When Cruising World’s Boat of the Year judges step aboard a new sailboat, the first thing they ask the ­builder for is the boat’s design brief. Racing? Bluewater voyaging? Coastal cruising? Chartering? Daysailing? What’s the boat built to do?

In the case of two new Bali Catamarans, introduced to North America this past fall during the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, the ­manufacturer’s intent seemed perfectly clear: These cats were built for ­hanging out on the water with family and friends, or perhaps for owners interested in putting them into a charter fleet to help pay the bills. “Pampered crew” were two words that came immediately to mind when I stepped aboard.

Both cats—the Bali 4.6 and Bali Catspace—were conceived of by Olivier Poncin, ­founder of the Catana Group, and ­designed by the in-house team that has been building well-­respected performance catamarans at their yard in France for nearly four decades now. 

When I think about Catana Catamarans, features such as daggerboards, sleek hulls and powerful sail plans designed to gobble up ocean miles come immediately to mind. When I think about Bali, my mind turns to comfortable surroundings and tropical anchorages, with soothing trade winds blowing through the saloon and multiple places to lounge in the sun or shade.

The Catana Group launched the Bali brand in 2014, on the company’s 30th ­anniversary. At the time, the multihull ­market was exploding, and while ­Catana had a strong following at the performance end of the speed-comfort continuum, their boats were expensive and geared to a niche market. Balis, on the other hand, were designed and built to be “more accessible in terms of price,” the company’s online brochure notes, and “therefore aimed at a wider clientele.” It’s no accident that many of those clients chose to add their Balis to charter fleets in the Caribbean and other tropical spots around the world. As a result, the brand took off, to the point where today, it takes up the bulk of ­Catana’s production capacity.

The 4.6 and Catspace share many of the same features found across the Bali Range: solid composite foredecks rather than the trampolines found on most catamarans; ­multiple spaces to kick back and ­relax; home-style refrigerators in the galleys; large sliding windows on the cabin sides; and ­garage-style doors that open and lift overhead aft in the saloon, making it difficult to discern where the interior stops and the great outdoors begins. 

The sail-away prices of the boats we visited in ­Annapolis were $920,000 for the 4.6 and $550,000 for the Catspace. In all, Bali manufactures seven sailing models and two ­power cats, so buyers have options when it comes to size and price.

Bali hulls and decks are ­resin-infused and foam-cored, which makes them strong and stiff while saving weight. Throughout the range, Balis are built with short, fixed keels, affixed to relatively beamy hulls that have abundant load-carrying capacity. In practice, that means the boats can be loaded with gear such as air conditioning, appliances and generators—and toys and provisions for all the crew.

With a length overall of 44 feet, 6 inches, the 4.6 presents a number of interesting features and options. First, there is the flybridge, set atop the cockpit Bimini and a portion of cabin top abaft the mast. It can be reached via steps on either side deck. A helm station is to port, with a bench that seats two comfortably. Adjacent to it is a good-size table with L-shaped seating around it, and sun beds behind. The wheel itself is mounted on a pedestal, and there’s room to walk in front, between it and the winches mounted on the cabin top. With this arrangement, there’s room for the crew to jump in and help trim sails, though without helpers, it does require the skipper to rely on the autopilot when leaving the helm to tend to sheets.

Underway, I liked the setup. There was good visibility, both around the boat and also of the mainsail overhead, thanks to a window in the canvas Bimini. The main was simple to control using the double-ended sheet led to blocks on the corners of the flybridge, replacing the traveler. The arrangement is ­especially good for jibing. 

In a good breeze, 10 to 12 knots, our speed over the ground hovered right around 5 knots; we added a knot to that when we bore off to a beam reach. If I bought the boat and didn’t have plans to put it ­into charter, I’d definitely add a code zero to my sail arsenal. 

Down below, I liked the ­layout of the saloon as well. With the sliding windows and overhead door open, I had the feeling of being outside, ­sitting in the shade. The dining ­table is to port; two chairs are ­opposite. Forward of the table is an L-shaped galley to port with loads of counter space; a large fridge and freezer sits ­opposite, with a ­proper nav ­station tucked forward, surrounded by windows and ­adjacent to the centerline door leading to another lounge area on the foredeck. 

