A fast, fun catamaran that is safe and comfortable may once have been a pipe dream, but is now perhaps the biggest growth market in yachting. However, creating a performance catamaran at or below 45ft is no easy task. It’s an elusive sweet spot because many buyers think they want what the 50ft+ catamarans offer but in a more manageable and, crucially, affordable package. Meanwhile from the designers’ and yards’ point of view, that’s not so easily achieved – in particular the challenge of keeping a boat light enough to perform, yet offer all the amenities expected of multihull living.
Then try building something on which you can still turn a profit? That focusses the mind. It could be argued that those meeting this challenge most creatively and effectively at the moment are HH, led by experienced boatbuilder Paul Hakes, and in particular his son James – the 44’s lead designer. They describe this new baby of their range as ‘groundbreaking’.
The HH44 seemingly combines all the latest thinking around performance and technology while also adding a liberal sprinkling of fresh ideas, including being the first production catamaran to feature parallel hybrid propulsion. And all this while still being capable of ocean cruising.
Can such a feature-rich fast cat work harmoniously at this size though? I was keen
