Cruising_World_2016-06-07

cruisingworld.com

96

I

n the world of cruising

catamarans, a debate has

been raging for more than 20

years: Payload or performance?

The palaver started in the mid-

1990s, when cats began rolling

out in increasing numbers for

larger populations of sailors,

including charterers. The

boats were marketed on the

basis of two mutually exclusive

promises: their displacement-

busting speed potential or

their capacity to carry all the

comforts of a well-appointed

apartment. Sailors snarked

about roomarans, the boats you

might want to take anchoring

but never sailing. At the other

end of the cat spectrum were

thoroughbreds marketed to

couples but in fact sailed by

pro crews.

The Balance 526 was forged

in the smithy of this debate.

“We’re not creating a char-

ter cat, and we’re not creat-

ing a racing cat,” says Phil

Berman, owner of Balance

Catamarans. “We’re creating a

high-performance cruising cat

for a couple to sail on.”

If the 526 isn’t the fi rst

model Berman created with

those aims in mind, it is

certainly the most successful.

What’s the secret in this

boat? It starts with Berman’s

build partners at Nexus

Yachts (see “The Artisan Cat

Builders of South Africa,” p.

82). Through a rare mix of

world-class talent in building

composite structures and

labor rates that allow a builder

to competitively market a

25,000-man-hour product,

Nexus has created a beautiful

vessel. The hull is a sandwich

of fi ber with a closed-cell foam

core, bonded together using

only epoxy resin — the best

boatbuilding resin available.

The fi bers are E-glass with

carbon reinforcement in

the high-load areas, a good

blend of cost containment

and above-average strength-

to-weight ratios. The cores

are vacuum-bagged for

thorough bonding, including

in the interior bulkheads and

furniture. Throughout the

boat, fi ber-to-resin ratios are

artfully managed.

“Jonathan Paarman has

a no-stainless fetish,” says

Berman, referring to the chief

laminator at Nexus Yachts.

Handrails and posts for radar

and antennas are all built from

lightweight composites.

I sailed hull number one

in Cape Town, South Africa,

shortly after it launched.

Even loaded for long fi shing

expeditions — including with

a factory-installed ice fl aker —

this boat was a special pleasure

to sail. The hull form features

a reverse bow and scoop

transom for a long waterline,

but no chines or other tricks

that add cabin volume at the

cost of hydrodynamic fl ow. We

sailed at 9.4 knots upwind in

11 knots of breeze; cracked off

to 120 degrees apparent with a

screacher up, we sailed at 12.3

knots.

The cabin designs are a

result of hulls that were built

for sailing. A head and massive

stall shower occupy the aft end

of the owner’s hull, while the

master cabin lands near the

hull’s centerline. A walk-around

queen is placed athwartships

and up on the bridgedeck.

Guest accommodations are

located in the port hull, with an

athwartship bunk forward and

an in-line berth in the aft cabin;

a head and guest shower are

located amidships.

The helm station features an

articulating wheel pedestal. On

some monohulls, we’ve seen this

arrangement as an alternative

to twin helms. On the 526, it

allows the helmsman to steer

from one of two positions at the

aft end of the cabin bulkhead:

either “up,” with full, direct

visibility of the deck and sails,

or “down,” on the cockpit sole

with full weather protection and

visibility through the cabin’s

windows — which are made

from tempered glass, not Lexan,

which can craze over time.

Having joined the payload-

versus-performance multihull

debate for much of the past

two decades myself, I stepped

off the Balance 526 thinking it

might just be the new scratch

boat in that fi ght.

Tim Murphy is a CW editor-at-

large and a longtime Boat of the

Year judge.

For more photos and model

specifi cations, go to cruising

world.com/1606balance.

The all-epoxy Balance 526 is a performance-oriented cou-

ple’s cruising boat (above). Its articulating wheel can be

raised or lowered so the skipper can steer from above or

below the cockpit hardtop (right).

june/july 2016

cruisingworld.com

96

BALANCE 526

IN A SWEET SPOT

THE BALANCE 526 IS A TRUE COUPLE’S CRUISING CAT YOU’LL WANT TO TAKE SAILING AND ANCHORING.

BY TIM MURPHY

The Balance’s hull form avoids the bumps and chines some designers use to add interior

volume while minimizing wetted surface. To make the most of the hull’s fi ner ends and to

ensure a proper owner’s cabin, a large head and separate shower are located in the relatively

narrow aft end, and the master berth is located athwartships near the middle of the boat.

FORM AND FUNCTION

BILLY BLACK