Yachting World
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HH44 review: Taking fast multihull cruising to another level
- Toby Hodges
- February 22, 2024
Disruptive, innovative, and contemporary in style and technology, this electrified HH44 takes fast multihull cruising to a new level, says Toby Hodges
Product Overview
Price as reviewed:.
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 to find out. A quick first sail during European Yacht of the Year trials in the autumn provided a taster and I hope a lengthier test will follow to draw more conclusions. But it was enough to get an idea of what works, what doesn’t, and get a feel for why this model has sold in such extraordinary numbers (over 30 off the plans alone).
Fresh thinking: unlike earlier Morrelli & Melvin HHs, the 44 has been conceived and designed fully in-house by James Hakes
A speed date
First impressions are of a very modern looking fast cat, more like a 50-footer perhaps that’s been squeezed a little, with length lost out of the ends. So there’s noticeably high freeboard and good bridgedeck clearance (over 3ft). The sporty look is set off by razor sharp bows and an attractive coachroof line, which extends right back to cover the aft helms. Next up you notice the powerful carbon rig, while even from the dock you can appreciate the formidable amount of natural light being encouraged in through the massive amounts of glazing in the coachroof and hull portlights.
The choice to go with aft helms triggered other design decisions, including keeping the boom (and centre of effort) low, and allowing HH to use the whole roof for a solar array. This resulted in a market leading 4.2kW of panels as standard.
Go to step aboard and you instantly appreciate some of the innovative features. For starters, with the boat moored side-on, you can actually step aboard via a gate in the aft bulwark, rather than having to perform some sort of gymnastic hurdle onto the transom steps, as you do on most high freeboard catamarans today.
Furling headsails set on a carbon longeron. All lines are led to the cockpit. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY
This leads us on to one of my next favourite features: the folding transoms. Rather than the typical open transom steps that any clumsy crewmember, inquisitive child or pet can fall down and out of, the HH has lowering platforms which serve as a bathing platform, protect those aboard from falling out and, crucially, prevent a following sea from pooping the cockpit. And when you are helming from that far aft, this will be of real comfort.
Washboards are a popular option for many offshore cruising cats, but typically look like an afterthought and are used sparingly, where this is integrated into the design in a seamless fashion. Operation is also pretty neat: a line is led forward through the bulwarks to aside the helms, allowing a powered winch to be used. These lifting platforms also add extra usable space when folded down. The downside is they make the transoms look a bit high and, well, sawn off.
Smooth moves
We pulled away from the dock – in silence. The HH44 was designed from scratch to incorporate parallel hybrid propulsion. Not only do these ‘EcoDrives’ offer silent, fume-free motoring, but they can also hydrogenerate while sailing – more on that later.
Huge forward facing opening windows provide formidable through-flow ventilation to the interior. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY
The test boat was the more popular and expensive Sports Cruising (SC) model, which is built in carbon epoxy and features C-shape carbon daggerboards, a Marstrom carbon mast and these EcoDrives as standard – 80% of orders have been for this, while an Ocean Cruising (OC) model is also offered with a gelcoat finish, aluminium mast and fixed keels.
Swing pedestals are used each side to allow the helmsman to steer either with an outboard view or from a more protected position beneath the bimini looking through the coachroof windows. This is an increasingly common practical feature on today’s catamarans and one fitted on the first HH66 a decade ago. It also allows you to free up some space when needed. Equally the fold down helm seats each side can be kept out of the way unless needed and while these do offer a nice perch, they are a little low for maintaining clear sightlines.
Once the sails go up you can quickly see why HH has incorporated such features as there is a lot going on in these aft quarters. You find yourself regularly swinging the helm over to get it out the way to work the winches. And yet there are still blind spots from the helms with pedestals canted – a drawback of having low helms right in the quarters.
Easy side boarding access. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY
Sailing upwind with the Doyle square-top main and Solent set, we had a long beat into 11-15 knots true wind, making 7.5-8.5 knots against an awkward swell at 40° the apparent wind. Lining up against other yachts around us proved these were not far off performance monohull speeds and angles.
