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2024 Boat of the Year: HH44

• By Dave Reed
• December 18, 2023

On a cool late-October morning in Annapolis, Maryland, Sailing World ’s Boat of the Year judges stepped on board the gleaming red HH44 built by the Hudson Yacht Group in China. With them for the test sail was HH Catamarans president Seth Hynes and commissioning skipper Chris Bailet, who had tuned the rig and bent on the boat’s Dacron delivery sails. (The race sails were delayed in shipping.) It was their first time sailing the boat too, and like the judges, they were eager to see what it could do.

As the crew slipped dock lines and motored away in silence, the boat’s twin 10-kilowatt electric engines propelled the sleek catamaran through the mooring field in silence. If not for the sound of water gurgling from the transoms and the apparent wind blowing across the foredeck, the judges could barely tell they were underway.

The mainsail was then carefully hoisted inside the lazy jacks, and the halyard held firm with an innovative Karver KJ cone (a conical rope-holding device that acts like a restricter). They bore away and unfurled the non-overlapping jib, which snapped full, and the boat immediately accelerated. 

“Once we got going, it was 5, 6, 7 knots and then—boom—we’re right up to 10,” Stewart says. And with that they were laying tracks all over the Chesapeake Bay, making good pace on all points of sail, even without a reaching sail to deploy. (That too was stuck in transit.)

After two hours of straight-­lining, tacking, jibing, and enjoying the comforts of the interior in a 10- to 15-knot southerly and sharp Chesapeake chop, I extracted the judges from the boat and asked, “So?”

“Boat of the Year,” was veteran Boat of the Year judge Chuck Allen’s immediate response. “That thing is wicked.”

Greg Stewart and Mike Ingham confirmed with nods of approval and big grins. There was no need to debate any further: The HH44 had earned the first award of what will be more to come. This $2 million crossover catamaran is the performance sailor’s retirement race boat. [Editor’s note: The judges’ estimated price was based on an expected racing inventory and associated hardware, but according to HH Catamarans, the new 2024 pricing is as follows: The HH44-OC will start at $995K and is approximately $1.3m fully optioned with EcoDrive and sails). The HH44-SC will start at $1.45m and be approximately $1.6 million fully optioned with EcoDrive and sails.]

With a stated 37 of these 44-footers on order as of late October and a waiting list of three-plus years, HH44s will someday be scattered about in cruising grounds around the world, says Hynes. But it’s only a matter of time—and it will be sooner than later—before owners gather and give the racing thing a go.  

The HH44 is the smallest of the builder’s new lineage of hybrid-powered performance catamarans (there is a 52-footer in the works), so it is positioned as an entry point into big-cat sailing. This model does not require a professional captain or crew because simplicity and owner-operator considerations are prevalent throughout the boat, which is designed by young naval architect James Hakes, son of Paul Hakes, one of the company founders. Chinese entrepreneur Hudson Wang is the other “H” of HH Catamarans.

“It had a great groove upwind. The self-tacking jib was really easy to deal with, and for the mainsail it was just a few feet of ease on the mainsheet, adjust the powered traveler up to center, trim on and go.”

“James brought the hybrid idea with him, and Hudson was willing to take a risk and look at doing something kind of game-changing in the industry with our parallel-­hybrid approach,” Hynes says. Morrelli & Melvin was intimately involved in every performance aspect of the boat, from the appendages to the final hull profile.

“It’s a diesel engine with a shaft drive, and then independent of that is an electric motor with a belt to the shaft, so they’re really independent of each other,” Hynes explains.  

HH isn’t the first or only builder to use the system from Hybrid Marine, but Hake’s approach to the boat overall is inextricably linked to maximizing solar coverage, which means a clean roof and placing the helm stations down in the cockpit. To address the known challenges of cockpit steering in such catamarans, the steering wheels pivot inboard and outboard to allow for better forward visibility and communication with anyone on the foredeck dealing with sails, anchors or dock lines.

Placing the steering stations in the cockpit eliminates the tiered wedding-cake look of most big catamarans these days. More importantly, doing so allows them to lower the sail plan. “That allows for more sail area and less stress on the standing rigging,” Stewart says. “Plus, it looks so much better.”

