Freedom 12

Freedom 12 my first boat

How did it all begin?

It was in 2014 when I wandered into my home club, The Royal Selangor Yacht Club (RSYC)

Many years ago, possibly mid-1970s, as a small child probably around 5 or 6, I had visited this club, whilst my uncle was the General Manager, but I can only remember being here and the place was so dark.

I came here and joined to become a member with the hope of learning to sail. There was no thought of owning a boat, let alone attempting a circumnavigation. At the time, it was just a matter of learning and I guess being curious…..

One of the persons I met earliest there was Mr. Ramasamy Menon, who started this interest in sailboats. for me. He has a Dehler 38, which he uses primarily for racing. At the time racing seemed interesting!

I enrolled in a basic sailing course on a Farr 25 Platu, which is a very light sailboat, primarily for racing. It was fun, although I hated knots and still do. I just can’t seem to get it! That is my other half’s role onboard! She is better at knots and some of those things which I don’t have the patience for. ( more on her on another page)

While doing these racers, I thought about, would it be not better to race my own boat rather than getting or renting the club’s boat. So I started looking around the club for any small old boat, and found the Eygthene 24 - called Jandi. She had passed many owners over the years. I bought her from her then current owner and renamed her - Freedom 12.

Now about the names - I did not know anything about bad juju about renaming boats and renamed her. No fanfare.

Freedom 12 - Freedom is what I felt when on the water and 12 - is the my birth date, hence Destiny 12 also.

Painting of Freedom 12 by Sutha