After a 24 hour flight, the sliding doors- here on the other side of the planet- glide open..
Our Chinese colleague Anna greets us with a warm wave, her smile as welcoming as family. We are in China!
We brace ourselves for noise and chaos, but instead, the people are calm, and the cars are electric! No gasoline fumes or roaring engines. I can even hear a blackbird (or its Chinese counterpart) singing on a nearby rooftop. In this city of nearly 6 million people, there’s an atmosphere reminiscent of 1980s Paris: clean air, greenery, and a relaxed vibe.
The next day, we’re picked up at the hotel and whisked away in yet another electric car—one of a brand I’ve never even heard of—to the shipyard. And again, we’re struck by surprise: a modern, well-organized facility, far tidier than most European ones. Still, in one corner, we spot a small pile of clutter. My German colleague Nils jokingly remarks that at least this looks familiar to us. Linda, who’s giving us the tour, immediately responds that she’ll have it cleaned up. Nils hastily offers a thousand apologies, trying to explain that his joke was meant as a compliment. But that ship—sticking with nautical terms—had already sailed: Linda has it cleared on the spot! A subtle cultural difference, perhaps? Another thing stands out: everyone is cheerful and seems to genuinely enjoy their work.
Another thing stands out: everyone is cheerful and seems to genuinely enjoy their work.
This Massive Shipyard in Xiamen—an unfamiliar megacity on an island directly across from Taiwan—has already become too small to meet the growing demand for HH CATAMARANS. So far, it has mainly been Americans and Australians who have recognized the value and quality of these yachts. Due to the increasing European demand, HH CATAMARANS has built its next production facility in Cebu, Philippines.
We walk through seven halls, each large enough to fit two Allures or Garcia shipyards. Per hall, that is! In one, we see a series of twelve HH44s. In the next, three 60-footers under construction. Yet another hall houses several 52s and 55s. And nowhere is there the smell of polyester: everything here is built using epoxy infusion and carbon—right down to the holding tanks. We ask if it wouldn’t be cheaper to make those from PVC. “Maybe,” answers CEO Paul Hakes, “but we’re not building you a cheaper boat. We’re building you a better boat!”
Later, at the bar, we revisit this. “It feels like we’re getting a masterclass in boatbuilding here,” Nils jokes over his Chinese beer. “And even that tastes just as good as the German stuff,” he grumbles.
HH has been around for 15 years and has built for many European premium brands. We spot old molds from famous yacht builders who proudly flaunt their “European craftsmanship”—crafted with Chinese expertise, though I’m not allowed to name names, unfortunately. Was it difficult to meet exact European specifications? “No, not really. We did the engineering for them as well,” Paul explains before I can even ask. He elaborates: HH designed and built the entire boats. “They just put the bloody sticker on it,” he says in his Kiwi accent, beaming with pride—and rightly so, in our opinion.
At HH CATAMARANS, alongside their disruptive product philosophy, another key concept takes center stage: the boats are designed to be “future-proof.” This means they are already incorporating today what will only become standard tomorrow. Hudson Wang, Paul Hakes, and designers Gino Morelli and Pete Melvin apply this principle consistently—from the bottom of the daggerboards to the very top of the mast.
The use of carbon fiber—such as in the daggerboards, which are manufactured using the pre-preg process—lightweight interior furnishings, and cutting-edge electrical and electronic components all reflect this commitment. Only suppliers who can deliver products that will remain innovative and forward-thinking in 10, 15, or more years make it on board.
As our worldview slowly shifts, we ask more naïve questions. We notice many European premium components on the boats, and the answer is obvious: everything we see is designed here, engineered, and produced. Not copied, but created.
Europe, take note: the Chinese aren’t coming—they’ve already set sail.
People often say, “The Chinese are coming.” But I think they’ve been here for a while. They looked around, concluded they could do a much better job, and went ahead and proved it—while we in Europe debated the 32-hour workweek. Solutions and innovations that Nils and I begged European shipyards for—only to be dismissed as “too difficult” or “no demand for that”—are standard practice here.
Of course, not all parts of China will be as polished as what I saw, and I may have been in a bubble in Xiamen. But I’ve heard similar stories from fellow entrepreneurs in other major cities. And what we saw at this shipyard is undeniable: they’re building exceptionally high-quality vessels.
You know Rossinante Yachts and me as your trusted partner for high-quality shipyard construction and true bluewater yachts with a francophile touch. HH CATAMARANS fully meets all my expectations for products that I can confidently recommend to you and your families—as both a businessman and a sailor—to make your bluewater dreams a reality. HH passes all my tests with flying colors, even if, in this case, there’s no French flag waving at the stern.