Freeman Boatworks
Builder of custom catamarans

Testimonials & Press

I took a trip with Capt. Billy Wells on memorial day in the Freeman Cat.  The weather and seas were awful, but your boat is WOW!  I can’t say in words  how impressed I was.  I have spent many years offshore in some pretty rough stuff in the Gulf of Mexico, but your boat is comfortable and FAST!  You usually get one or the other, not both.  If I had the money I’d write you a check for one today.  No that’s not true, I would have written you a check last Tuesday.  Good luck with your venture!

 

Captain David M Estes

Office: 337-474-7940

Cell: 337-526-8600

 

 

 

Rick Strawn

Moody, AL USA

I fished with Capt. Mike Sunday for the third time in the past 12 months and once again had  a great time. The weather tried  to get us for the third time on this trip but we finally got to fish. It was cold and the sea was nasty but the sickest boat in Venice made quick work of the ride out to the fish. The new Freeman 33 is seriously bad@ss. If you haven't fished in one, I would highly recommend it. Of course, Capt. Mike has the only one. We trolled a rig early and picked up a couple of nice wahoo then found a good school of blackfin. After picking off ten of those we made our way back to the rigs where we boated three more hoos including a 90 pounder. Another great trip with Mike. And I'm really not joking about the new boat. I had a couple great trips in the old one, but this his new Freeman 33 leaves nothing to be desired. How sweet it is to be jamming Drowning Pool while getting blitzed by a school of blackfin. And Mike was as always simply relentless.

 
Charles Campbell

Seabrook, TX USA

I had the pleasure of fishing with Captain Mike of Reel Peace Charters on Saturday January 26, 2008.  The weather kept us pinned down to the marina until about 8:30am but after the rain quit we were able to make our way through the fog and out Tiger Pass.  

Captain Mike was thoughtful enough to keep us behind the heavy weather and in comfortable seas considering the conditions.  We stayed out around 30 miles most of the day trolling platforms with lures for Wahoo.  It took a while to find the fish but once we did we made short work of landing 4 Yellowfin to about 40lbs and one Wahoo to 45lbs.

For those who don't know Captain Mike recently added a 33' Freeman catamaran to the Reel Peace Fleet.  Freeman Boat Works is a South Carolina based boatbuilder who is steeped in the art of building catamaran style offshore boats and has taken a modern approach to desiging a truly capable craft.  In todays charter boat world the capability of the boat is just as important as the captain's ability.

The Freeman 33 can chew up the 3-4' chop and spit out an impressive 30mph cruising speed.  Unlike most catamarans the "sneeze" (mist) from the bow is unnoticeable or irrelevant.  In rough seas there is nothing that shakes, nothing that rattles, a quality unseen in most competitors boats.  When it comes time to fish you can't argue the stability of a 10' wide fishing platform, the cockpit is very workable and the molded in bow coffin box makes a great location to store your day's catch.  The twin Suzuki 300hp engines not only make this one of the quickest catamarans on the water, but also keep the fuel bill to a minimum.  The boat is also rigged out with a full electronics suite of Furuno including a 6kw open array radar, and don't forget to bring your Ipod because Capt Mike also has a great sound system.

Captain Mike asked me to say a thing or two about his new ride and must admit it was the most impressive part about the whole trip.  Being in the boating industry for 8 years I can attest that it is the best riding catamaran I have ever fished out of, period.  Saturday was not a cocktail cruise on calm seas it was an all out sloppy mess and the perfect proving grounds for this new boat.


Papa

Metairie, LA USA

Had the pleasure of fishing with Capt. Billy Wells on his brand new 33' Freeman on Friday.  Despite some nasty rain, lightning and wind, managed to pull in two decent Amberjack, one Cobia and a 122 lb Yellowfin.  I know it doesn't make any sense, but the Yellowfin was caught on a live Crevalle Jack.  The new boat was incredible.  Got us where we needed to be quickly without draining the tanks and handled the 6 footers like a champ.  I'll see if I can get some pics from some of the others to post later.