Depending on how the boat will be used, there are a few different layouts for the staterooms and heads, ranging from a three-stateroom version, where the entire starboard hull is the owner’s en suite, to four- and even five-stateroom layouts. In the latter, access to the port aft stateroom is by a companionway from the cockpit, and a stateroom with bunk beds is amidships, with a third stateroom forward. Crew berths in either forepeak are also available.

The 4.6 we tested in Annapolis was powered by a pair of 57 hp Yanmars with saildrives; 45 hp Yanmars are standard.

At just over 37 feet length overall, the Catspace is one of the smaller ­production cats available these days. It ­also has an airy feeling in the saloon’s dining and ­lounging area, thanks to a ­similar aft door arrangement. But space doesn’t permit a second door to the foredeck. Instead, there’s a larger center window that opens to let in the breeze, and the galley (including a ­full-size fridge) is in the forward ­starboard corner of the main cabin.

Available layouts include a three-stateroom version, where the owner’s stateroom ­occupies the port hull, or a charter-­friendly four-stateroom layout, with athwartship bunks in the two forward staterooms.

As with its bigger sister, the Catspace has lounge areas on the foredeck and atop its flybridge. The helm station is up top too, to starboard, and is surrounded on the side and behind with cushions. Unlike the 4.6, the Catspace’s winches are close at hand when sitting at the wheel. A singlehander or skipper with a ­short-handed crew will appreciate this. I found access to the flybridge via stairs from either side deck to be quite good, with handholds located where I needed them.

Again, if I planned to buy and sail the Catspace, I’d ­include a code zero or some other all-round reaching sail to add a little more get-up-and-go. We went sailing in about 15 knots of wind and notched about 4 knots on the speedo closehauled. In a higher puff, I saw just under 6 knots reaching. But was it a comfortable ride? You bet.

As stated at the outset, ­sailboats are built to suit a ­purpose. During a Boat of the Year debrief this past fall, judge Tim Murphy told his colleagues that overall, he thought that the open-air concept incorporated into the design of the 4.6 and Catspace works quite well. Recalling a weeklong vacation spent with five friends aboard an earlier Bali model, he said, “On the ­charter, it was actually delightful.” 

Specifications

Mark Pillsbury is a CW editor-at-large.

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The sweet spot for cruising catamarans, for most multihull sailors, is right there between 40 and 50 feet: manageable by a couple, not so large that finding a place to park or dock is prohibitive, and with lots more room to spread out and bring the toys and kids than a monohull of similar length. This year’s set of nominees features industry stalwarts Leopard and Fountaine Pajot—both of which have enjoyed plenty of success in previous Boat of the Year competitions—and a pair of relative upstarts from Bali, the cruising offshoot from French builder Catana. The former are all-around cats with plenty of versatility; the latter aim to cater more toward the cruising/liveaboard part of the equation. Choices, choices! It proved to be a challenging quartet of cats for the judging panel to evaluate and sort out. 

The larger sibling of the two Bali cats entered for BOTY 2022—all the Bali offerings feature an innovative “garage door” separating the saloon and cockpit, which when raised creates a seamless indoor/outdoor living space that has proven to be highly popular—was the 46-plus-foot 4.6. It’s yet another one of this year’s catamarans with the ever-popular flybridge that has become a design staple for many cat builders. Judge Tim Murphy found it a pleasure to sail. “On some of the other cats, you felt you were fighting the sail controls,” he said. “Not here. It’s laid out nicely. It has a double-ended mainsheet system with no traveler but control at both ends, so you’ve got a port and a starboard sheet, and I think that’s a fine way to control the mainsail. It’s arguably easier to jibe with that system than a standard traveler; you have good athwartships control throughout the maneuver. Bali cats are known for comfort, but this one sails well too.”

At 40 feet, the Bali Catspace—the second of two boats from the brand entered in the 2022 BOTY contest—is the smallest offering in the Bali line, but judge Murphy found the open floor plan particularly alluring: “The living experience of being able to open up the back end of these cats so you create an indoor/outdoor platform is terrific. I didn’t give it much thought until I chartered a Bali, and it was totally delightful. The sailing performance was actually fine, but it was that back porch that made the trip.”

