Back in 2021 when Paul and Mary-Clare Tomes (HopYacht founders) met the team at Du Toit Yacht Design for the first time, they wanted to make sure that the overall concept brief had a number of guiding principles, to ensure that the HopYacht design delivered everything they had originally envisaged.
Paul recently found the original briefing document whilst reorganising the files on his hard drive and whilst the design has evolved significantly, he commented that it was reassuring to see how many of the guiding principles are still at the heart of the HopYacht 30 concept today.
PAUL: One of the requests we put in the original brief is that the boat must level the playing fields between sailors and non-sailors. I recall at the time Mary-Clare reinforced the importance of this, by working through a number of examples to show where the design and layout of traditional yachts often overlooks making non-sailors feel more comfortable.
Anton Du Toit (far right in the picture above) laughed at this point and I recall he commented that “it’s a lot easier to create a sense of comfort in a larger yacht, than in a 30 foot catamaran. We are going to have to be very creative with the use of space. It seems to me that this needs to be a small boat that masquerades as a big boat?” Anton’s comment was spot on and this remark translated into one of our core guiding principles . How can we make a small yacht feel like a much larger boat?.
MARY-CLARE: At one of the boat shows we exhibited at early in 2024, a couple came on board carrying a miniature dachshund wearing his own life jacket! This little fellow wasted no time confidently exploring the entire boat. The couple had prevoiusly owned a much larger catamaran and wanted something smaller and easier to handle and had us all chuckling when they likened the HopYacht to their Daschund … “he’s a little dog that thinks he’s a big dog! This boat feels like a much larger boat!"
"Levelling the playing field was without doubt the most important guiding principle. So often you meet a sailing couple where in reality one is a keen sailor and the other is actually not that keen. In come cases you find the non-sailor is literally gritting his or her teeth to support their partner to do something they love doing. In reality this was pretty much our own situation when we first met. And to some degree it’s still the case today."
"Paul and I race a Hunter 19 one design keel boat in Hout Bay where we live. Hout Bay Yacht Club is 20nm south of Cape Town and exposed to the notorious south easterly wind that gives the region its reputation as being the ‘Cape of Storms’. I'm very happy to race our Hunter 19 even when the wind gets up (as it so often does,) but not always that comfortable sailing a larger monohull in the same conditions. In a smaller boat I feel we have things under control, however, in a larger monohull, when the boat starts heeling that's when I start to feel a tad uncomfortable. I know this sounds a bit bizarre, however I think a lot of new sailors and non-sailors will relate to this. As a larger boat powers up you start to feel you’re out of control. It’s a bit like being on a runaway bus and you know the brakes have failed!
PAUL: "I recall that on one of our first sailing holidays in Southern Turkey, you would talk about your degree of ‘tippiness! 15 degrees was all I was allowed, before we would have to reef the mainsail :-) And in the context of HopYacht, to eliminate ‘tippiness we knew that designing a catamaran in preference to a monohull would be a good decision and this of course also added the luxury of more space as well. However, having watched cataramans trying to berth in small harbours and marinas and the expense involved, we threw another curved ball at Du Toit Yacht Design.
The HopYacht 30 needed to have a much narrower beam than traditional catamarans.
In reality this meant we wanted a 30’ catamaran that would fit into the same berth as a 36-38’ monohull. This would not only lower the cost of marina fees for owners but provide more opportunities to squeeze into an avaiable berth! In collaboration with North Sails, Du Toit’s solution was to design a low aspect ratio rig, to achieve a narrower beam and maintain stability .
Again to level the playing field between sailors and non sailors, we had requested that the boat should be exceptionally easy to handle with a single furling sail, making it easier for new sailors to lend a hand or sail single-handed. The sail plan we envisaged was not unlike a traditional Dhow that has been sailing the east coast of Africa for hundreds of years.
To achieve stability (no tippiness) with good all-round sailing performance meant moving the mast much further back in the boat to bring the centre of effort further aft. Geoff Meek at North had worked on a similar style rig for a 60’ catamaran and the sail and rig design worked out well with no drop off in upwind performance despite having only one sail.
MARY-CLARE: Taking time to reflect back on the original design has been so worthwhile. Much has happened since the initial concept and it easy to forget that ‘levelling the playing field' was the starting point for our design brief. When we decided that the HopYacht 30 had to be a stable catamaran, a level platform where no one’s drinks spills as the wind comes up, however stability would not be enough! Every cruising catamaran offers stability. To truly level the playing field between sailors and non-sailors, we needed to focus on the quality of life on board.