While beating into an ugly, sharp 2.5m swell is not what most owners might choose, it’s something all need to do at times and proved helpful to get a feel for the HH’s manners. It resulted in a predictably awkward twisting motion aboard, however the fine bows did cut through the swell well, keeping speed up, and the high freeboard kept the deck dry. It was also noticeably direct on the wheel and responsive to sail trim (this despite the traveller being locked in a central position after the line driver developed a problem earlier in the week).
We bore away and set a top-down gennaker, increasing average speed to 8.5-10+ knots depending on the swell angle. Again these are respectable figures considering a breeze of only around 11 knots apparent. The polars suggest double figures should be easy to maintain when reaching in anything above 12-14 knots true. I felt a clear difference in small wind increment gains. This is a stiff yacht, which reacts quickly to puffs – you really feel that extra couple of knots as the boat accelerates – while Cyclops Marine sensors help you monitor the loads in the rigging, which is reassuring.
In terms of operation the HH has been set up to be completely controlled from the helms. The upgraded, powered winches on the test boat can be remotely operated with foot controls, which is particularly helpful for short-handed work and adjusting the 5m-long daggerboards.
sporty, compact nerve centres leave good cockpit space. Single panel sliding doors, aft windows swing open and there is no mullion between them. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY
Moving forward the decks are a lot cleaner, thanks to all running rigging led through line tunnels underdeck (even jib sheets). Toerails and high stanchions give a good feeling of security, while comfortable, grippy Eva foam decking comes as standard all over the deck. Foam decking has been used a lot on race boats in recent years and offers an appealing solution for cruising boats as it’s so comfortable under foot, easy to clean and doesn’t get hot like teak or teak alternatives. A question mark perhaps remains over its longevity and durability.
See the light
Such is the extent of the glazing and natural light encouraged into the HH44, it’s almost as if there is no inside/outside divide. Granted, there is a particularly glossy white decor on this first model, which helps emphasise that brightness (many other colour and trim combinations are offered), but the real key lies in the size of the coachroof windows.
The SC model has carbon epoxy infused hulls with E-glass decks and foam-cored furniture, essentially a highly stiff construction technique which also allows for the two huge tempered glass opening windows. As well as an overhead and two central hatches, these massive Lewmar windows provide phenomenal ventilation at anchor.
Over 2m headroom in the particularly bright and well ventilated saloon and galley. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY
The bridgedeck layout is ideal to benefit from all this natural light and ventilation too, with its large forward-facing navstation and saloon, and a galley which seamlessly links to the cockpit. In the hulls it’s a three cabin layout only, but there are some choices in the forward starboard cabin, which can be a compact double, a Pullman or a utility cabin. It’s here where you see the prime payoff of having a performance cat, with ultra fine bows and large daggerboard casings stealing precious volume.
Parallel hybrid power
The aft berths lift on struts to reveal the engine bays below. At first these look like conventional 30hp Beta marine diesels, before you notice the water-cooled electric motors bolted on their aft ends. These act as electric drives, high powered alternators and hydrogenerators.
This EcoDrive system was designed to provide the key benefits of an electric boat, without sacrificing the backup of diesel engines. So essentially, they “piggyback on reliable normal diesel engines”, says Paul Hakes. The diesels can become two DC generators, putting 10kW into the battery bank while motoring, or the props can spin to charge while sailing.
Plenty of light and headroom plus inviting doubles aft, but volume is lost forward with the fine bows. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY
The crew used only the electric propulsion to get the HH44 in and out of Port Ginesta multiple times per day that week. The 10kW electric motors can provide 1.5 hours propulsion at max thrust without charge – at which stage you can run a diesel. So effectively you end up having four engines, HH reasons.
The 840Ah lithium ion battery bank is large enough to run AC overnight without running an engine. High load items are on 48V while 12V systems use a DC to DC converter.
When you consider the high level of competition, such as the Balance 442, the Outremer 45 and the new Seawind 1370, the HH44 is the highest end in terms of cost and exotic build. The SC is the only one in its class to have carbon fibre hulls as standard, including carbon rig, bowsprit, daggerboards, and rudders, while the electric drives, 4.2kW of solar and 48V battery bank etc all come as standard too. I also like how HH’s price list labels every extra with its weight; so if you want full aircon in the boat, for example (a strange choice with this much ventilation), it’s a whopping 200kg extra.