Dream Yacht Charters has added more and more Bali cats to their fleets, and it’s easy to see why. With their vast interior space; plenty of amenities including air conditioning and multiple fridges, including ones that would not be out of place in any well-equipped household kitchen ashore; and surprisingly effective sailing prowess given their systems and accommodations, these boats are almost synonymous with the word “vacation.” Take the interior layout of the Catspace: It has four staterooms with private heads, the forward pair with berths aligned athwartships and the aft set laid out in a fore-and-aft configuration. It’s hard to imagine a better use of space for four couples or a family in 40 feet of waterline.

Yes, a 40-foot catamaran is a design challenge; it’s fairly easy to accommodate loads of features in a 50-foot multihull, but it’s quite another to include all the creature comforts and niceties in considerably less real estate. But Murphy felt that the Isla 40—another 40-footer like the Catspace, but this one from longtime cat leader Fountaine Pajot—pulled it off well. The Isla also had a tall order to fill in that it replaced a previous cat of the same size in the builder’s lineup, the highly successful Lucia 40. “The mission for this boat was described in thirds,” Murphy said. “Bareboat charter, crewed charter and private ownership. I think they’ve created a boat that accomplishes all those missions. The boat sailed well, but it was also laid out well. In fact, the owner’s cabin to starboard was superb, one of the nicest places on any boat we inspected. We toured a lot of much bigger boats that didn’t have that sort of space.”

But when all was said and done, the Bali Cats and the Isla ran into a juggernaut with the Leopard 42, which proved to be a powerhouse BOTY entrant. It’s pretty clear by now that the relationship between South African builder Robertson and Caine; their lone client, the Moorings; and naval architects Simonis and Voogd, who bring the Leopard brand to life, is strong and fruitful. And they have a wall full of BOTY award-winning plaques to prove it. It’s time to make room for another. The judges found much to like about the latest Leopard, including the offset steering station to starboard and the lounge space forward accessed via a front door in the saloon. But the Leopard sealed its victory with an awesome sea trial in which it overhauled and passed a popular new monohull that shall remain nameless. Cats can’t point? Wrong!

What put the boat over the top wasn’t just the sailing performance, which was obviously terrific, but also the tools with which to sail the boat, and its overall deck layout, all of which optimized the experience. Murphy said, “With the Leopard, you have visual eye contact from the raised helm station to starboard down into the cockpit, you’ve got a visual line of sight into the saloon, and you’ve got a pretty good visibility over the top of the cabin top everywhere. You had access to your main sheet right there where you needed it. This was one of the boats that had no traveler, but instead had a windward and leeward block on the mainsheet. I think that’s a fine system, I like the control you have. Jibing works fine and is easily controlled.”

It was one little thing in a series of them, all of which added up to a boat—the Leopard 42—that was the unanimous winner in the 2022 category of Best Cruising Catamarans (Under 50’).

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When the first big squall came through, we partially closed the saloon’s forward window but left everything else open. We kept the entire aft bulkhead raised, garage-door style, and locked in its up position. Even in heavy rain, a steady breeze through the open saloon — ­galley, nav station, dinette, two long settees and a swim platform — kept us all comfortable in the tropical heat. Though our chartered Bali 4.0 Lounge was fitted with air conditioning, in eight days of Caribbean sailing we never once felt the need to use it.

Since 1984, Catana catamarans have been built in the French Catalonia region, near the Mediterranean Sea and the border with Spain. For its first 30 years, the Catana brand staked out the performance end of the cruising-cat market: fast boats with fine hull sections and high-tech cored laminates, fitted with daggerboards for optimal windward performance. Many recent Catanas feature carbon rigs. Initially quite Spartan, Catana models evolved over the decades in the direction of carrying ever more luxury appointments; still, they clearly remained sophisticated sailors’ boats. The very details that made Catanas sail so well made them less ideal for bareboat charterers.

Olivier Poncin, Catana’s managing director, created the Bali range for the charter market and to the following specifications: “oversize and entirely open living spaces with a forward cockpit and sunbathing area, uniquely self-sufficient in power, and at competitive prices.” In the case of the new 40-footer, that comes to $450,000 sailaway (October 2016), delivered to the United States.

The Bali’s design clearly has drawn from trends started by other builders — flybridge helm for shorthanders, forward cockpit, open floor plan — then pushed this openness beyond the marks set by all previous competitors. Nearly unique among today’s cats, the Bali’s saloon occupies the entire bridgedeck, with no fixed bulkhead separating an interior saloon from an exterior cockpit. Instead, the entire aft bulkhead raises up and out of the way, or closes and locks into the down position with barrel bolts for open-water sailing, leaving a typical sliding door through which to enter and exit. A single line to a stopper near the flybridge helm raises and lowers a combination swim platform and dinghy davits.

