Ch~Ch~Ch~Changes! New Plans. New Digs.

If you were reading closely, you may have noticed a soft mention of a recent trip to China in one of our blog posts. And if you saw me with my kiddos, you would have noticed that Frank wasn’t with us because he was once again in China. And if you had followed us around the Annapolis Boat Show, you might have noticed that we spent a lot of time on one particular sailboat.

And IF you put all of that together, you might have guessed that we have decided to buy a new boat!    W H A T ? ? ? ?

Yep, it’s true.

She doesn’t look like much ~ yet!

Here is the skinny.  We love our Helia and think that LIB is a well built, comfortable sailboat.  We have put a lot of work into her to make her function perfectly for us and make sure she is reliable, capable and prepared for long passage making.

So why would we change boats?  The truth is that we want a boat that is faster than LIB.  We have been discussing the idea of circumnavigation and I am in favor of having a sailboat that can make long passages shorter.  I like the idea of being “out there” less time and being anchored and exploring longer.

LIB is absolutely blue-water ready and very capable for circumnavigating. But honestly, we have been looking for a boat that can sail upwind, can sail faster and sails well in light winds.  We love to sail and we want a sailboat that can comfortably tick off 230 miles per day with a crew of 2.

After months of discussion, we had narrowed our focus to three boats; the Outremer 5X, the Balance 526 and the HH55.  Because we did not have an opportunity to sail any of those boats, our research stalled until May of this year.  Apparently in May all of the stars aligned just perfectly because in the space of two weeks we had the chance to sea trial and carefully evaluate all three of these boats.

The Outremer, the Balance and the HH each have some excellent features, are solid boats and are performance oriented.  But after reviewing our options and sailing goals, and after sailing all three boats, Frank and I were hooked on the HH55. Full carbon construction, cutting edge hull, daggerboard and rig design as well as full customization options are just some of the many features that set the HH apart from other performance catamarans.

We spent a lot of time working with Gino Morrelli,  renowned naval architect of Morrelli and Melvin, and with Mark Womble, broker extraordinaire, discussing the HH55 and what we wanted in a new boat.  We had conversations and e-mails with Paul Hakes of Hudson Hakes Yacht Group talking about our interests and questions.

In August we flew to China, visited the HH factory, created a preliminary interior layout, then pulled the trigger.  We signed a contract and officially placed our order for an HH-55!

Frank and Paul make it official!

Frank and I recognize that sailing the HH will certainly be more complicated than sailing our Helia, but we have always enjoyed challenging ourselves mentally and physically, and we believe this boat will further our sailing experience and knowledge.

Minnehaha, HH55-01! (Photo courtesy of HH Catamarans)

The HH55 has been designed with performance and comfort in mind and we believe this sailboat fulfills both of these roles very well. Our plan is to take delivery in Long Beach, CA, spend six to 12 months getting to know our new boat and making sure all of the systems work well, then set off for our circumnavigation.

HH55-01 sports an inside helm station.

As with all changes, there is great excitement and a pretty large dose of nervousness.  We have absolutely loved Let It Be and she has been a sturdy and steady vessel.  It will be very hard (read sad) to let her go, so we hope to find buyers who will love her and care for her as well as we have.  Let It Be has brought us much joy and I’m sure whoever owns her next will create equally wonderful memories!

So there you have it; we are making some changes, expanding our experience and looking forward to the delivery of our HH55 sailboat.

Thank you so much for reading our blog. We love to hear from our readers, so feel free to make comments. And if you want to hear from us more often, check out our FB page: Let It Be, Helia 44.