Dripping with custom features and with wireless control throughout the yacht the latest Morrelli & Melvin-designed HH66 cat from Hudson Yacht Group was created with one particular emphasis in mind... performance

For a few years now, Hudson Yacht Group has been the genre-leader in performance luxury offshore catamarans by combining innovative design from Morrelli & Melvin with outstanding raceboat build quality driven by veteran boat builder Paul Hakes and his team at the Hudson Yacht Group facility in Xiamen, China. Even with a brief interruption due to the virus precautions, this massive operation is still in gear to deliver on its years-long order book of the full range of HH models: the HH50, HH55, HH66 and largest model to date, the HH88.

With some customisation details found in each, all these models nonetheless still consistently deliver on the basic Hudson Yacht Group promise of high-tech design, practical utility and performance in sailing, comfort for the owner, crew and guests, and high construction quality and aesthetics appropriate for this elevated class of yachts.

The latest model to exit the shop doors in Xiamen is possibly the most exciting built to date: HH 66 hull number five (which is technically hull number four), built for a US-based client who has a particular focus on performance but not so much to sacrifice core values in non-racing leisure use.

The day-racing circuit in the performance catamaran sector has been growing steadily, with many entries in several races and regattas held throughout the Caribbean in the winter and numerous events in the Mediterranean in the summer. These are turning out to be more than just sunny holidays: the scene is now sprinkled with new designs, pro sailors and owners, all hungry to win. The scene has evolved to now be quite competitive, so much so that even as a veteran of more than a few America’s Cup cycles, Hudson Yacht Group designer Gino Morrelli remarked, ‘sometimes I wish we could slow down the arms race!’

Main picture: HH66 hull number five leaves the paint booth in Xiamen, China. Itʼs the lightest example yet, and by a wide margin after 1,500 kilos were shaved off the boatʼs displacement by careful attention to detail in all aspects of the build process.
Below: it is also the first HH66 fitted with T-foil rudders as well as C-foil daggerboards which further reduce the boatʼs effective displacement under sail

Nonetheless, some big cat owners love sailing their boats enough to stretch their racing interests from day races to longer contests, such as the offshore 600-mile classics like the Newport-Bermuda, the Fastnet, and the Caribbean 600 races, in addition to much longer adventures like the ARC transatlantic race, the Cape to Rio race, the Transpac race to Hawaii and the revived LA-Tahiti Race – at 3570 miles, this race will test the endurance of any boat and team, and what better platform than a luxury performance cat?

The genesis of this latest HH66 project may have its roots in sibling rivalry: the owner’s brother has been an active and successful monohull racer for many years, both inshore and offshore, and recently had designed and built a custom 53ft carbon multihull that he’s been racing for the last few seasons in the Caribbean. Both brothers have an appreciation and admiration of high technology, which is an important feature in the HH66, but not just for the sake of technology: choices were made to optimise function whilst minimising weight and avoiding any excessive hassle of installation and maintenance.

For example, Paul Hakes explains that the use of wireless technology for the control systems throughout the boat has saved many hours in installation and many kilos in wire and harness weights, yet still remains reliably functional. ‘We worked closely with Wayne Meretsky at Kinetic Scientific for the control systems and Bruce Schwab at Oceanplanet for the batteries and energy management systems,’ says Hakes. ‘This 66 has a relatively lightweight bank of Lithionics lithium batteries operating efficiently and safely at 48 volts DC. Combined with high-powered alternators from the Yanmar diesels, this electrical system can deliver most of what’s needed on board while saving the hassle, expense and weight of a dedicated generator set which needs its own mounts, tanks, fuel, wiring, etc.’

The elegance of this system’s design is impressive: there is no breaker panel, for example, the system design has opted instead for a series of Garmin switching modules to control the energy flow. The wireless operating environment almost resembles a corporate office, where wireless log in privileges allows controlled access to specified parts of the onboard systems.

‘It’s very clever,’ explains Hakes, ‘When you walk aboard, you log in and this allows you access to controls that pertain to your function while you’re on board. For example, the captain or owner will have full access to all systems, while the guests may only have access to the climate control and entertainment systems in their cabin. This makes it simpler to operate and harder to lose access control to the critical systems like propulsion, navigation or autopilot control.’

This feature helps contribute to the overall net loss of some 1,500kg in weight compared with the lightest-to- date built HH66, hull number three Nala. For catamarans where every kilo counts, this is gold.