There are 4,432 watts worth of solar panels piled onto the coach roof, which Hynes says has plenty of juice to get by off the grid, even in low-light conditions. “At full battery capacity, you can run the boat at full throttle using the two 10-kilowatt electric motors and get 7 knots of boatspeed for approximately two hours,” he says. “In light air, you can even keep your leeward electric motor running to build yourself some apparent wind. That’s what’s great about this system: You can sail quietly when no one else can sail at all.”

The port helm station is where a lot of the boathandling happens; there are powered halyard winches and a meticulous array of labeled jammers. Tails disappear into a deep trough forward of the pedestal. The wheels are sized just right, Stewart says. “Initially, I was steering from the weather wheel and I could see fine, and when I went to the leeward wheel, I could easily see the telltales. It had a great feel to the helm—light and responsive with no slop or tightness.”

In Allen’s sailing assessment of the HH44: “It had a great groove upwind. The self-tacking jib was really easy to deal with, and for the mainsail it was just a few feet of ease on the mainsheet, adjust the powered traveler up to center, trim on and go. There is some choreography to learn with the steering wheel, though. You have to move the wheel inboard to get better access to the sail and daggerboard controls during the tack. But once you’re done, you pop the wheel right back out to the outboard position. We didn’t have a screecher to really light it up downwind, but even with the Dacron jib and main, the boat took off. I was really impressed.”

One wish for Stewart would be a sliver of a coach roof window for quick sail-trim checks, but he understood the priority of using every inch of solar-panel coverage.

Not having a sail-trim window wasn’t an issue for Ingham, however. “Most of the time, you’ll trim it to your best guess, take a step outboard and up the stairs right next to the wheel, and check yourself on the trim. It’s all push buttons anyway, so you’re not having to reload a winch or anything like that every time you make an adjustment.”

Even as the morning’s fresh breeze abated, the boat continued to perform beyond expectations, Stewart says. “As we got down to 5 knots of wind, the boat was still quick through the tacks. We didn’t have to back the jib at all, and it sailed at good angles upwind. I was impressed with how well it tacked, and how well it tracked with only one daggerboard down.”

Stewart, a naval architect himself, also appreciated the boat’s modern styling and “sexy-looking profile,” especially the uncluttered interior. “It’s a nice departure from other similar-­size catamarans,” he says. “I like the styling—it caught my eye the very first time I saw the rendering. The transom angle and the reverse bow give it nice aesthetics and the buoyancy you need. The curved boards worked well and are integrated nicely on with the boat. Overall, it’s a great-looking package, and it would be a lot of fun to do some races on.”

“We will definitely end up racing in the Caribbean and doing some fun events for owners,” Bailet says. “The cool thing about this boat is you can take a smaller crew of friends and race competitively, and it isn’t going to cost you $50,000 in paid crew and housing. You can race this boat with three or four people, no problem. Doublehandling is pretty easy too, but if you really wanted to go banging around the buoys, with this boat it would be easy.”

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Performance Catamaran Comparisons

Performance cruising cats are becoming more popular and mainstream. A lot more brands have become available on the market over the last 10 years. Some of the most popular and well known performance cat brands are Catana, Outremer, HH Catamarans, and Balance. These boats’ popularity is not only driven by their amazing sailing abilities but also by YouTube channels like Sailing La Vagabond with their Outremer 45 and Gone with the Wynns who recently bought an HH 50 OC.

We Joined the Performance Catamaran Enthusiasts!

Catamaran Guru acquired a Catana Ocean Class 50. We take possession of the boat in September 2022 at the Cannes Yachting Festival .  After a hiatus for a few years to focus on the Bali range, Catana released in 2022 their Catana OC 50 that has the industry abuzz including ourselves. Its new bulkhead helm station, the open plan design, the comfort, interior spaciousness, and the affordability convinced us to take the leap and buy one. Read our review here>>

Let’s Look at Some Fundamentals

Of course, before we bought the Catana OC 50, we did a little research on the most popular performance catamarans. We wanted to see how these boats compare in performance.  One of the big factors that determines performance is Power-to-Weight ratio (or sail area to displacement ratio). We calculated the Bruce number and SA/D for the Catana OC 50, HH 50 OC, HH 50 Performance, Balance 482, and Outremer 51 . This is not the be-all and end-all but one do get a good indication of performance for these boats in steady sea conditions.

