Refit Round-Up Part.1: Surviving a Stormflod and Rebuilding a Freedom 30

Every boat refit has a turning point. A specific moment where a project transitions from a relaxed, weekend hobby into an all-consuming mission. For Alex, that turning point arrived on the wings of a historic Scandinavian storm surge. Today, we are heading to the Mads' homeland to look at an incredible, high-stakes DIY journey that spans three countries, an international lockdown, and a complete structural resurrection.

A Unique Rig and an International Beginning

Alex lives in Broager, Denmark, and keeps his boat in the nearby Sønderborg Lystbådehavn. The vessel in question is something special: a Freedom 30 cat-ketch (marketed as the Freedom 28 to our friends in the US). If you know Freedom yachts, you know they are famous for their unique, unstayed carbon-fiber wrapped masts and double wishbone booms.

Alex bought the boat in England back in 2019 with a vision of doing a full renovation. But as any boat owner who lived through 2020 knows, global events had other plans.

The early phase of the project became a masterclass in international logistics. While living in Luxembourg, Alex had to coordinate work on the boat while it sat across the English Channel in Portland Bill. Despite the distance and strict lockdown travel restrictions, he managed to get the critical mast work sorted out. The original carbon laminate on both freestanding poles had some damage, requiring a joint engineering effort between Alex, Mike Male of Apollo Marine, and Eric Sponsberg. Eric was the naval architect who originally designed the masts for Tillotson-Pearson when Garry Hoyt’s design first went into production.

At the same time, the old wrap-around sails were upgraded to a modern loose-laced, battened setup by Moatt Sails, and Alex tackled his first rounds of mechanical work: replacing the engine exhaust, muffler, and seawater pump on the 25-year-old Yanmar 2GM20.

With the looming Brexit cut-off date fast approaching, Alex made a break for it, sailing the boat to Belgium just in time to clear the strict VAT and registration hurdles.

Mother Nature Steps In: The 2023 Stormflod

Eventually, life moved Alex to Denmark. He sailed the Freedom up from Belgium and secured a berth in Sønderborg, fully intending to settle into a comfortable, easy-paced, step-by-step renovation.

Then came October 2023.

A massive stormflod (storm surge) battered the Danish coastline. When the water receded, the Freedom was left with a smashed rudder, a damaged lower rudder fitting, a stove-in bow, and torn-off rubbing strakes.

While a disaster like that would cause many to walk away, Alex saw it as a definitive sign from the universe: it was time to go all-in.

The Reconstruction Timeline

Turning adversity into action, Alex rolled up his sleeves and laid out a multi-year battle plan to completely rebuild the boat from the inside out:

• 2024 (The Structural Foundations): Alex re-made the rudder completely from scratch, using our very own Athena rudder fabrication process as his blueprint (Mange tak, Alex! We are so glad those videos helped!). He relaminated the bow, made his first structural repairs to the stern, and gutted the boat. He also tore out old headliners, interior carpentry, and aging DC wiring and water hoses.

• 2025 (The Core Surgery): Dealing with an older balsa-core fiberglass sandwich deck and hull above the waterline means hunting down rot. Alex spent the year surgically removing wet balsa, replacing it with modern, closed-cell PVC foam. He swapped out old windows and hatches, sanded the damaged deck and cabin-top gelcoat back to structural laminate, and meticulously epoxied, faired, and primed the topsides.

• 2026 (The Race to the Water): This year was all about mechanical reassembly and getting the hull safe for the sea. Alex rewired and re-plumbed the engine, swapped out old through-hulls (adding proper safety tubes to them all), and sanded the hull below the waterline down to the raw fiberglass. He sealed it with epoxy, faired it, and applied a biocide-free anti-fouling paint that is now strictly required across much of Scandinavia.

  
  

With a hard deadline looming, the new rudder was hung, the steering gear was serviced, and the final topcoat was applied to the topsides.

The ultimate payoff? She went back in the water, she floats beautifully, and the Yanmar fired right up.

Behind the Scenes with Alex

Now that the boat is back in her element, Alex is focusing on the interior details, wiring up new cabin lights, installing a new black-water tank and head, and re-bedding the deck hardware. The final major hurdle on the horizon? Getting those massive, freestanding carbon masts stepped back into place.

We asked Alex to give us the real, unfiltered reality of what this massive undertaking has been like:

The Project Rating:

The Most Satisfying Moments: "Hard to say. I like setting up rigging and sails best, working on the sail-handling processes. Second, tinkering with the diesel."

The Worst Part: "Strenuous sanding over long periods. I get arthritic-type aches in my hands, which will be a problem sailing the damn boat if I don’t finish it soon. I am not sure that is especially character-building!"

The Workshop MVP: The absolute lifesaver of this entire project has been the trusty Bosch multitool.

The Project Rating: 🔨🔨🔨

Currently sitting at a definitive 3 out of 5 hammers on the frustration scale.

Alex, thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with us.

Your grit through lockdowns, international borders, and a literal natural disaster is an inspiration to the entire community. We can't wait to see those wishbone booms catching the wind soon!

What's your project rating?

Are you currently elbow-deep in a fiberglass repair, or chasing down a mystery DC electrical short? Drop a comment below, and give Alex some encouragement for the last few hurdles of his refit!