43.2kWh of lithium ion 48V house batteries can be charged by solar, the diesel motor and hydrogeneration under sail. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY
James Hakes tells me they wanted to design the 44 in-house for multiple reasons: “It has so many new details not attempted before, and we needed very tight control over the design to execute them correctly.”
HH has “a lot of firepower to throw at design issues to rapidly iterate dozens of ideas” and needed to design it to be easy to build.
While HH’s production so far has been in Xiamen, China, the popularity of the HH44s and new HH52s is such that a new manufacturing facility is now running in Cebu, Philippines, which will help increase capacity to around 30 HH44s a year. This is also not a bad place for trial/shakedown sails or to start multihull cruising!
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The HH44 certainly packs in the attractions. A fast and sporty carbon cat with efficient daggerboards that’s reactive and fun to sail, with a bright modern interior. It boasts the most sail power and highest performance ratio in its class, so cruisers will need to handle this hull-flying capable cat with care. There’s as much light and ventilation as you could wish for, renewable energy, silent power yet with the reassurance of diesel back up, all topped with a generous serving of clever ideas on deck and in the cockpit. However, you pay for all this... It may have the benefit of being a more manageable size but it’s still a 50ft+ cat in price. As mentioned, though, what comes as standard is seriously impressive. While I have enjoyed sailing other aft cockpit cats before, I did find the helms on the HH44 a bit crowded and with blind spots – but I’ll reserve full judgement on that for a longer trial please! So while HH’s new baby is not perfect, it is quite brilliant. And after all, who would buy such a boat for marina hopping? This is for long passages, tradewind sailing and tropical anchorages, where it’s sure to turn heads. Mark this as your must view or sail cat for 2024.
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Sailboat Review: HH Catamarans HH44
- By Herb McCormick
- June 26, 2024
There are many outstanding, even outrageous, things one can say about the HH44-SC catamaran. It’s the latest in a series of upscale boats conceived by HH CEO Paul Hakes, with structural engineering by the naval-architecture duo of Melvin & Morrelli and built in China by the Hudson Wang manufacturing conglomerate, which sold more than three dozen hulls on drawings and renderings alone, before a single boat was built. The waiting list is now about two years long.
I’m no math whiz, but with the boat’s sticker price, all up, of over $1.6 million, it’s safe to say that HH Catamarans had something like $50 million of orders on the books in advance of a sole customer actually pushing the button on an electric winch to raise the hefty, full-battened mainsail. Which leads to a pretty simple question: Who are those guys?
In an interview I conducted with Morrelli several years ago, he spoke about the sort of buyer drawn to the HH brand: “It’s unbelievable to me the percentage of newbie owners we attract to HH. More than 50 percent are first-time boat owners, guys who are buying $2 million and $3 million boats. I find that a bit shocking, but they were successful at something at some point in their life, and they’re trying to roll that success and confidence into something else.”
Allow me to take that one step further, because I’ve met a few HH owners, and I believe that the boat is catnip to a certain type of tech-savvy consumer. They definitely find the boat’s clean lines and tantalizing performance sleek and sexy, but they also are passionately drawn to the forward-thinking technology itself. I’ve heard folks refer to certain products in the marine sector as something Elon Musk might’ve dreamed up, but the HH44 may in fact be the closest thing there is to a Tesla of sailboats. I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that more than a few HH owners have one of those parked in their driveway.
What, exactly, are those folks getting for their seven figures? There are two versions of the boat: the HH44-OC (Ocean Cruising), a dedicated bluewater cruising cat with mini keels instead of daggerboards; and the HH44-SC (Sports Cruising), a no-holds-barred rocket ship with C-shaped carbon boards, a solar array, and the company’s EcoDrive auxiliary propulsion package, which we’ll delve into shortly. The SC is the model we tested for the 2024 Boat of the Year contest. Spoiler alert: We were fairly blown away by the boat, and honored it with a Judges Special Recognition Award . Our sister publication, the performance-oriented Sailing World , named it overall Boat of the Year and described it as “the performance sailor’s retirement race boat.”
Aesthetically, in theme and execution, the HH44-SC presents a futuristic appearance. There’s a fixed bowsprit forward; ample freeboard in the relatively narrow hulls (at least compared with your average cruising cat from mainstream builders); a slash of integrated hull windows that offer natural light in the staterooms and double as a nice visual accent; a pair of drop-down swim platforms in the transoms; and a set of dinghy davits in between. The coachroof extends well aft and doubles as a hardtop Bimini over the cockpit, while serving as the base for the traveler and mainsheet arrangement, and as the base for more than 4,000 watts of mounted solar panels.