T.J. Ray

Merritt Island, FL USA

Fishing By Brail

My second trip to Venice in te last few months and ofcourse never disappointing.We left the dock early to get bait so we could have sevral options through theday. we had a little fog to contend with but th sun cracked at the gulf and it was warm and calm.We started off a little slow,but Capt Mike kept seaching.We got a couple fish in the boat and guess who showed up..Mother nature and it must of been that time of the month!!!!! She brought all her friends.NE winds to 25knts.,rain,and fog all at one time..and that is when the fish really turned on.We got on a school of hoo on a rig (that you couldn't even see 100ft way)that would blow you away.Three rods at one time would scream and chaos began.We got all of them to about 70#'s.
I must say alittle about the Freeman 33, if I was on anything else I would of begged to go home.What a machine!!!  I rig electronics for a living so I've been on almost every thing on the market and I am impressed.The boat is fast,stable,and dry..When the seas really kicked up I could not beleive the speed we could make and be comfortable. Nice Boat Mike "I want one"
Well my hats off to the builder and the cat boat world is in trouble.

Thanks for a great day Mike
T.J. Ray


 After what seemed like forever, Billy dropped off hull #1 to me down in Venice. Just in time for me to get her ready for the first charter on her on Dec 27th. The boat is badass! I ran every other boat out there that I thought would be a good boat for our conditions in the nothern gulf, but none came close to the Freeman. One word of warning: don't take a test ride unless you are ready to write a check for it. With every boat I have ever owned I could sit down and write a list of what I do and don't like, and what I wish the builder would have done different. To say the least, I am very picky when it comes to my "office". But, there is nothing I would have had him do different. All of the phone calls and the questions and the different ideas, Billy Freeman was able to come through and incorporate everything I wanted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the performance. We had winds 10-15 kts with a 2-3 ft short chop, most of the day, and I was able to run 4600 and doing 37kts on the way out. Burning 29.4 gals per hour. Once I hit the gulf I pullled her back to 33kts, not because I needed to, just because that was close to the speed I was use to running in my Glacier Bay. I did keep easing the throttles forward because the boat was riding so smooth. The boat rides so good I had a guy put two bean bags in the bow and sleep for a 15 mile run to the next spot. It was only 2-3, but typically, your not going to sit in the bow and sleep in that. The total miles for the trip was roughly 160 round trip, and the fuel burn was 95-100 gals. I turned the engines on at 530am and they didn't shut off until 430pm that afternoon. When we were running we were at 27-36.7kts, the rest of the day was spent at 7.5kts trolling for wahoo. So, doing the math, your looking at 1.68 miles per gallon with 280 gallons in the tanks, at the end of the day I didn't feel beat up, my muscles weren't tense from the typical catamaran ride. I am very pleased with the boat, if anyone is looking for a hardcore fishing boat that can be custom designed, you have to come fishing on my Freeman33.

Capt Mike Ellis

504-715-6597

 


When your livelihood depends on having the best equipment available to get you to and from the fishing grounds as quickly, efficiently, comfortably, and safely as possible, there is no room for compromise. That is why I fish a Freeman 33. There is no comparison. All of the positives of a catamaran style boat and none of the negatives. After ten years of chartering in the choppy Gulf of Mexico I have finally found the perfect boat. There is no way to put it in words. It makes me feel like I am 21 years old again. The boat really is incredible!

Captain Billy Wells

504-329-7451


e. byrne edwards

Lafayette, LO USA


capt billy wells put us on some nice yellowfin tuna sunday.we had to run to the floaters in some rough water but the fish were there. live hardtails were the key,and the ones we caught were a bit too big, but that didn't stop the hungry yellowfin from trying to eat um.  we filled our ice chest with great fillets and had a fun trip. I have never ridden on any boat like billys Freeman 33 catamaran.  high speed over 4 footers with no pounding at all. this guy has top of the line tackle , bait and boat and he knows how to use it all. Good trip.

Monday, January 26, 2009 @ 8:05:51 PM

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Offshore/Bluewater Fishing


 

Went fishing with Capt Billy Wells in Venice, Louisiana  this past weekend (Aug 24 and 25). The Freeman 33’ is an incredible boat. The ride out felt like I was riding in a luxury sedan with enough horsepower to get to the fish before the sun was fully up. Once out there, the fishing was fantastic. We had multiple double and triple hook ups with huge tuna. The boat is so well designed that we were able to maneuver around the boat with three people hooked at a time without ever losing a fish. I even got to drive some!

 

Great boat, great fishing, great trip.

Jay E. Bressler

Columbia, SC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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