To reach this amazing figure, which is compared with the samesized boat also built in carbon with careful attention to weight, Hakes credits an incredible attention to detail in reducing weight without compromising on strength by project manager Thomas Johnson and production manager Yuchun Chen.

‘The hull and deck laminates on this boat are standard resin-infused carbon-epoxy-Corecell foam,’ says Hakes, ‘and even if we changed our process to do it all in pre-preg, the weight savings would not be substantial but the increase in cost would. The internal structures are also the same as in the other HH66s and have proven to hold up well: HH66 hull number one is now in her fourth year of heavy use, having raced in more than 15 regattas and crossed the Atlantic six times with no signs of wear. Much of our weight saving therefore comes with other changes that we have made in the design and fabrications on deck and in some interior elements.’

This includes an alteration of the cabin top from being a large overlapping “eyebrow” design that helps provide shade to the glassenclosed main salon, to something lower in profile with less weight and windage. The shading is taken care of by use of a speciality glass product from Corning called Gorilla Glass that is used on the face of mobile phones: it is pure silica, extremely strong and has a built-in shading feature that adjusts with a low-voltage rheostat, helping to prevent the yacht’s salon from becoming a greenhouse.

The cockpit layout is streamlined to reduce complication and weight, where the table actually lowers flush to facilitate crew movement from one side to the other while racing. Lastly, the carbon-PVC core interior cabin panels and furniture have been pushed to be as light as possible with a thin teak veneer and yet are also able to withstand abuse such as taking the impact load of a freefalling crew member should the conditions get rough.

Above: the engine room is vast and is also isolated behind the aft bulkhead with very effective sound insulation. The electric mounting boards are also cut away to further save weight. Unusually thereʼs no breaker panel on this big cat, instead a series of Garmin switching modules controls the energy flow from the batteries.
Below: this regatta focused HH66 has a smaller helm station with racing ergonomics very much in mind. Note the line-ofsight B&G instruments forward of the screen

‘In rethinking everything we found other seemingly small items that all added up to unnecessary weight,’ says Hakes. ‘Like drawers: there are some 40 to 50 drawers on board and by changing the design to eliminate the slider material we saved maybe 80kg in weight.’

Going to a custom high-modulus one-piece spar made by Lorimar also saved weight, even though it is nearly two metres higher than the already tall mast stepped on Nala. The sailplan is generous, and with a wardrobe or seven to nine sails planned, it can assure the boat has plenty of horsepower in every corner of the wind speed/angle matrix.

The final unique features of this very special HH 66 are usually not seen as they reside below the waterplane: the rudders and daggerboards. These are an entirely new series of appendages designed using America’s Cup-level technology with help from VPP software developed by JB Braun and Michael Richelson at North Sails and adapted for use with the big cat from its earlier use in the 35th AC. Construction of the T-rudders was by Stu Wiley at Al Fresco Composites in Rhode Island and the complex curved daggerboards were built by Jim Betts in Anacortes, Washington.

Mark Peters and Ferdinand van West at Morrelli & Melvin produced the design and engineering of these special blades, the result of an extensive design study of options using their adapted six degrees of freedom VPP.

‘We had many choices in shapes to explore,’ explains Peters, ‘including C, J, T and so on. In fact we looked at 10 different configurations and combinations and eventually arrived at a modified C shape being the best for the overall performance of the boat.’ The studies looked at predicted performance over offshore course models, such as that used to rate boats in the Transpac race to Hawaii. ‘Since the boat is 6.5m wide we calculate that the windward blade produces 10 to 15 per cent of the righting moment, which is about a ton of downward force,’ says van West. ‘And the leeward board produces from 15 to 30 per cent lifting force, so on 16 tons this is a lot of load.’ It is not enough to break the hulls free of the water like a Moth, but it does have a substantial positive effect on performance.

Which begs the question: just how fast will this special HH 66 go? For now, all we’re told is ‘it’s classified’.

Click here for more information on HH Catamarans »

When experienced sailors define their own perfect yacht they often find others have been thinking the same thing. If you have a lifetime of experience in the industry you’re better placed than most to pull it off...

When Michael Schmidt wanted a large yacht to go off cruising with his wife, he found nothing on the market – new or second-hand – that came near to meeting his rather exacting requirements. Most people in that position would explain their ideas to a designer and commission a full custom shipyard to build the boat they want, but Schmidt went much further than that and founded a whole new shipyard to ensure that he had total control over every aspect of the build. Unsurprisingly, given Schmidt’s entrepreneurial spirit and keen nose for such things, it turned out that there was a gap in the market for the sort of yacht he had in mind and six years on, his Y Yachts shipyard continues to thrive.