Quick aside: The hulls are painted, and I reckon that more than a few owners will go with colors not usually found in genteel yacht surroundings. Our test boat, Titan , the first HH44-SC off the line, is bound for the Caribbean with a magnificent bright-red exterior. The intent is clear: You can go garishly or go home.
Forward-facing windows in the main cabin can be opened to allow the fresh breeze to course through. M&M employed forward cockpits for steering and sailhandling in many of their previous designs, but eschewed that layout here. Instead, there’s a set of Jefa helm stations well aft that can rotate outboard for increased visibility when driving upwind, or that can be tilted inboard under the Bimini top in inclement conditions or to access line handling by gaining proximity to the winches. It’s a versatile, well-reasoned solution that I like a lot. I wish more cats were laid out similarly.
Below, a dedicated en suite owner’s stateroom runs the length of the starboard hull. A pair of double-berth staterooms to port share a central head and shower.
So, that serves as the basic overview of the 44-footer. But what about the technology? The big stories there are the propulsion and construction.
The most eye-opening feature is the hybrid auxiliary setup. Boat of the Year judge Tim Murphy is the educational director for the American Boat and Yacht Council and our go-to expert for all technical matters. Here’s his take on the system developed by UK firm Hybrid Marine: “It had the most sophisticated house systems and propulsion we’ve seen in the contest, starting with their parallel hybrid drive, a system unlike any we’ve inspected on any boat before this one.”
Electric motors are built onto the back of the twin 30 hp Beta Marine diesels (or optional Yanmar 40 hp engines) with a coupling to the transmission. The electric motors can effectively be used as a pair of 5 kW generators to charge the battery bank. Adding regeneration while sailing provides up to 2 kW per shaft at 10 knots of boatspeed. An additional 43 kWh of energy is produced by the solar array on the cabin top.
What this translates to is silent operation under power in full electric mode, augmented by hydrogeneration to top off batteries while sailing, with the good old-fashioned reliability of those diesel engines as a backup, or for motoring through high pressure on passages.
It’s a boat that covers a lot of bases, though Murphy is also quick to note that it will be interesting to see how all this translates to real-world operations, given that it’s new tech. He wouldn’t be surprised if, at the outset, there are growing pains bringing it all online (though company representatives note that the system has been used in European canal boats for more than 10 years).
HH president Seth Hynes says: “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. In light air, you can even keep your leeward electric motor running to build yourself some apparent wind.”
Murphy is also impressed with the build quality: “It’s thermal-foam construction with panels of Corecell foam core that’s heated up to make the complex shapes of the hull with no slits or kerfs in between. So you’re using those flat sheets to construct complex curves, and then you’re using the best resin available—which is epoxy—in the laminate, which also employs carbon cloth. This is infused epoxy construction, post-cured after that fact, so they are very, very high-quality hulls.”
Carbon reinforcements are also used in high-load areas such as the wing deck, coachroof and daggerboard trunks. The Marstrom rig on the HH44-SC is all carbon (the OC version has a standard aluminum mast with the option to upgrade).
At the end of the day, the reason one is attracted to a light, fast cat is pretty simple: performance. HH has been well-represented in previous Boat of the Year competitions, with its HH66, HH55 and HH50 all previous nominees (the latter two won awards in 2018 and 2021, respectively). To be honest, I’ve always been startled by the fact that many of these cats have gone to first-time boat owners with varying degrees of experience. I’ve been sailing for decades, and I’d be fairly intimidated to head offshore with a shorthanded crew on the larger HH cats, which are not simple vessels, but rather extremely powerful boats where things can escalate quickly if the first domino falls.
One doesn’t need to be Superman, however, to sail the scaled-down HH44. Our test boat arrived in Annapolis, Maryland, with only a set of basic working sails (main, self-tacking staysail), so we didn’t get the full-on, off-wind power-reaching sleigh ride that is essentially the boat’s reason for being, but the sailing was still fast and sprightly. (A hat tip to the HH commissioning team, who had the boat sailing just two days after it was offloaded from a freighter in New Jersey.) Closehauled, with the deep, nearly 10-foot boards deployed, the boat tracked like a train and quite easily flirted with 10 knots of boatspeed. I can only imagine what it would be like to set a kite, then turn and burn, but it’s safe to say that you’ll regularly be registering double-digit boatspeeds. HH reps say that our test boat hit 23 knots on the delivery south to the Caribbean.