But before we dive down into it, let’s heed this advice from two veterans in the industry. Measuring a multihull’s performance is a complex issue that we all tend to want to boil down to a simplistic solution, which it is not. In the words of Tony Grainger: “…as a species hard wired for optimism, we’re prone to magical thinking, especially in the hands of marketing pros and advocacy scientists delivering theoretical solutions to complex problems.” As he says, “Prediction of performance and actual Observation are two very different things”. Phillip Berman from Balance Catamarans concurs: “Even the most accurate input, polar performance numbers on cruising catamarans are seldom achieved”. So, take this for what it is, simply numbers on a spreadsheet.

Some definitions:

• Bruce Number – a power-to-weight ratio for relative speed potential for comparing boats. It takes into consideration the displacement and sail area of main and jib (100% fore triangle only), no overlapping sails. Light boats are more easily driven than heavy boats and more sail gives you more drive.
• SA/D (sail area / displacement ratio): indicates the power of the sail plan relative to the displacement of the boat, regardless of the length. 

We used the Bruce-SA/D calculator  to calculate the SA/D range of values:

• 16 to 18 Heavy offshore cruisers
• 18 to 22 Medium Cruisers
• 22 to 26 Inshore cruisers, racing boats
• 26 to 30 Extreme racing boats

Catamaran Measurements

Points of Consideration

• We used the published numbers on the manufacturers’ websites to do the calculations and some of those numbers may be slightly off. We tried to verify but have not received feedback. Any input is welcome! 
• We used only the mainsail and jib area on all the boats to get an apples to apples comparison.
• The “Lightship Displacement” quoted in each of the manufacturer’s specifications was used in the Bruce number calculation. Note there is an anomaly in that the Outremer, which is the biggest boat with the least carbon fiber, is quoted as being the lightest boat of the group. We think the lightship displacement quoted on the Outremer website might be inaccurate because it is unlikely that a predominantly E-Glass boat would be lighter than a full Carbon boat such as the Balance or HH performance. If anyone has reliable numbers for Outremer, we would love to hear from you! *We have received new information and have updated the weight of the Balance with new actual published numbers.

Some Observations and Conclusion

For performance cruisers there is a fine balance between speed and comfort and they are not for everyone. Speed does not always make for comfort. Operation of daggerboards, bigger and more powerful rigs and more complex running rigging require more skill, making them not suitable for the average cruising sailor. The conclusion we drew from this exercise is that all these boats are essentially very similar cruisers with very similar performance characteristics, except for the Balance, which stands out as the real performance boat. *Updated information shows that this boat is very similar now to the other boats. We believe that most of these boats are capable of good performance in light conditions, which is of course the beauty of a performance cat. These are our observations:

• The measurements for these boats are all very similar.
• Balance is the lightest boat (full carbon) at 25,353lbs 29321lbs  with a big sail plan at 1,432 sq ft. These boats are super light and fast and moves in very light air.  *We updated the Balance weight with new actual published numbers. 
• According to the SA/D numbers, the Balance is rated in the “extreme racing” category at 26.549 and a Bruce number of 1.292.   The Balance turns out to be very similar to the other boats SA/D “inshore cruisers / racing boats” category like the other boats
• The rest of the cats all fall into the SA/D “inshore cruisers / racing boats” category. So, these boats should all perform similarly and sail well even in light conditions.
• The Catana OC 50 (carbon deck and bulkheads) and the HH 50 Performance (full carbon), surprisingly are rated very similarly. The Catana is heavier but has a bigger sail plan and thus has similar performance to the HH.
• The HH 50 OC has mini keels rather than daggerboards and will likely not have the same performance to weather as the daggerboard boats.
• The Catana is the heaviest boat at 31,164lbs with the biggest sail area at 1469 sq ft.
• The Catana has the highest load carrying capacity of 10,723lbs – great for cruising and living onboard.
• The fuel tanks on both the HH catamarans are 4 times the size of the water tanks which is curious and nearly double the size of any of the other cats. That seems a little odd, but we could be wrong.
• Fuel capacities vary greatly between the boats, with Outremer having the least fuel capacity at 88 gal.
• Water capacity varies slightly, also. Catana and Balance carry around 210 gals while the others carry around 100 gals, which is a bit small for live aboard in our opinion.

