Hans Groop (born 1932) is a Finnish

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

designer based in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. Groop was born in

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),motorboat A motorboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine; faster examples may be called "speedboats". Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the inter ...

s, the most famous being the

H-boat The H-Boat is a strict one-design keelboat designed by Finn Hans Groop in 1967, with some minor modifications by Paul Elvstrøm in 1971. The boat gained international status in 1977. Since 1967 over 5000 hulls have been made, making it one of ...

, one of the most popular yacht classes in the world. Groop has been a lifelong member of the

Helsingfors Segelsällskap (HSS; ''Helsinki Sailing Society'') is the second oldest yacht club in Helsinki, established in 1893. The yacht club has over 1,000 members and mainly sail boats in the register. The club is located on Liuskasaari island in the middle of ...

, a leading yacht club for smaller keelboats in the Nordics. The club initiated the H-boat in 1967 to replace the popular but by then outmoded Hai. Some of his other designs are the H-35, H-40, H-star, H-323, Targa 42, Targa 96, Finnsailor 34 and 29, Degerö 33, Joe 17, Joe 34,

Netta ''Netta'' is a genus of diving ducks. The name is derived from Greek ''Netta'' "duck". Unlike other diving ducks, the ''Netta'' species are reluctant to dive, and feed more like dabbling ducks. These are gregarious ducks, mainly found on fresh ...

, IS 400, Artina 29 and Artina 33 as well as a lot of one-off boats.SailboatData.com – sailboat designs of Hans Groop by year
/ref> Groop has also designed boats of the

5.5 Metre The International 5.5 Metre class was created to yield a racing Keelboat, keel boat that would give a sailing experience similar to that of the 6 Metre, International 6 Metre Class but at a lower cost. The main class regulation restricts a sing ...

class.

References

1932 births Living people Finnish yacht designers Swedish-speaking Finns {{Finland-bio-stub