All in all, the HH44-SC is quite a machine to behold. The story of production-boat building, starting way back in the 1960s, has been an ongoing evolution—piece by piece, boat by boat. Now this very cool cat has penned its own chapter. There’s really nothing else like it.
Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge.
The “HH” in HH Catamarans represents the initials of Chinese businessman and manufacturer Hudson Wang, who founded the company, and CEO Paul Hakes, a New Zealand boatbuilder who joined forces with Wang in 2012 to launch the brand. There are currently eight models in the HH lineup, ranging in size from 44 feet to 88 feet, including the HH50, which was named the Best Luxury Cruiser in the 2021 Boat of the Year contest . The HH Catamarans design team of Melvin & Morrelli is well-known for their America’s Cup contenders, maxi offshore cats such as the 125-foot PlayStation , the pioneering Gunboat cruising cats, and the current line of Rapido performance trimarans.
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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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Description
The first HH44 was launched in 2023 and premiered at the Cannes International Yachting Festival. This innovative design is the “baby” of the HH Catamarans range and has some interesting features such as her closed transoms, swing aft helms and a side boarding gate aft.
She’s a very pretty cat and will turn heads in the marina. This is HH’s first hybrid electric-powered catamaran although you can also opt for standard diesel power with shaft drives.
There are 2 versions, like much of the HH range. The Sports Cruising model: HH44-SC and the Ocean Cruising model: HH44-OC. The SC version is a “no-compromise-boat” with C-shaped carbon daggerboards, a carbon rig, a painted hull finish and 4,232 watts of solar with EcoDrive.
The OC saves you some money with the same hull, interior fit and finish quality as the sportier SC but with an aluminium mast, e-glass longeron, white gelcoat finish and mini-keels as standard.
Many of the ideas on this boat have been driven by a desire to maximise solar generation. There are 4,232W of peak solar on the cabin top alone with an option for more on the davits.
To maximise the solar, they have positioned the helms aft in a traditional sporty set-up. That way, there’s plenty of surface area up top to load on solar.
To help you stay protected in weather, these swing inboard, under the long coach-roof.
There are foldaway seats that tuck into the sides allowing you to either steer the boat from an outboard position with the wind in your hair and your sails’ tell-tales in full view.
Or swing the helms inboard and steer from the protected three-seat sofa on the aft beam.
To make it easy to board the boat in the marina, there is a side gate aft for when you come in along the dock.
The HH44 has been designed to sail. The whole idea behind this catamaran is to get sailing in light winds (you should match wind speed on a beam reach) and to maximise your SOG over a wide range of conditions.
So she has a self-tacking staysail, a solent, a fractional reacher and a furling gennaker. The boom is very low over the coach-roof which keeps the centre of effort from the mainsail low.
There is a traveller aft on the coach-roof to manage your mainsail shape. The HH44 points well into the wind (45 TWA) thanks to her C-shaped daggerboards which provide a bit of lift at speed.
All the lines come back to the helm, so she is set up for short-handed sailing.
- Light, rigid and fast, the HH44 is a great sailor
- Swing aft helms give you flexibility while opening up the living space in the aft cockpit
- The finish on this boat is excellent
- Those closed transoms create a safe enclosed living space. They’ll also save you money in the marina
- A great looking boat that should hold her value well in the market due to the high demand
- The EcoDrive strikes a great balance between electric motoring with back-up diesels for safety
- With those aft helms, visibility is reduced towards the opposite bow, although the sight lines through the salon windows is good.
- This is not a cheap yacht
- The forward cabin is cosy. There is an option for a Pullman berth here (or convert to a workspace)
- The bow lockers seem small, although they are deep
Light Construction
Carbon and epoxy have been used to build as strong and stiff a yacht as possible while minimising the weight.
All of the lines run under the decks, so you have clear walkways around the boat. Stanchions are 900mm tall and a continuous, unbroken toe rail runs the length of the deck with all hull and deck joints fused and hidden.