We also concluded that while these stats are interesting data, they should not be the overriding factor when choosing a boat in the performance cruising category. Other factors to consider include quality, comfort, livability, equipment, safety, resale value, etc. Price is also a very big consideration. Balance (South Africa) and HH cats (China) are way more expensive than the French-built cats, Catana and Outremer, partly because the Balance and HH Performance are full carbon boats while the others have carbon infused deck and/or bulkheads. We believe that the Catana’s interior volume and comfort make it an extremely livable boat while still having the performance benefits of an express blue water cruiser and it is extremely affordable at around $1.5 million.

Having said all that, with the advancement of technology, more people will be able to sail these performance cats safely and will be able to afford them as more hulls are built and costs come down.

Here is another very interesting analysis Sailing into Freedom. The top 10 performance catamarans – Dazcat 1495, ORC 50, Odisea 48, Balance 526, Outremer 45, Outremer 51, Catana OC, HH 50, OC 50, Balance 482, HH44, Seawind 1370, Seawind 1600, Slyder 49, Privilege, Windelo 50. We would love for everyone to join the discussion. Let us know what you think in the comment box!

Learn how to sail a performance catamaran

Our sailing school facility in Fort Lauderdale will start training on the Catana OC 50 with certified RYA instructors in March 2023. Contact us for more information about our sailing school dates and pricing.

Wanda Anglin

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Behind the Scene of the New HH44 Catamaran. VIDEO

We are thrilled to present the first in a five-part video series entitled “Designing the HH44”. The all-new HH44 catamaran is a yacht with many innovations. It features 100% electric propulsion with a diesel hybrid backup, 3,190 watts of solar, built-in hydropower generation, swing helms, folding transoms, forward opening windows, 48-volt deck systems, shaft-drive folding propellers, pre-preg carbon fiber C-shaped daggerboards, and near wind-speed sailing performance (all of it standard).

In this video, we hear from Paul Hakes (CEO & Co-Founder of HH ) and James Hakes ( HH Naval Architect) on how they and the team at HH Catamarans developed the all-new HH44.

Something more about the HH44 catamaran

The HH44 catamaran was conceived from the ground up to work with a parallel hybrid system. The HH44’s parallel hybrid provides all the benefits of an electric boat, silent fume-free motoring, instant torque for maneuvering, and hydro-regeneration while sailing, with the reliability of a trusty diesel engine. The helms have been positioned in the aft corners which opened up the cabin top for up to 3.2kW of solar panels (+.5kW mounted on the davits) to complement the hybrid. The hydro-regeneration combined with the possibility of huge solar and excellent sailing performance in all wind strengths give the HH44 essentially infinite range.

The parallel hybrid system can operate in several different modes:

1. Standard mode – operate the diesel engines with the hybrid system disengaged, just as you would on a traditional yacht.

2.  Engine mode – operate the diesel engines as you usually would, with all extra horsepower being pulled off the engines and used to charge the large battery bank.

3. Generator mode – Disengage the clutch in the prop shaft and turn the two diesel engines into two 6kW DC generators.

4. Silent mode – Disengage the electric motors from the diesel engines and use the electric motors to provide 10kW of silent propulsion power per shaft (20kW total)

5. Hydro Regen mode – while sailing, disengage the electric motors from the diesel engines, open the folding propeller and allow it to free-spin, this turns the shafts and the electric motors generating electricity for free! Regen mode is greatly enhanced by the fast sailing speeds of the HH44.

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One of my favourite performance catamaran designs is the Gunboat 48. They only ever built six of them, and they still change hands for well into 7 figures, so it has always surprised me that no-one has tried to fill this market gap. Outremer and Marsaudon have a 45 and a 42 respectively – slightly smaller, and they seem to sell well.

Well, no-one up until now that is, as the Italian yard C-Catamarans is launching the C- 48 and she looks like she might clean up in this sector of the market. This Italian yard has a history of spotting an opportunity. They successfully launched a 37 footer: another market that has been forgotten by the major manufacturers.

This Italian boat is competing with the likes of the Windelo 50 catamaran in the performance cruising market. It’s a busy market.

The C-Cat 37 was designed by Marc Lombard, one of our favourite architects, and is a neat entry level cat. They plan to launch a range of high performance, top of the range catamarans: a 62 footer, a 56 footer and the C-Cat 48. Exciting stuff and they’ll be going up against the likes of HH, Icecat, Kinetic, Balance, O Yachts and even Gunboat.