A unique feature of the Bali occurs forward of the cabin. The composite bridgedeck structure extends all the way forward to the bows, with no nets between the hulls. The entire forward end of the boat between the hulls is dedicated to a dinette with wraparound settees and a sun pad built for two. This represents a design trade-off: exemplary socializing space on deck in exchange for the performance that’s lost when a builder adds weight in the ends of the boat. This is consistent with other design choices, such as fixed low-aspect keels and a modest sail plan with a small mainsail that together render the boat more simple to sail than likely to win races.

On the boat we sailed, this forward cockpit introduced a couple of challenges around the anchor, which exits the hull several feet aft from the bow. The first challenge was to connect an anchor bridle; doing so required a second person to get off the boat and into a dinghy, as there was no other way to reach the anchor roller and chain from the deck. The second challenge came when we sailed into the wind and waves. Seawater entering through the anchor roller soaked the boat’s propane tank, genset and genset starter battery in a forward compartment, all of which showed signs of corrosion.

Like many of the newer flybridge designs, the Bali is set up for shorthanded sailing. We found that raising and lowering sails worked best with two people: one stands on the side deck to control halyards and tails coming from the single power winch while the other one drives. Sun pads and seats on the flybridge provided ample room for our full crew of five, with room still available for more. Stepping down off the flybridge and into the aft cabin entrance while underway, we wished for better handholds on both port and starboard side decks.

The accommodations down in the hulls are spacious. Our three-cabin layout featured two double cabins, each with its own private en suite head and shower to starboard, and to port a full owners suite, with an office area, massive head and separate shower stall.

True to its design brief, it’s as a charter platform, with its exemplary open spaces, that the Bali truly shines.

– – –

Tim Murphy is a Cruising World editor at large and an independent book editor based in Rhode Island.

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For more information, visit www.bali-catamarans.com

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The Catana Group has carved out a niche as one of France’s leading builders of performance cruising catamarans. Last year the company unveiled an entirely new line of cats under the Bali banner, including the 43-foot-6-inch Bali 4.3 Loft, which made its American debut at the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, in October, and was a nominee for the 2016 Boat of the Year awards.

“They deserve kudos for innovative thinking,” said BOTY judge Alvah Simon. “They’re trying to break down a lot of established parameters and paradigms in catamaran design, and in doing so have introduced several very, very interesting ideas.”

Especially in terms of form and function, the Bali 4.3 — with an emphasis on an open floor plan, the maximum utility of onboard space and plenty of related creature comforts — is a significant departure from its Catana siblings, which ­certainly provide cozy accommodations but are also serious sailing machines. Relatively speaking, a Catana is about getting there; the Bali is about being there. I mean, sure, a Harley-Davidson will get you to all of the United States’ wondrous national parks. But once you’ve arrived, what you want for a base camp is a loaded RV.

That’s where this new yacht comes in, because when it comes to kicking back, the 4.3 Loft is locked and loaded.

This is evident in the central feature of the Bali, the rather elaborate drop-down transom and lifting overhead door that converts the deck layout from a compartmentalized cockpit and main saloon into loft mode, which entails a wide-open indoor/outdoor patio and porch with a straight-line galley all the way forward.

But designer Olivier Poncin, in collaboration with architect Xavier Fay and interior decorator Couëdel Yacht Design, didn’t stop there. Forward of that unusually located galley, the big front picture window also opens, further obscuring the delineation of inside and outside spaces; in fair weather, it allows a coursing fresh breeze throughout the boat. And the builders still weren’t finished, as the area all the way forward, between the hulls and right up to the bows — where you’d find the trampolines on traditional cats — has been decked over and furnished with cushions and settees. For a sailboat, it gives new meaning to the term “sun deck.”

Accomplishing all this presented two challenges to the designers and builders. First, they needed to generate lots of electricity to run the various motors (a pair is required for the movable overhead door and transom), appliances (don’t forget the dishwasher and optional washing machine and air conditioning), windlass and such. At the same time, they had to be ultrasensitive to saving weight in all that structure, as all those disparate and wondrous goodies also rack up displacement, and nobody wants a heavy, sluggish cat.

