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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

First look: Balance 442 – lightweight, fast catamaran

• Toby Hodges
• July 25, 2022

Toby Hodges casts his eye over the new Balance 442, a new performance catamaran which saw 30 orders placed before the first one was out of the factory

Although relatively heavy designs that maximise space and comfort still dominate the market, demand for lightweight and fast cruising catamarans appears to be increasing dramatically, with this South African yard reporting unprecedented demand as they launched the Balance 442.

In terms of both concept and layout the Balance 442 is in many ways a scaled down version of the 482 that made its European premiere at the recent International Multihull Show at La Grande Motte.

It offers an appealing mix of a high performance potential allied to an easily tamed self-tacking rig with a deck layout optimised for easy solo watch-keeping while on passage. The first boat has already hit speeds of more than 13 knots on early sea trials off Cape Town.

It’s available with fixed keels or daggerboards, the latter giving a minimum draught of only 1.05m (3ft 6in). All but a handful of the 30 orders placed so far have specified the daggerboards.

Overall, this a very appealing design for anyone looking for a fast boat that’s fun to sail, but who also wants the advantages that a multihull brings to life on board.

Balance 442 specifications

LOA: 13.50m / 44ft 4in Beam: 7.6m / 24ft 11in Draught (boards down): 2.15m / 7ft 1in Displacement: 10,750kg / 23,704lb Base price: US$820,000 ex VAT Builder: balancecatamarans.com

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2023 Boat of the Year: Best Cruising Multihull

• By CW Editorial Team
• December 7, 2022

The trend toward cruising multihulls continues unabated, and perhaps has even come full circle. The popularity of boats with more than one hull, especially catamarans , is more evident with each passing year in charter fleets, on boat-show docks, and in far-flung anchorages the world over. The multihull genie is out of the bottle, and there’s no evidence it will ever return. That reality was once again underlined in the 2023 Boat of the Year trials , where the Cruising Multihull class, with five legitimate contenders, was certainly among the strongest categories. Particularly notable this year was the dominance of French builders, which makes sense because the country has been the leading proponent of production-built multihulls from the beginning. It’s fitting that one of those pioneering firms topped the field for 2023: Well done, Fountaine Pajot. 

Winner: Fountaine Pajot, Fountaine Pajot Tanna 47

This category was stacked with previous winners. In fact, every builder in the class had earned a BOTY victory in earlier editions of the event. But in both the dockside inspections and under sail, the Fountaine Pajot Tanna 47 rang a bell for our panelists. 

“I believe this is my favorite Fountaine Pajot model of all time,” judge Herb McCormick says. “The size and dimensions are ideal: It’s a big cat but not overwhelming. A big reason is the helm station, with dedicated pods for driving, and the sailhandling. And, holy cow, it really sailed well.” 

Judge Mark Pillsbury also appreciates the smart deck layout, as well as the corresponding systems: “With plenty of solar panels, a watermaker and more-than-ample refrigeration space, the Tanna 47 was set up really well for cruising and living aboard. On a beam reach in 13 knots of breeze, we scooted along at 7 to 8 knots, and I liked the setup of the helm, with the wheel being separated slightly from the winches. The boat was easy to sail solo, but there was room for the crew to jump in and help when they wanted to.”

Finalist: Balance Catamarans, Balance 442

The lone South African cat entry for 2023, the Balance 442 continued the excellence we’ve come to expect from the builder, and is a worthy successor to the company’s 482 , which was named Best Performance Catamaran for 2022 . 

Pillsbury offers this summation: “Many of today’s popular catamarans are built to appeal to a wide audience composed of private owners and charter companies. Phil Berman and the team at Balance take a different approach, by building boats for experienced owners who plan to live aboard and go places. That translates into seakindliness, solid sailing performance, and comfortable accommodations that will keep a crew rested and ready at anchor or underway. Personal favorites: the visibility from the raised helm station, and the farm-kitchen-style deep sink and dish-drying racks in the galley. Nice touches.”

Finalist: Groupe Beneteau, Lagoon 55

This rangy cat will find plenty of happy sailors in private ownership and on charter vacations. Judge Ed Sherman says that the performance under power jumped out: “A record-setter for its motoring capabilities this year at 8.9 knots at 2,000 rpm and 9.4 knots at 2,500 rpm. Quiet too. In both cases, our decibel tests came in at less than 70.” 