This fast cat is the same length as the Bali 4.8 but that is where the similarities finish. This catamaran is all about safe performance.

• The look! This is a fantastic looking boat: Italian styling at its best
• The combination of twin aft helms and the interior helm station means that you get the best of both worlds: maximum sailing feel and protection when the weather turns nasty.
• With an SA / D ratio over 26, this is a fast, light boat along the lines of an Outremer (with more living space thanks to the Open design)
• Pretty good value compared to the competition
• Comar Yachts have plenty of experience in building boats.
• The quality of the interior finish is a cut above the competition.
• With twin 35 HP engines, she seems underpowered when the wind dies. I am guessing there will be an option to upgrade to more power here.
• With only 300 litres of fresh water capacity, you are going to need a water maker
• The fuel tanks are fairly modest too (2x 130 L). But then again, you should be sailing on this boat most of the time if you keep the weight off and your sail locker is full.
• Aft helms. They always go in the pros and the cons, don’ t they? Great for maximum sailing feel when the C-Cat 48 accelerates, but you are exposed back there if it blows up. There is a great option for an inside wheel at the nav station as well. That would be top of my options list after the gennaker, Code 0 and water maker.

The Team Who Love Fast Cats The C-Cat 48 was designed by the Yacht Design Collective (François Perus and Romain Scolari) who are the team behind the ITA 14.99. It’s a catamaran that has been inspired by the likes of the Gunboat 60 and the Outremer 4X, but also has a healthy serving of Italian styling. This 48 footer  has been designed to cross oceans at speed in safety and comfort. She is built in Fiumicino, about an hour from Rome at the C-Catamarans yard.

She draws many design cues from her smaller sister, the C-Cat 37.

The entire cockpit and saloon is designed along the “Open” lines so loved by Marc Lombard, the designer of the smaller boat. You are protected by a large bimini with the aft cockpit and the saloon on the same level, separated by a large sliding door which connects the 2 spaces into one large open living area.

Best of Both Worlds? The C-Cat 48 is a catamaran for sailors along the lines of a Nautitech or a classic Catana with twin aft helms at the stern and all the running rigging led back so that you can manage the boat  without having to leave the aft cockpit. She’s been designed for short handed crews. The only sails that you will need to deal with forward are the light wind sails (gennaker, Code 0 and so on). There is a Harken winch on the mast to help you.

Of course, the main concern for most with sporty aft helms is protection and safety in bad weather. The C-Cat 48 has an option for an additional interior helm station with an interior wheel which gives you the best of both worlds. I can only think of Kinetic who offer a similar solution, and they are in the 7 figure price bracket

The ride is smooth like an Outremer, with a high bridge-deck and low Displacement to Length ratio. This cat should get you out of trouble quickly. They have though about weight distribution carefully. The anchor is set back just forward of the mast for instance, to centralise the weight.

A Powerful Sail Plan The SA / D ratio sits at over 26 with the mainsail and self tacking jib flying. There is also a genoa and options for a gennaker, code 0 and parasailor /Spinnaker. That should put the C – Cat 48 at the top of the performance cruiser category along with the likes of the Balance 482 (probably the closest competition?) There are also options for a carbon mast and longeron which will help you safely fly more sail area.

Modern and efficient, the C-Cat 48 is equipped with C-Foil daggerboards which should give you a bit of lift at speed.

This catamaran is constructed with a sandwich laminate structure infused with multiaxial fabrics and an epoxy-vinyl matrix. The bulkheads are made of composite with local carbon reinforcements in higher stress areas. She’s pretty rigid which all helps to improve the performance of this catamaran.

In the interior, there are 2 customizable options available: Antigua: a cleaner, sportier finish if weight reduction is your top priority, and St.Barth for a more luxurious, comfortable finish, albeit with some weight penalty.

The C-Cat 48 is one of the most exciting designs to come out in the performance cruising category. It’s great to see this Italian catamaran out on the water. I’ll be queueing up for a test sail!

How much does a C-Cat 48 Cost? What is the price? Well, as always, we will cover ourselves by saying that it depends on the options you go for, but a very nice example will set you back around €750k plus taxes.

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