to add a couple of things about Freedom and their carbon fiber masts. First, check the archives on the Sailnet email list for Freedom for subject lines about the CF masts. While their record is pretty good, the CF masts do fail -- and it''s big $$$ to replace them when they do if not covered by warranty or insurance.

In particular, watch out for "cosmetic" cracks in these masts. One fellow bought an older Freedom with cosmetic cracks that didn''t turn out to be so cosmetic once the mast came down in rather benign conditions. Some people suggest having the masts x-rayed, which apparently can be done for something less than a fortune. In this fellow''s case, his insurance company refused to cover the loss saying it was normal wear and tear. He said it had been struck by lightening but couldn''t prove that was the cause. He was struggling to find an affordable source for a new CF mast. Neither Freedom nor TPI stood behind the product, although Freedom, which monitors that email list, was offering some vague help.

The Freedom 35, designed by Dave Pedrick, fits right in your size range, and is a very attractive boat. It also came with an option for an overlapping jib that many buyers ordered. Practical Sailor also did a favorable review of the 35. I know a guy who owns one and loves it. Check it out, but also be sure the mast of any Freedom you look at is sound.

I also suggest lurking on the email lists for all 3 boats you mention, although the Freedom list is not too active. Through time you can learn quite a bit about boats from current owners writing in about problems, solutions, etc -- and even from what they are not writing in about compared to other lists.

My pick of the 3 makes is Sabre, but that''s just me. Should I hit the lottery, a new S-362 would be in my slip rather quickly.