Hood worked as a naval architect designing yachts and commercial vessels in Australia, the Pacific, Guyana and Bangladesh. He established a design firm in 1963. His work on the Hood class yachts produced a number of variants of Hoods (20s, 23s and more recently a Hood 28ML. He is celebrated as the designer of the America's Cup yacht, the 12 metre "Dame Pattie" launched in 1967.