It must be said that Schmidt is neither a typical yacht buyer nor an average sailor. One of Europe’s major yachtbroking networks bears his name; his Yachtwerft Wedel produced some of the fastest IOR racers of the 1980s – boats such as Pinta, Düsselboot, Outsider and Container – and he personally won the Admiral’s Cup for Germany in 1985 as skipper of Rubin. When the Berlin Wall came down he moved swiftly to the former East Germany, founded Hanse Yachts in the historic Hanseatic League port of Greifswald in 1990 and grew it to become the world’s second-largest producer of sailing yachts (and a major-league player in the motorboat market too) before selling the business in 2011.

The fundamental problem that Schmidt perceived with all of the yachts he looked at in 2012 was that they were unnecessarily complicated. ‘The real challenge is to reduce a yacht to its essentials,’ he says. ‘Our credo is: the simpler the boat, the purer the sailing experience and the greater the pleasure. Our goal is clear and simple: use the best technology available to simplify sailing and put the joy back into it. This is why our yachts are made to emphasise the essentials of sailing: easy handling, alone or with company, anywhere in the world.’

One of Schmidt’s most successful innovations during his tenure at the helm of Hanse Yachts was to insist that all yachts produced by the yard, no matter what size, had a cockpit layout that made it easy to sail them singlehanded. Looking back, this might seem like a bit of a nobrainer but at the time it was a real gamechanger for the boatbuilding industry. At Y Yachts, that concept has been taken a long way further, with yachts up to 90ft (27m) long that are designed to be sailed solo or by a couple. The standard fit-out for all models includes quarters for a professional skipper and crew, separate from the owner's and guests’ accommodation, but quite unlike most yachts of similar size, Y Yachts are engineered to give their owners the option of cruising without any paid hands on board whenever they wish to do so.

Simplicity aside, two more key parameters for Schmidt’s own yacht and for the shipyard that followed were light displacement and a remarkable turn of speed: ‘Fast hull designs, the latest materials, perfect engineering and outstanding craftsmanship make our yachts suitable for occasional racing as well as for relaxed afternoons at sea.’

Light displacement means carbon fibre and hi-tech composite construction throughout. But for Schmidt, what’s left out is as important as what goes in: ‘The ideal cruiser is the opposite of a heavy yacht overloaded with all possible features. Sailing fun is made possible by a simple boat that is reduced to the bare essentials without sacrificing comfort.’

Performance in light airs is a particularly important part of Schmidt’s overall vision: ‘A Y Yacht must be able to run at a reasonable speed even in the lightest wind without starting the engine. Once you have experienced this, you don’t want to sail any other yacht.’

The final key component of the Y Yachts formula is a strong, original and enduring sense of style, at once timeless and state-of-the-art: ‘A yacht needs her own aesthetic.

Something that distinguishes her from all other yachts, makes her a solitary stand-out in harbour and one that people still like to look at after many years.’

For his own 80ft yacht Cool Breeze and the Y8 model that subsequently went into production as the brand new shipyard’s first semi-custom offering, Schmidt engaged Lorenzo Argento, at that time of Brenta Design, to handle the naval architecture and commissioned Sir David Chipperfield to take care of the interior design. It was a challenging brief by all accounts, which Schmidt describes as ‘like bringing together several complications in Swiss clockwork: the playful mastery of long distances, the easy handling of a large yacht, excellent performance in all winds, coupled with a high-quality living atmosphere.’

The new shipyard, Michael Schmidt Yachtbau, was established in 2016. Schmidt didn’t ned to venture far from the headquarters of his previous empire, finding an ideal waterfront site at Ladebow on the outskirts of Greifswald and erecting a purpose-built production facility large enough to produce yachts of up to 108ft (33m) in length. All hulls and rigs are produced on site in carbon fibre and the hi-tech, automated paint hall also serves as a giant autoclave capable of annealing prepreg yachts at temperatures as high as 90°C.

A yacht’s hull is too often just a small fraction of its overall displacement weight, even before all the gear, stores, fuel and cruising equipment is loaded aboard. With light displacement a fundamental parameter in the Y Yachts formula, nearly all of the yachts’ interior structure and most of the furniture is made from lightweight composite materials but it’s largely concealed under a layer of hardwood veneer to give the accommodation a traditional look and feel.