The sailing characteristics impress Pillsbury: “The Lagoon 55 is a big boat, probably close to the limit of what can be handled by a family or crew of friends off on a charter vacation. But the designers and builder have done a good job of setting up a helm station on the flybridge that’s workable for a shorthanded crew. All lines lead to winches near the wheel, and an autopilot and bow thruster provide extra hands when it comes time to maneuver. With multiple interior layouts, the 55 can be configured to fit the needs of a wide variety of owners.”

Finalist: Nautitech Catamarans, Nautitech 44 Open

With its twin wheels situated aft and outboard, the peppy Nautitech 44 Open is thrilling to drive, with its quickness and performance. “I always say that you need daggerboards to have truly great sailing on a cat, but this sweet 44-footer, with its fixed keels, certainly disproved that opinion,” McCormick says. “It really zipped along and was a blast to steer.” 

Pillsbury is of the same mind: “After our sail aboard the Nautitech, I jotted down ‘sporty’ in my notes. The helm seats, set outboard and aft on each of the cat’s hulls, kept me connected with the water rushing by, and a versatile sail plan that includes a self-tacking jib, screecher and spinnaker gave us options to keep boatspeeds in the high single digits—and higher in the puffs—on all points of sail.”

Finalist: Neel Trimarans, Neel 43

The three-hull outlier in our category of mostly cats, the Neel 43 presents a real alternative for those who want the speeds and space that a multihull can deliver. “This boat is truly different,” Sherman says. “It’s slippery through the water, either sailing or under engine power. System access in the center hull is wonderful and well done too. With a single 50 hp Volvo Penta saildrive, we measured 8.2 knots at only 2,200 rpm and 8.4 knots at 2,700 rpm.” 

Pillsbury enjoyed the entire Neel experience, and says: “Neel’s creator, Eric Bruneel, described the boat as a fast cruiser, and by that he meant an owner on passage could expect to sail in the 9- to 10-knot range, routinely enjoying 200-plus-mile days. After my turn on the wheel, I sneaked inside to check out the view from the owner’s cabin, nestled atop the starboard hull. I could have stayed all afternoon.”

View all of the winners by category, meet the judges, and more…

• More: 2023 Boat of the Year , Boat of the Year , multihull , print Jan 2023 , Sailboats
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News & Reviews

Boat test: balance 482 catamaran.

The Balance 482 is a fast cruiser with style that instantly grabs your attention, says Rob Peake in his review in SailingToday. See what else he has to say in…

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Read what Herb McCormick, the former editor of Cruising World and the Yachting correspondent for The New York Times has to say about the 442 in his latest review. To Read to full online…

Awards, Reviews and Features

Since the first 526 was launched and won the grandaddy award of them all, Cruising World’s Import Boat of the Year in 2017, Balance Catamarans has earned recognition, awards, and…

• Top 10 Best Boats Review: Balance 442

“The newest kid in the Balance Catamarans family is fun, fast, and flippin’ smart.” “Sail magazine today announced the winners of its Top 10 Best Boats for 2023. Using refined judging…

• SAIL MAGAZINE: 482 – Best Boat Winner 2022

https://www.sailmagazine.com/boats/best-boats-balance-482 I’m sure many readers have heard of the dinghy test, in which it’s considered important you be able to admire your own boat as you’re…

• SAILING WORLD: 2022 Boat of the Year – Best Multihull

https://www.sailingworld.com/sailboats/2022-boat-of-the-year-best-multihull/ The Balance 482 is a bluewater voyager with high-quality construction, performance and value Sailing World Magazine’s annual Boat of the Year tests are conducted in Annapolis, Maryland, following the…

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With the latest splash of the Balance 526, interior designer Ed Kelly and owners Andrew and Claire turned out an incredibly attractive interior that showcases some smart new looks for…

Splash Day for latest B482!

Smooth sailing ahead for Qila, the stunning new Balance 482 that just launched in Cape Town. An Englishman’s home is his castle in this case. Qila – pronounced Kee-la – is a…

Daydream Launches!

This beauty seems to have it all: grace, speed, and interior to complete the dream. Launched Sunday 18th in St. Francis, South Africa, we congratulate the new owners and wish…

Come one, come all to the International Boat Show! La Grande Motte 2023

Hey everyone, we are heading to La Grande Motte’s International Multihull Show! Come see us from Wednesday, April 12th through the 16th. Founder and Co-Designer of Balance Catamarans Phil Berman will be…

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Starlink has always been a very talked about bit of tech that world-travelling sailors were crossing their fingers hoping would work for them someday. Well, that someday might be here…

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Supergirl’s motto in DC comics is one we can get behind completely: “Hope, help, and compassion for all”. She seems an apt name for the latest Balance 442 to launch…

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Balance Catamarans Dominate Caribbean Multihull Challenge

• By Herb McCormick
• June 26, 2023

One by one, the fleet of a dozen multihulls—11 performance-cruising catamarans and a sole French trimaran—retrieved their anchors and hoisted their mainsails, each with a deep reef in the main. In the anchorage off Anse Marcel on the French side of the Caribbean island of Saint-Martin, in the lee of the isle, the waters were calm and serene. Outside in the nearby Anguilla Channel, however, the easterly trade winds were pumping, and it was a sporty scene indeed, with the roiled seaway flecked with whitecaps.

