Freedom 21

The Freedom 21 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Gary Hoyt and first built in 1982. It was available as a catboat or sloop rig.

Production
The design was built by Tillotson Pearson for Freedom Yachts in the United States from 1982 to 1987, but it is now out of production.

A retractable twin wing keel, iron ballast version was also built in the United Kingdom and at least 40 were sold.

Design
The Freedom 21 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with wood trim. It has a catboat rig with a freestanding carbon fiber mast and a fully-battened mainsail. A sloop rig was optional. The hull has a raked stem, a vertical transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed fin keel or shoal draft keel.

The boat is normally fitted with a small 3 to 6 hp outboard motor for docking and maneuvering.

The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin and two straight settee berths in the main cabin. The galley is located on the starboard side just aft of the bow cabin. The galley is equipped with a sink. Cabin headroom is 54 in.

For sailing the design is equipped with gun-mount spinnaker with a launching tube.

The design has a PHRF racing average handicap of 260 and a hull speed of 5.6 kn.

Variants

 * Freedom 21
 * This catboat model displaces 2000 lb and carries 500 lb of ballast. The boat has a draft of 3.75 ft with the standard keel.


 * Freedom 21 SLP
 * This sloop-rigged model displaces 1800 lb and carries 500 lb of ballast. The boat has a draft of 3.80 ft with the standard keel.


 * Freedom 21 SLP SD
 * This shoal draft model displaces 2050 lb and has a draft of 2.00 ft.

Operational history
In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "here's a catboat with a modern flavor ... The deep fin is a better performer, but hard to get off a trailer without a crane. Best features: Deep cockpit coamings and a cockpit well proportioned for good foot-bracing help make the Freedom 21 a pleasure to sail. So does the easy-to-control gunmount spinnaker arrangement, which allows you to douse the chute by just popping the halyard and lowering the chute into its launching tube by hauling on a retrieving line. Worst features: Going forward isn't always easy, since the port side is taken over by the chute launching tube. She's not fast upwind, especially as a catboat. (A staysail can be rigged.) And her unusual appearance, with dark, wraparound 'windshield,' may not appeal to everyone."