Above: prepreg carbon hull and spars, race-spec deck gear and the best sails available... itʼs easy to forget that this yacht is primarily conceived as a cruiser.
Below: luxe minimalism by Norm Architects

Below: all controls for everything at the helm

Three semi-custom models form the bulk of the shipyard’s current output: the 71ft (22m) Y7, the 79ft (24m) Y8 and the most recent addition to the range, the 90ft (27.4m) Y9. A 74ft (22.6m) explorer yacht, the YX, is also available in two different configurations and the yard also produces full custom yachts to order. Lorenzo Argento designed the first model in the range, the Y8 (developed from Schmidt’s own yacht, Cool Breeze) and the YX, but the highly regarded American designer Bill Tripp was brought in to design the Y7 and Y9 and the Danish firm Norm Architects designed their interiors. To date the yard has built (or on order) 12 yachts. More are already in the pipeline, including plans for a 100ft (30.5m) Y10.

One notable custom build launched last year is the 74ft (22m) oceanic research yacht Eugen Seibold, which was designed by Lorenzo Argento and subsequently developed into the YX model, adding a go-anywhere explorer yacht to Y Yachts’ range. Eugen Seibold was commissioned by the Max Planck Institute and Werner Siemens Foundation with a brief to create the world’s most eco-friendly research vessel. Fitted with an advanced diesel-electric hybrid drive and sophisticated energy recovery systems including a propeller-driven generator that supplies the yacht’s electrical power under sail and charges its batteries, Eugen Seibold resolves the contradiction inherent in most environmental research vessels, which inevitably pollute the environment that they are working to preserve. This project has given Y Yachts valuable expertise in renewable technologies and has enabled the shipyard to offer the option of eco-friendly systems and drives on all models in its range.

What all of these yachts have in common, despite the extensive scope for customisation that the shipyard offers its clients, is a strict adherence to Schmidt’s key parameters. ‘We have turned away commissions for catamarans and powerboats,’ Y Yachts’ head of sales Peter Markowitz explains. ‘We would far rather focus on building a few very good sailing boats with a maximum output of around five yachts per year. We don’t want to outsource anything and we don’t want to have to change our philosophy.’

One key aspect of that philosophy, which is strongly tied in with Schmidt’s credo of simplicity, pure sailing and pleasure – and one that even the most traditionally minded sailors will agree with wholeheartedly – is the importance of reliability. Hydraulic and electric systems make these huge, powerful boats easy and fun to sail, but all technical installations on board are designed to make access for maintenance as easy as possible and all equipment is selected and installed so that if necessary, it is relatively straightforward to replace or repair. Many shipyards will give their customers verbal assurances that this is the case, but Y Yachts goes one further with a bold pledge published on its website: ‘We optimise every area of the yacht and you can be sure that you will not experience any surprises at sea. Promised.’

Click here for more information on Y Yachts »

The young Italian engineers at UBI Maior are steadily working their way through pretty much everything that moves on a modern yacht... and working hard to make it move better

This time it's the snatch block. When it appeared decades ago, it seemed a magical device: with its opening cheeks to expose the sheave and rotating head, lines could now get redirected at any angle without having to be re-led from an end. Snatch blocks were a real boon for headsail and spinnaker sheets and invaluable for sail changes with their fast and easy attachment, loading and unloading, and release.

The original snatch blocks were heavy and cumbersome, built as they were from stainless or even bronze with thick, heavy cheek covers of rubber or plastic. The next generation saved weight with Delrin sheaves and lighter plastic cheeks reinforced with stainless straps, but these were not very strong compared with the main blocks designed to take the loads. In the current generation these blocks have evolved further to have soft loops instead of metal shackles for attachment, and even loops to close the cheeks and capture the line. This generation is a fraction of the weight of the early models, and are generally stronger and more versatile.

However, even here the engineers at UBI Maior Italia have found room for improvement with innovations that are now available in their new X3M FLIGHT line of blocks. Their process of carefully analysing and defining the function of the block to its essential elements has led to a clever redesign that has led to broader applications elsewhere on deck.

The success of the design lies in not just its geometries but a careful choice of materials to maximise performance at minimal weight. The line load is centralised, thus releasing both the primary and the transverse loads on bearings made from a techno-polymer material called Ertalyte TX, which allows the block to withstand incredibly heavy loads (even static) with no roller or ball bearings to deform and no maintenance.