It was the second day of the fifth-annual running of the Caribbean Multihull Challenge in early February. For the first time, the event was also hosting a rally in conjunction with the usual regatta for racing cats and tris. While the race committee was setting racecourses back in Simpson Bay on the island’s Dutch side, the cruisers were setting sail for an anchorage on the far side of Anguilla, where an evening of music, dancing and merriment awaited.

As anyone who has been to one of the major boat shows in the past decade knows, the multihull segment of the sailboat sector is far and away the fastest growing. And while the CMC rally fleet was well represented by French builders such as Lagoon, Nautitech and Outremer, with a half dozen entries, the South African-built line of Balance Catamarans was easily the most dominant brand. Perhaps not coincidentally, the company’s founder and president, Phil Berman, was in the thick of things aboard his own Balance 482, In Balance, as part of a season of island-hopping.

“You learn so much from the experience of just getting out and sailing your boat, day after day, living aboard and cruising through the islands,” Berman, a former national champion in the Hobie 14 class, told me at the outset of the rally.

Balance is currently building about 25 of its swift, daggerboard-equipped cats a year, and the production run is basically sold out for the next two years. “It’s crazy, but we’re probably the fastest-growing catamaran builder in the world,” he said. “But we’re just doing what we’ve always tried to do, which is build comfortable cruising boats that perform nicely.”

Berman said he’d been looking for ways to link his owners, and the rally was just the ticket. “We’re trying to build a community with Balance,” he said. “And it’s working. The owners all become friends, and they just like hanging out together.”

As the fleet started blasting across the Anguilla Channel, with most of the Balance tribe hoisting spinnakers and seriously trucking, it was clear not only that the boats perform well, but also that their crews were top-notch sailors happy to push the envelope.

Berman said there were several other Balances cruising the islands. Next year, he says, he thinks he’ll have several more cats in the fleet. Steve Burzon, the CMC director of marketing, says he hopes to attract other brands to the rally. “We do all the organizing; they just need to show up, and, for the price of their entry fee, they get the parties, the camaraderie—everything,” he said. Burzon also acknowledged that the rally half of the event may soon overshadow the racing portion, which drew 17 boats this year. “We may have created a monster.”

It’s a good problem to have, and it will be interesting to see what transpires. In that moment off Anse Marcel, however, all those colorful spinnakers soon vanished over the horizon. While the racers back off Simpson Bay were getting ready for a day of bashing their brains out, the rally folks had different priorities. After all, there was a party to attend to.  

• More: Balance Catamarans , Caribbean , Catamarans , Cruising & Chartering , May 2023 , Racing , Sailing , Silent Running
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Copyright © 2024 Yachting. A Bonnier LLC Company . All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

10 Best Catamarans for 2023

Table of Contents

Catamarans have taken the boating world by storm, becoming the fastest-growing segment, with both sail and power cats dominating the market. Some of the best catamarans have been launched in the past 12 months! Let us introduce you to five power catamarans and five sail multihulls, and then let us get you on the water with one! Here are the ten best catamarans for 2023 :

• World Cat 260 CCX 
• Four Winns TH36 
• Leopard 40 PC 
• Aquila 42 PC 
• HammerCat 45 
• Fountaine Pajot Tanna 47 
• Bali 4.4 

Balance 442

• Minicat 310 

Find the market’s hottest catamarans for half-day and full-day rent 

Power Catamarans:

World cat 260 ccx.

Image Source: https://worldcat.com/models/260cc-x/

The sixth model in the builder’s center console line , the World Cat 260 CCX , is compact but packed with features, including a wraparound U-lounge for relaxing or casting, a 30-gallon live well, a 120-quart insulated fish box and twin 200-hp outboards that draw on 180 gallons of fuel. This is a small but serious fishing machine.

Four Winns TH36

image source: https://www.fourwinns.com/new-era

The new Four Winns TH36 is the first outboard-powered catamaran introduced by the builder. The dual console design has a walkthrough windshield and room for 15 or more guests. Power is provided by twin 300-hp outboards upgradeable to 350s, making this runabout speedy and fun.