Living Space
Moving inside, you’ll notice that the aft cockpit and salon forms one fully protected space with a large sofa on the aft beam and her closed transoms make this a safe family boat.
The angular cabin has two large, forward-facing windows that open fully from the the generously sized (187 sq ft or 17.4m2) salon. The standing height is over 2m (6’6”) high throughout.
One of the things that sets the HH44 apart from her competition is the quality of the finish on this semi-custom yacht. She has foam core furniture and exceptional joinery throughout, and Bosch electric appliances as standard.
There are two options for a BBQ, one which replaces the aft sofa with a large LPG BBQ & Dive Tank station or you can mount an LPG Grill in the aft fishing rod holder, keeping the aft sofa. There is an outlet on the aft beam so you can run an electric BBQ.
In the salon, there is an L-shaped sofa with a table forward to starboard and a large nav station/workstation to port.
Tuck yourself into the U-shaped galley behind the nav station or pull out some cold ones from the fridge on the starboard side. The ventilation at anchor is excellent with those huge forward windows.
The starboard hull is the owner’s side and consists of the master cabin aft and a walk-in shower and head forward. The finish has an Italian feel to it and it is very light down here with a large window aft in the owner’s cabin.
This is a 44 foot performance cat, so there is not as much room down her as you’d find in a cruising cat, but she has ample space in the aft cabin and the storage is well organised.
HH offers three different forward cabin combinations. One is the standard layout with a single berth.
The second has a Pullman berth above the standard bed that folds away when not needed.
A third option does away with the beds and replaces them with a large work bench with shelves (for pantry storage or tools) and an extra Fridge/Freezer unit.
If you go for the option with the EcoDrive, the House Bank is powerful enough to run the A/C overnight without the need to run a generator. There is enough power to run the A/C in the master cabin for over three days.
EcoDrive, her Electric/Diesel Parallel Hybrid System The HH44 was designed from scratch to work with a parallel electric/diesel hybrid, with a minimum of 4,232W of peak solar array on the cabin top and hydro-regeneration while sailing.
EcoDrive gives you silent fume-free motoring at 7.5kts, fast torque for manoeuvring, and hydro-regeneration while sailing. Plus you have parallel, trusty diesel engines for safety.
A diesel engine is paired with a large electric motor, much like an alternator sits on a traditional diesel engine. A belt links the two units and a camshaft allows you to flip between the two power systems, giving you good redundancy. And remember, you have 2 of these systems on board!
The system is designed to offer from 1.5 to 3 hours of electric propulsion: more than enough time to exit the marina or anchorage and hoist the sails.
This boat has been designed to get sailing in light winds which ultimately is the key to an eco-friendly sailing yacht. And you will be recharging your batteries as you sail.
You can also fit the HH44 with traditional standalone diesel engines with shaft drives.
The HH44 is an innovative design that will appeal to sailors setting out across long distances who want to sail more and beat well to windward when needed. This yacht is in a different price league to something like an Aventura 37 of course, but there are two options here: the Sports Cruising and the Ocean Cruising models.
She’s a comfortable boat, although there is a trade-off on space down below particularly in the forward cabins.
With the EcoDrive option and a bow locker full of sails, you’ll be able to minimise your diesel usage on this boat while crossing oceans safely and quickly.
What is the price of an HH44? How much do they cost? The sportier HH44-SC starts at $1,325,000. Meanwhile the HH44-OC version starts at $957,000 USD. The total cost will vary depending on your options, but you should budget an additional $300k, perhaps more for the SC.
How much solar is there on the HH44? The HH44 has a generous 4,232W of peak solar as standard on the SC on the cabin top. You can fit 1,200W watts over the Davits, but this comes with a weight penalty.
What is the length of the boat with transoms up? With the transoms up, the LOA from davits to Bow Sprit is 14.23m (46.68 feet), so fine for a 15m berth.
What size tender can you carry? The optimum sized tender is 3-3.5m (10-11 foot). The davits are carbon fibre and will soak up a high load.
