The Freedom 39 PH is an American

pilothouse A bridge (also known as a command deck), or wheelhouse (also known as a pilothouse), is a room or platform of a ship, submarine, airship, or spacecraft, spaceship from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is under way, the bridge is manne ...

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

that was designed by

Ron Holland Ronald John Holland (born 1947 in Auckland, New Zealand)Ron Holland:De ...

and

Gary Hoyt Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;United States *Gary (Tampa), Florida *Gary, Ind ...

as a

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

and first built in 1983.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 332-333. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. The Freedom 39 PH was introduced at the same time as the related Freedom 39 design, a boat with a similar hull, but a

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch f ...

rig and a conventional aft cockpit, without a pilothouse.

Production

The boat was built by Tillotson Pearson in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for

Freedom Yachts Freedom Yachts was the maker of the Freedom (sail) and Legacy (power) yacht brands. The Freedom sailboats have Unstayed mast, unstayed rigs, meaning that the Mast (sailing), mast is freestanding and not supported by the normal set of wires call ...

, starting in 1983.

Design

The Freedom 39 PH is a recreational

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

using a

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as balsa, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma'', and is classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the mallow family Malvaceae. The tree is fa ...

core, with wooden trim. It is a

cat-rigged A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat) is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast (sailing), mast set well forward in the Bow (ship), bow of a very Glossary of nautical terms (A-L)#beam, beamy and (usually) shallow Draft (hull), draft hul ...

schooner, with

carbon-fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

conventional booms and two free-standing carbon-fiber masts. It has an aft cockpit and a low-mounted pilothouse forward of the cockpit. It features a

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a slightly

reverse transom In some boats and ships, a transom is the aft transverse surface of the hull that forms the stern of a vessel. Historically, they are a development from the canoe stern (or "double-ender") wherein which both bow and stern are pointed. Transom ...

, a

skeg A skeg (or skegg or skag) is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line. The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard."A small fin f ...

-mounted

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

controlled by a

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

and a fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

. The pilothouse has a second wheel for steering. The design displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel fitted. The boat is fitted with a British

Perkins Engines Perkins Engines Company Limited is primarily a diesel engine manufacturer for several markets including agricultural, construction, material handling, power generation, and Industrial sector, industrial. It was established in Peterborough, Eng ...

for docking and maneuvering. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The design has sleeping accommodations for six people. It has a private, aft, double cabin, under the cockpit, accessed from the pilothouse, a double settee berth in the pilothouse and a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin. There is a captain's chair in the pilothouse, along with a navigation station. The

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

is U-shaped and located just aft of the bow cabin. It includes a three-burner

propane Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...

stove, an oven and double sinks. There are two separate heads, one just aft of the bow cabin on the starboard side, opposite the galley and another in the aft cabin on the port side. The forward head includes a molded fiberglass shower. Ventilation is provided by two opening ports in the aft cabin and four hatches, located over the bow cabin, the forward head, the galley and the main cabin. All sail controls are led to the cockpit which includes two winches and sheet stoppers. The

halyard In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist a ladder, sail, flag or yard. The term "halyard" derives from the Middle English ''halier'' ("rope to haul with"), with the last syllable altered by association with the E ...

s, the

reefing Reefing reduces the area of a sail, usually by folding or rolling one edge of the canvas in on itself and attaching the unused portion to a Spar (sailing), spar or a , as the primary measure to preserve a sailing vessel's stability in strong wi ...

lines and the

boom vang A boom vang (US) or kicking strap (UK) (often shortened to "vang" or "kicker") is a line or piston system on a sailboat used to exert downward force on the boom and thus control the shape of the sail. The Collins English Dictionary defines it a ...

for the aft mast are all controlled from the cockpit.

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "this cruiser was designed to offer the advantages of a schooner but with improved windward sailing characteristics. Since there is no forestay it cannot sag, and upwind performance is improved. The pilothouse is very low and does not block vision from the cockpit."

References

{{Pearson Yachts Keelboats 1980s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by Gary Hoyt Sailboat type designs by Ron Holland Sailboat types built by Pearson Yachts

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References