See you at La Rochelle?

Meet Mary-Clare Tomes co-founder of HopYacht on the MV Yachting stand at La Rochelle Boat Show, where our latest HopYacht 30 will be on display.

Mary-Clare played a crucial part in developing the HopYacht 30 concept. She believes that much of the motivation to develop this unique pocket catamaran, came from first hand experience chartering yachts in Southern Turkey over a two year period, just before Covid.

She recalls being shocked by how little practical living space many smaller boats offer. On one of the yachts she and her husband chartered, the wash hand basin pulled out over the toilet and it was crucial to have the seat lid open as the basin was designed to drain straight into the toilet! Mary-Clare jokes that this was a defining moment and from this point on she was hell-bent on making sure that couples could enjoy relaxed, easy sailing, with comfort as a top priority.

As you step onboard the HopYacht 30, it's immediately apparent that the lifestyle offered would normally only be possible on a much larger yacht. "No compromise!" was the typical war-cry from Mary-Clare, during the design phase. As you explore the layout, her 'comfort first' mindset is even more apparent.

In partnership with MV Yachting in La Rochelle, Mary-Clare and team are excited to have their first HopYacht 30 in France. This boat is also the first to be equipped with an onboard system, to enable the crew to raise or lower the mast themselves, eliminating the hassle and expense of crane hire.

With so many canals and waterways to explore in France, the HopYacht 30 is equally at home on inland waters. The beam is 3.44m, with the mast down the air draft is 2.57m and the hulls draw less than a metre with the boat fully loaded! If you spot Mary-Clare on the MV Yachting stand ... make sure you ask her to show you what she insists on calling (for good reason) the HopYacht bathroom and not the 'heads'!

What's the similarity between a gourmet hamburger and a HopYacht 30?

Every once in a while at the HopYacht factory we order lunch from a local deli just down the road. A few weeks back, in between bites into a giant burger, Oscar Dill our procurement and project manager asked us all what we thought the similarity was between a gourmet hamburger and a HopYacht 30?

Our initial reaction was to wait for the punchline, but quickly realised he was being serious! "Great taste between two buns and great design taste between two hulls?” A bit of a stretch, but a clever response from one of the team.  “Easy to eat and easy to sail?” someone else added … equally quick off the mark.

But Oscar shook his head and responded, “it's simple, they are both fully loaded!”  After a mixture of groans and laughs, we picked up on his idea of a fully loaded HopYacht and looking back over the past 18 months we have certainly pushed hard to load more into the design and overall finishes on the boat.

HopYacht 004 is currently in Fort Lauderdale USA and HopYacht 005 is about to arrive in France and will be on display at the La Rochelle Boat Show. Both these boats are fully loaded with new features. Here's just a taste of what you can expect on our new menu!

• new interior upholstery options

• improved standing headroom in the shower

• new vanity unit design with built in magazine rack

• larger galley cupboard storage

• an onboard system to raise and lower the mast without needing a crane

• new awning design to fully enclose helm station in bad weather

YOUR INVITATION TO GET ONBOARD

If you’re keen to see a HopYacht 30 on the water and you can get to either Fort Lauderdale, USA or La Rochelle, France in the next two months, then get in touch today at hello@hopyacht.co.za and we'll make sure you have the fully loaded tour!

If cooking was an olympic sport, induction hobs would be considered cheating!

To decide which type of cooking hob to use on the HopYacht 30, we conducted a time trial comparing a standard gas cooker with an induction hob. The test was straightforward: we used identical pots filled with the same amount of water at room temperature, plus a stopwatch.

None of us at HopYacht had ever used an induction cooker before and the result was astonishing. Just over two minutes to reach boiling point on the gas hob and a blistering 70 seconds on the induction hob. Apparently if we had also tested a radiant electric cooktop, it would have come in last ... at well over two minutes.

So Induction wins gold,

Gas would win silver

and radiant electric

... a very sad bronze!

photo credit: Paris 2024 Organising Committee

As sailors we are all acutely aware of the dangers of a gas leak on board a yacht, however gas does have the advantage of being readily available and you can easily carry a couple of spare bottles. Electric cookers on the other hand are notoriously power hungry and without shore power you could drain the house batteries very quickly. Induction hobs are now the game changer!

With 1 600W of solar input and a 28.8 kWh of lithium ferro phosphate battery power, despite being a compact catamaran, you have enough energy onboard to cook breakfast, lunch and supper for an entire olympic team!

Induction hobs are also very efficient. Designed to heat just the pan and not the cooktop surface or surrounding area, very little heat escapes into the room. If you have used a gas cooker in the galley of a traditonal yacht on a hot day, you will know just how much heat a gas cooker generates!

And when you're feeling like you're ready to win the 100 metres, but need a coffee first, there is one other electrical appliance you could have onboard that will beat an induction hob to the finish line. We have power point ready and waiting for a Nespresso machine to be plugged in right next to the hob!