Technical Specification
| LOA | 15.31m / 50.2' |
|---|---|
| LWL | 13.37m / 43.86 |
| Beam | 7.15m / 23.46' |
| Draft Boards Up | 0.7m / 2.5' |
| Draft Boards Dn | 3m / 9.84' |
| Bridgedeck | 825mm / 2.7' |
| Displ Light | 10.2 T / 22,487 lbs |
| D/L | 111.5 |
| Disp Max | 14.5 T / 31,967 lbs |
| Power | 2 x 30HP+10kW hybrid |
| Mainsail | 72.4m2 / 779sqft. |
| Solent | 44.1m2 / 475sqft |
| SA/D | 26.3 |
| Staysail | 23.9m2 / 257sqft |
| Reacher | 84.8m2 / 913sqft |
| Gennaker | 148.9m2 / 1603sqft |
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HH44 Ocean Cruiser
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Description
The HH44 is a disruptive new market entrant designed for those seeking the perfect balance of style, performance, safety and innovation. The electrified and carbon reinforced HH44 is a game changing, eco-friendly cruising yacht, poised to win the hearts and minds of early tech adopters, world cruisers and serious sailors alike.The HH44-OC is a fast, comfortable, family friendly cruiser that skews toward ease of operation for bluewater cruising. It shares the same hull molds and interior as the sportier HH44-SC and includes mini-keels standard. The HH44 was conceived from the ground up to work with a parallel diesel/electric hybrid, an industry leading 4.2kW solar array on the cabin top and hydro-regeneration while sailing. Our EcoDrive provides all the benefits of an electric boat: silent fume free motoring, instant torque for maneuvering, and hydro-regeneration while sailing; while also providing the reliability of trusty diesel engines as a back up. For the technology shy, traditional standalone diesel engines with shaft drives are also offered. Folding transoms enhance safety at sea, and open while at anchor to increase living space and provide an easy connection with the water. Helms rotate in and out for protection, visibility, and an enhanced sailing experience. Safety being paramount, uncluttered side decks and folding transoms provide a completely enclosed cockpit making the boat more child and pet friendly. All deck hatches are mounted flush, lines and linedrivers are cleverly housed under deck. A continuous, unbroken toe rail runs the length of the hull deck with all joints finished and hidden. The angular cabin allows the two large, forward facing windows to open fully from inside the generously sized (187 sq ft or 17.4m2) salon. Comfort underfoot has been enhanced with non-skid EVA foam decking standard. An optional self-tacking Staysail (Jib) and asymmetrical foresail (J1, Reacher, Gennaker) sit on a custom engineered longeron. Large, double hinged sail lockers span the width of the hull to allow easy access to sail storage and toys. Steer the boat from the outboard position with the wind in your hair with increased visibility of your sail plan. A fold down helm seat stows out of the way for everyday living and easily deploys when needed. Rotate the helms inboard and steer from the protection of the three-seat sofa on the aft beam.
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The HH44 features luxury unlike any other 44' catamaran. Special attention has been paid to achieving a level of luxury not typically found on a cruising catamaran of this size. Headroom exceeds 2m (6'6") in the salon and 1.96m (6'4") in the hulls.
The HH 44 is produced by the brand HH Catamarans since 2022. HH 44 is a 15.15 meters sailing cruising multihull with 2 guest cabins and a draft of 3.00 meters. The yacht has a fiberglass / grp hull with a CE certification class (A) and can navigate in the open ocean. The base price of a new HH 44 is $1.3 million.
Displacement: 9,390kg 20,701lb. Engines: 2x beta 30 + 2x 10kW hybrid drives. Base price SC: US$1,325,000 ex VAT. Builder : www.hhcatamarans.com. Disruptive, innovative, and contemporary in style ...
The HH44 features luxury unlike any other 44' catamaran. Special attention has been paid to achieving a level of luxury not typically found on a cruising catamaran of this size. Headroom exceeds 2m (6'6") in the salon and 1.96m (6'4") in the hulls.
The HH44-SC, a cruising catamaran aimed at tech-savvy, well-heeled, performance-oriented sailors, may be the closest thing there is to a Tesla of sailboats. ... but with the boat's sticker price, all up, of over $1.6 million, it's safe to say that HH Catamarans had something like $50 million of orders on the books in advance of a sole ...
[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 ...
How much do HH Catamarans boats cost? HH Catamarans boats for sale on YachtWorld are offered at a range of prices from $1,800,000 on the lower-cost segment, with costs up to $3,950,000 for the most luxurious yachts. What HH Catamarans model is the best? Some of the most popular HH Catamarans models presently listed include: 66, 44, 55, OC 44 ...