On a smaller boat if you’re thoroughly enjoying your sailing you might be prepared to rough it a little more, But if you’re not really participating in the sailing aspect then the boat needs to offer you a lot more in terms of comfort and functionality. So often we talk about comfort on board being features like a queen size walk-around island bed and the large shower cubical with full standing headroom. These aspects were crucial parts of our initial brief, especially to try and achieve a big boat feel in a smaller boat. However, there are so many other aspects that level the playing field.
PAUL: "For me, one of the huge plus factors is how the design team managed to separate external sailing space from living space. Almost all of the sailing activity happens at the helm station. Apart from the Genoa furler at the bow, there is nowhere else on the boat where any of the sailing equipment gets in the way of life on board. If you think of a traditional 30 foot monohull the cockpit table is usually right in the middle of where all the sailing activity happens! Whilst a tiller or wheel is an essential part of the boat, so often these take up valuable living space as well! "
"HopYacht’s layout creates a sense of harmony between the sailor and non-sailor. One person sitting up on the helm seat soaking up the sensation of the wind powering the boat and the other person could be reading a book in the cockpit, which is almost like a small lounge area. This is unheard of in a 30 foot boat, however it’s the quality of life the HopYacht 30 offers.
I should add that we now have a two person helm seat for that extra special togetherness! "
"The other big quality of life decision we made was to keep the entire boat layout on one level. No companion way with steps to stumble down or funny little steps into each hull. Being a small boat the accommodation in the hulls would naturally have been a little more cramped and certainly a lot more stuffy. By keeping the layout all on one level there’s an incredible amount of light throughout the boat and of course the unobstructed airflow, ensures that even in exceptionally hot weather, it feels so much better.
MARY-CLARE: One of the aspects of the initial design we insisted on was placing the galley in the cockpit. As the drawings progressed this made more and more sense as it allowed for a much larger area for the shower, wash basin and toilet. I do feel we stuck our neck out with this decision, however, based on the stories you hear from so many people on traditional yachts, if non-sailors volunteer to go below to cook a meal, this could end up being the last time they ever agree to go sailing!
So again keeping the non-sailor in mind we put the galley in the cockpit area. Cooking alfresco, means that cooking fumes and additional heat simply isn’t an issue anymore. More importantly this prevents people from feeling a little queasy, cooking in a confined space. We also saw it as being a lot more sociable too! If someone is cooking whilst underway they are able to continue chatting to their partner doing his or her sailing thing, whilst the crew is whipping up an Ottolenghi recipe!"
PAUL: "The amount of functional space created in the HopYacht 30 is a real win. If you take the footprint of the cockpit, saloon, bathroom and forward cabin, plus the wide side decks and trampoline area, the HopYacht 30 is the equivalent of a 33m² apartment, including an amazing balcony … and unlike a land based apartment, 360 degree uninterrupted views."
"Mary-Clare was excited about having large windows all around the boat … as she puts it “making this small boat almost feel like you’re on board a super-yacht!".
So often traditional boats have tiny little windows because they need to fit into a very low profile superstructure. HopYacht is not a performance catamaran, it’s designed for relaxed easy sailing and hence it doesn’t matter if the superstructure has more windage than traditional boats. So we were able to design full standing headroom throughout and this gave us scope to make the cabin windows a lot larger.
MARY-CLARE: "Bigger windows are a real plus especially for non-sailors, as it keeps them connected with the horizon. People often tell us that whilst they normally get a little seasick in many traditional yachts, it doesn’t seem to happen to the same extent on a HopYacht.
And this is yet another way to keep less enthusiastic sailors coming back again!"
Oh and another big issue that newcomers to sailing point out that yachts smell!!! The stale smell that hits you as you open the toilet door! You can literally see the look on their faces … what do you sailing types do in there? In reality of course it’s the smell of stale sea water used to flush the toilet. People love the fact that we included a press button electric toilet in the design and with fresh water flush!"
"With electric pod drives we’ve almost forgotten about the days of of diesel fumes lingering in the cockpit on a hot summers day! Plus at the end of a long sailing day, how often do we see the keen sailors scrammbling to de-rig and packing everything away, with little or no help from a non-sailor? With the unique single sail on the HopYacht 30 rigging or de-rigging is simply a process of unfurling or furling the Genoa … about 15 -20 seconds and a couple of minutes to tidy the sheets and set the mooring lines. It’s literally Hop on and Hop off!
So from the initial brief to where we are now, we have an all-electric pocket catamaran and I guess we can now add an all inclusive happy place, levelling the playing field between sailors and non sailors.
Paul and Mary-Clare Tomes
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