Main picture: when snatch blocks are used to adjust the sheeting angle of a code sail or gennaker, you want them to be as light as possible. Heavy lumps attached to flogging sheets can cause a lot of damage.
Above: a 50mm X3M FLIGHT block can handle the mainsheet loads of this 60ft raceboat.
Below: The clever design of X3M FLIGHT blocks won an award at the Sea-Tec trade fair

The unidirectional fibre-covered Dyneema loop acts on an aluminium T6068 alloy, holding the bearing in place. Some of the aluminium elements are silver ion-anodised to not only prevent corrosion, but also to reduce friction.

The body is fabricated by 3D-printing from a techno-polymer. This material has high flexural and tensile strength, stiffness and hardness, yet will not break when subjected to shock loading. This is an important feature needed in most high-load applications, and makes X3M FLIGHT blocks the first-ever built in production using 3D printing technology.

The central hub, where there is the bushing race, uses an innovative carbon coating called DLC. This coating is used in bike suspension to reduce the friction and also in this application allows the block to archive a 23 per cent higher max line speed even at high load.

UBI Maior Italia has for years been a pioneer in 3D printing fabrication for marine hardware, using this process to optimise the design and fabrication of custom, semi-custom and now even production products: for example, side cheeks for X3M FLIGHT blocks can be produced at a rate of 50 per working day.

The final components of X3M FLIGHT blocks are the Velcro strap to hold the loop in place and the captive titanium T-bone holding the side cheeks in place.

In testing for the past year on the 60ft canting-keeled raceboat Cippa Lippa, X3M FLIGHT blocks were used on the Code 0 and gennaker sheets, the latter sometimes running through the block during gybes at a rate of 3m/s – the block has been designed to not only reduce the sheave friction on the bushing with a graphite coating on the alloy axle, the frictional heat gets dissipated quickly too due to the sheave and cheek design.

Even the mainsheet on Cippa Lippa used a 50mm X3M FLIGHT block with a four-ton safe working load (SWL) that was probably subjected to more than four tons. This highlights another feature: the gold-coloured thread in the loop acts as a warning light. When the SWL is exceeded, this thread is severed.

X3M FLIGHT blocks are also used as halyard blocks at the mast base and to turn a 2:1 Code 0 halyard at the head of the sail where the block’s light weight and easy assembly makes a simpler life for the bowman.

Click here for more information on UBI Maior »

Minimising sun damage when sailing has long been a major concern for sailors but a casual conversation with America’s Cup winner Jimmy Spithill highlighted the second part of the equation for dermatologist Edit Harken

It was a beautiful breezy September morning in 2014 during the famous (or infamous) E-scow Blue Chip invitational regatta when I finally decided to start a skin care line for sailors. As a tradition, my husband Peter (Harken) and I hosted the mystery guest at our house every year. Pewaukee Yacht Club has always invited sailors that had an outstanding accomplishment the previous year and although it wasn’t the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award, Peter, Olaf (Harken) and the rest of the yacht club gang somehow always managed to convince the sailors that competing in an E-scow invitational with the best of the inland sailors may just be the biggest honour and challenge of their life.

‘That morning I served breakfast to Jimmy Spithill, who, the previous year, had won the America’s Cup in the ‘biggest comeback of sport history’. I have had talks with him in the past about his white freckly skin and helped him out on occasions. Jimmy grew up in Australia on the water as a red head, so he certainly was aware of the importance of sun protection and was very good at using sunscreen. As I have been regularly asked for my advice about sunscreens in the past, Jimmy’s question took me by surprise. He wasn’t asking about sunscreens, instead, he wanted my opinion about what to use to repair his skin after a long day of sailing. He, the consummate professional, wanted professional advice on how to mitigate the damage and keep his skin from aging as quickly as all his older mates’ skin.

I had been thinking about creating a sunscreen for sailors for a while, but this was my eureka moment and the inspiration for a comprehensive ‘two-step solution’ that not only includes a professional grade allmineral sunscreen, but also has an after-sun antioxidant barrier repair moisturizer. As I regularly explain to my patients, sunscreen is the first line of defence and the antioxidants are the warriors of second line defense. These two products are designed to complement each other to achieve the maximal cancer prevention and anti-aging efficacy. I realised that sailors don’t have time to see a dermatologist unless unfortunately they are forced to, due to skin cancer. They don’t have time to read, ask or get advice although they need it the most. The triple threat of wind, water and sun wreaks havoc on their skin due to those elements causing DNA, oxidative and skin barrier damage and repeated, cumulative exposure puts them at a very high risk not just for skin cancer, but for accelerated aging too. Sailors’ skin needs strong sun protection, antioxidant defence and skin barrier repair as well as strong anti-aging, collagen stimulatory help.