This innovative design is the "baby" of the HH Catamarans range and has some interesting features such as her closed transoms, swing aft helms and a side boarding gate aft. ... What is the price of an HH44? How much do they cost? The sportier HH44-SC starts at $1,325,000. Meanwhile the HH44-OC version starts at $957,000 USD.
Find HH Catamarans 44 boats for sale in your area & across the world on YachtWorld. Offering the best selection of HH Catamarans boats to choose from. ... 2025 HH Catamarans 44. Request price. Rossinante Yachts BV | Oostmahorn, Netherlands. Sponsored Boats | related to your search. 2024 Avid 20 Rogue. US$36,999. Performance East Inc | Goldsboro ...
HH built its reputation and earlier boats on the designs of speedsters Morelli & Melvin, and while this new 44 was designed in-house—by Hudson Yacht Group naval architect James Hakes, son of HH co-founder Paul Hakes—that DNA is still evident in the boat's rakish profile, 10-foot-long, pre-preg carbon daggerboards, and 64-foot, fractional ...
HH 44 Catamarans New Production Slots - available to be delivered in 2024. Call for price. Like all HH Catamarans, the HH 44 features excellent sailing performance, strong and robust hull construction using substantial Carbon Fiber reinforcements, exquisite interior finish and detailing, and the very best marine equipment.
The carbon composite construction, parallel hybrid HH44 is a game changing, eco-friendly cruising yacht, poised to win the hearts and minds of early tech adopters, world cruisers and serious sailors. Download the Specifications. Like all HH Catamarans, the HH44 features excellent sailing performance, strong and robust hull construction using ...
Description. 2025 HH Catamarans OC 44. An Ocean Cruiser with a Performance DNA. Slots available for 2026, call for price. The Ocean Cruiser 44 by HH Catamarans is closely related to the HH44, but designed with more of a cruising spirit at heart. As with all of our OC boats, you still get the same HH build quality and outstanding fit and finish.
The HH44 is a disruptive new market entrant designed for those seeking the perfect balance of style, performance, safety and innovation. The electrified and carbon reinforced HH44 is a game changing, eco-friendly cruising yacht, poised to win the hearts and minds of early tech adopters, world cruisers and serious sailors alike.The HH44-OC is a fast, comfortable, family friendly cruiser that ...
Request Price. Seller Multicats International. 15. Contact. +33 6 82 82 75 87. 1. Sort By. Filter Search. View a wide selection of HH Catamarans Hh44 boats for sale in your area, explore detailed information & find your next boat on boats.com. #everythingboats.
2024 Seawind 1190 Sport. Request a Price. San Diego, CA 92106 | Denison Yachting. Request Info. <. 1. >. Find 28 HH Catamarans Hh44 boats for sale near you, including boat prices, photos, and more. Locate HH Catamarans boat dealers and find your boat at Boat Trader!
The HH 44 Open was produced by the brand HH Catamarans from 2022 to 2023. HH 44 Open is a 15.15 meters sailing cruising multihull with a draft of 1.52 meters. The yacht has a fiberglass / grp hull with a CE certification class (A) and can navigate in the open ocean. The HH 44 Open is no longer in production and the price of used models varies.
HH OC44 Catamaran. This is sailing in its purest form. Stylish and fast with luxurious comfort. Take control of the OC44's swing helm and experience the excitement and joy of sailing a true performance cruising catamaran. Download the Specifications. The OC44 is closely related to the HH44, but designed with more of a cruising spirit at heart.
Find HH Catamarans Oc 44 boats for sale in your area & across the world on YachtWorld. Offering the best selection of HH Catamarans boats to choose from. ... 2025 HH Catamarans OC 44. Request price. Multihull Central | Sydney, New South Wales. Request Info; Sponsored Boats | related to your search. 2006 Chaparral 276 SSi. US$46,000. Yachts360 ...
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The HH OC44 is produced by the brand HH Catamarans since 2022. HH OC44 is a 15.15 meters sailing cruising multihull with 3 guest cabins and a draft of 1.52 meters. The yacht has a carbon hull with a CE certification class (A) and can navigate in the open ocean. The base price of a new HH OC44 is $957.0 thousand. Length.
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