The Bali 4.3 addresses the power requirements in multiple ways: a quartet of 100-watt solar panels embedded in the hardtop; a choice of 4-, 7.5- or 11-kilowatt generators; a bank of five house batteries and two starter batteries for the standard 40-horsepower Nanni diesels (50-horsepower engines are also available); and an extra pair of optional alternators (our test boat had the standard 50-amp alternator plus another 120-amp add-on). As for saving weight, the build is light and stiff thanks to the closed-mold, resin-infused, foam-core sandwich construction.

Unfortunately, on the day of our sea trials, the breeze barely ruffled the waters and we didn’t get the opportunity to put the boat through a proper test. But our judges were still unanimous on one point: They’d never seen anything quite like the Bali 4.3.

Herb McCormick is Cruising World’s executive editor.

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Vacances Sous Voiles, located in the BVI offers charter vacations on Bali catamarans and Hanse monohulls.

The bali catamarans are available in 40, 43 and 45-foot models.

The Hanse monohulls are available in various lengths from 38 – 45 feet. Hanse’s new model, the 415 will be available for charter starting in March 2016.

For details, contact VSV at www.vacancessousvoiles.ca.

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Gone were the daggerboards, razor-sharp bows and beefed-up sail plan one is accustomed to seeing from the French yard. In their place I found an American home-style double-door fridge with icemaker, robust load-carrying hulls, and cushions. Lots and lots of cushions — on the benches surrounding the shaded cockpit dining table that seats six; on the settee opposite, under the stairs up to the flybridge; covering the U-shaped lounge area that spans the front of the wide, window-lined cabin house; and piled high with pillows on the sun deck, a solid fiberglass nacelle that replaces the trampoline found between the bows of most cats.

To be concise, the new Bali is a laid-back cruising machine, one easily imagined in some tropical port. It’s in a trade-winds anchorage, after all, that you’d most appreciate the breeze when the large glass center window in the front of the saloon is lowered with the flip of a switch, and when the rear sliding doors to the aft cockpit are opened wide to let the air flow through. “Open Space,” the marketing brochure promises — and that’s what Catana’s Olivier Poncin, naval architect Xavier Faÿ, interior designer Hervé Couëdel and the Catana design team have delivered.

The boat in Miami was configured for charter, with four cabins and four heads. I found the companionways in the two hulls to be a little tight, but once below, the accommodations — double berths, hanging lockers, and private heads and showers — looked quite comfortable. Other configurations include a two-cabin, two-bath layout, and three cabins with either two or three heads.

An owner can also choose from two helm arrangements. The flybridge option, which was on the boat we sailed, puts the wheel above the bimini and amidships, in front of a bench seat big enough for four. You reach it via stairs to either side. In this setup, the boom is located fairly high off the water so there’s enough headroom for a standing crewmember. There’s also a bulkhead helm option. This puts the wheel to starboard in front of a seat for two that can be accessed from either the cockpit or the side deck. With this option, the boom sits lower, which helps reduce the center of effort.

Electrical power to keep the guests happy should not be a problem on the Bali. In addition to a Cummins Onan genset and high-capacity alternator affixed to one of the two 50-horsepower Kubota diesel engines, four 80-watt solar panels are mounted on the bimini. Victron digital switching is used to control the electrical system.

The Balis are built in the Catana yard by the same craftsmen who construct their sportier cousins, and the fit and finish reflect that. The fiberglass hulls, deck and bimini are foam-cored and vinylester-infused. Underway, not a squeak was to be heard.

Motoring, our cruising speed was just over 6 knots; we gained a couple more knots with the throttles open wide and the engines turning at 3,200 rpm. Under sail, the visibility forward from the flybridge was excellent. In about 15 knots of wind, we trucked right along closehauled at a little better than 6 knots. Sailing a broader angle, the speedo dipped under 5. If it were my boat, I’d definitely put the sprit to good use with a furlable downwind sail, and I’d investigate the optional square-topped main, too.

They say money can’t buy happiness, but for $650,000, the Bali 4.5 certainly comes with its fair share of comforts, and those, I’d be willing to bet, would leave you with a grin on your face as the miles ticked away.

To contact Bali Catamarans in the U.S., call 804-815-5054; bali-catamarans.com.

Mark Pillsbury is CW‘s editor.

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