Leopard 40 PC

Joining her 46- and 53-foot siblings, the new Leopard 40 PC is a couple’s cruiser with many of the same features as the two larger models but on a much smaller (and for some, more approachable) platform. Engine packages range from 250 hp to 370 hp, and a top speed of 20 knots is expected.

Aquila 42 PC

Image Source: https://www.aquilaboats.com/news/42-yacht

The new 42 falls in the middle of the Aquila range and offers two staterooms, multiple sunbeds, a utility cabin , and numerous layout configuration options. She has engines from Volvo Penta and a spacious flybridge with steps that lead directly down to the foredeck for easy maneuvering.

HammerCat 45

Image Source: https://www.multihulls-world.com/news-catamaran-trimaran/hammercat-45-an-almost-unlimited-program

The new HammerCat 45 is versatile and can work as a sportfish platform, a dive boat, a day cruiser, or a superyacht tender. This center console has a hardtop and a Carolina bow and is built in epoxy and carbon fiber to keep weight down and performance up. Expect a 55- knot top end and a 30-knot cruise depending on the engine package selected. 

Sailing Catamarans:

Fountaine pajot tanna 47.

Image Source: https://www.catamarans-fountaine-pajot.com/en/sailing-catamarans/catamaran-tanna-47/

This French-built sailing cruiser has space in spades. The new FP Tanna 47 is based on (and shares a hull design with) her predecessor, the Saona 47, but clever tweaks have made this a whole new boat. The cabin house and deck have been revamped, the flybridge is 40% larger, the salon/ galley has gained storage options, and the helm is more ergonomic than before.

Video Source: bali-catamarans.com

Bali has captured the hearts of sailors who love lots of living space, large household-style appliances, and simplicity. Bali cats are unique for their combination salon/ cockpit layout, and the 4.4 joins her siblings in this groundbreaking design. With the touch of a button, a “garage door” lifts, connecting the indoors with the outdoors with minimum redundancy in living arrangements.

Image Source: https://balancecatamarans.com/balance-442/

Fast and packed with proven cruising features, the Balance 442 is the little sister to last year’s 482. Perfectly sized for couples, this boat was designed for distance cruisers by distance cruisers. There’s even an option for a large solar array to make living at anchor easy and just about carbon neutral.

Image Source: https://www.cata-lagoon.com/en/55

French catamaran builder, Lagoon, has introduced a new VPLP-designed cruising cat that you can test in charter soon. The Lagoon 55 slots just above the newly introduced 51and are offered as a large and comfortable flybridge model with up to six cabins to accommodate an overnight crowd. 

Minicat 310

Image Source: https://redbeardsailing.com/products/minicat-310

Not all cats are of the large, expensive fiberglass variety. An affordable multihull can be had in Europe’s Minicat 310 Sport, an inflatable beach cat weighing only 77 pounds and packing down into a single bag. This cat has sophisticated big boat features like roller furling, a fully battened mainsail, keels, and an attachment for a small outboard.

Find catamarans for rent— NEAR YOU

These models, representing some of the best catamaran brands on the market today, are pretty new, so there aren’t many out there yet, but if you get a chance to step aboard one, you won’t be disappointed. One way to potentially test one is via a peer-to-peer boat-sharing service like Boatsetter that pairs owners, who can offset boat ownership costs, with charters, who can enjoy luxury boats without the long-term commitment. 

Check out the hottest boats in the market at Boat Types , and scroll through Boat Guises to find your next boating destination . Keep your eyes peeled to catch one of these ten amazing catamarans on the water!

About Boatsetter 

Boatsetter is a unique boat-sharing platform that gives everyone — whether you own a boat or you’re just renting — the chance to experience life on the water. You can list a boat , book a boat , or make money as a captain . 

List. Rent. Earn— Only at Boatsetter

Zuzana Prochazka is an award-winning freelance journalist and photographer with regular contributions to more than a dozen sailing and powerboating magazines and online publications including Southern Boating, SEA, Latitudes & Attitudes and SAIL. She is SAIL magazines Charter Editor and the Executive Director of Boating Writers International. Zuzana serves as judge for SAIL’s Best Boats awards and for Europe’s Best of Boats in Berlin. 

A USCG 100 Ton Master, Zuzana founded and manages a flotilla charter organization called Zescapes that takes guests adventure sailing at destinations worldwide. 

Zuzana has lived in Europe, Africa and the United States and has traveled extensively in South America, the islands of the South Pacific and Mexico. 

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