I felt sailors were not the type that would want to use many different products, and therefore I needed to put all the necessary, but still appropriate ingredients, together in a high potency formulation. As I explained to Jimmy that morning, there was a trick about anti-aging products for sailors; dermatologists adore vitamin A-type ingredients (retinol, retinoic acid) for their strong anti-aging effects, however those ingredients also increase the risk for sunburn. Therefore, I would always recommend them with caution to professional sailors and preferred other ingredients that are safe for use in the sun.

When I’m asked, I always credit Jimmy and his question for the final motivation for launching not just a super-sunscreen, but another antioxidant, hydrating barrier repair product as well, that in my mind was perfectly tailored to people who are on the water and exposed to the sun for extended time. I was frustrated with going through the basket of sunscreens on boats we were invited to sail on and finding most of them expired or useless. On a typical daysail, whether it was a maxi or a small boat, by the end of the day I found myself giving advice to both men and women on the boat about sunscreens and other matters of skin care. I had my list of favourite sunscreens and they were my favourites for good reason. Cutaneous photobiology, or in other words, the interaction of light with human skin, was always one of my major interests and I have done research in that field. I talk about, recommend and explain sunscreens to my patients every day. Sunscreens and various ways of cancer prevention were always a passion of mine.

I did my homework and asked many sailors what they liked and disliked in sunscreens. I was told it couldn’t be thin and runny as it would drip on the boat and make the deck and their hands slippery. It couldn’t be greasy for the same reasons. It had to be very water and sweat resistant and of course could not run into and burn the eyes. No scent of vanilla and coconut, perhaps rum. Oh yes and please make one that lasts all day.

Above: a conversation with two-time Americaʼs Cup winner Jimmy Spithill was the eureka moment for dermatologist Edit Harken. She realised that not only did sailors need a very effective sunscreen, they also needed an equally strong antioxidant, hydrating barrier repair product to combat the premature aging of their skin.
Below: small boat sailors are especially vulnerable to skin damage as thereʼs nowhere to shelter from the sun

Back when I started, problems with the absorption of chemical UV filters by corals and humans were not in the press, nor on people’s minds. But I knew about those issues and decided to formulate a sunscreen that only had mineral filters. That turned out to be quite difficult. All the cosmetic chemists who I talked to in the process of formulation wanted to convince me to use zinc oxide and add chemical filters to it for several reasons; it was easier and cheaper to formulate and produced a more transparent sunscreen that led to more cosmetic elegance. Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are non-soluble filters and their formulation is difficult and costly especially for high SPF and very water-resistant preparations. That’s the reason that lots of the lighter, lotion-type sunscreen bottles with only mineral filters contain a tiny ball and need to be shaken before use to resuspend the floating zinc oxide particles. If they are not shaken well, the sunscreen’s efficiency is drastically reduced. I am proud Harken Derm sunscreen has everything that the sailors asked for and I set out to do; it has no chemical filters and therefore it is safe for both reefs and humans. It has very high UVB and UVA protection (SPF50, the highest rating allowed in the US) and it’s very water resistant – so much so that it does last all day without running into the eyes. It has added antioxidants that serve a second line of defense by reducing free radical damage. I often say this is not a sunscreen created for the guys on Wall Street, it is for athletes out in the elements all day. And when I am told it is difficult to wash Harken Derm off at the end of the day, my answer is; ‘good, that means it kept you covered in the toughest conditions’. That became our motto written on our sunscreen tubes.

Originally, I wanted to name the products ‘Harken Block’. I thought it would have been cheeky and fun. Unfortunately, I was advised against it by my friends in the regulatory business. They warned that if our company becomes ‘big’, somebody may alert the FDA as the name ‘sunblock’ is not permitted in the labeling regulations due to its misleading meaning. Nothing blocks the sun out completely, even SPF50 although it screens about 98.5% of UVB rays, it allows about 1.5% through and even more UVA rays if the filters are not broad spectrum (SPF only measures UVB protection).

At the end, the name of Harken Derm was born from a marriage of a man, Peter Harken, with a trusted name in the sailing industry and a practicing dermatologist – me, with a research background and expertise in the skin cancer prevention and aesthetic fields. As an academic dermatologist, my passion is in educating, giving advice and treating my patients and now in helping sailors. I realise that there are many choices out there for sunscreens and skin care products. My aspiration with Harken Derm was to make it easier for sailors to decide what’s best to protect and keep their skin healthy in the toughest conditions.

Click here for more information on Harken Derm »