Opera hat which means hat, and "claque", which means "tap" or "click". The "chapeau claque" is thus a hat that folds with a click, and unfolds likewise. In English the hat model is usually referred to as a "collapsible top-hat", "gibus" or more often "opera hat"- The construction may originally have been inspired by an historical hat model called "chapeau bras" ("arm hat"), made as bicorne or tricorne to be carried folded under the arm On May 5, 1812, a London hatter called Thomas Francis Dollman patented a design for "an elastic round hat" supported by ribs and springs. His patent was
Top Hat 25 the keel and a displacement of 2580 kg (5688 lb), makes a safe ballast ratio of 48%. The hulls were gun sprayed in two halves, joined down the middle and then steel shot ballast was cemented into the keel. The Top Hat 27 was created to be used in the charter industry. The Top Hat 27 model is in fact an extended the Top Hat. There were 4 built before production ceased. After this Formit was taken over by other interests and started to re-focus their business to other markets . Unfortunately there are no official specifications of the boat.