Balance 442 - 44 feet of expertise on two hulls

After the 526 and the 482, the Balance shipyard unveiled the 442 at the Annapolis boat show. A catamaran with a compact format and a style directly inherited from the 482. A sort of concentrate of know-how since the shipyard took the same recipe used for the previous models: the alliance of performance and ease of use. A perfect opportunity for a “chilly” sea trial in the magnificent Chesapeake Bay.

The thermometer showed only 47°F (8°C) when Phil Berman, the ship-yard’s boss, came to pick us up on the pontoons in Annapolis, Maryland. An autumnal temperature accentuated by 12 knots of wind, but when you’re having fun, the weather doesn’t matter. What’s more, a trip to the Chesapeake Bay is not to be refused, and even less so when the subject of the day is none other than the brand-new Balance 442. Still relatively young, since it will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023, the Balance Catamarans brand currently has five models ranging from 44 to 62 feet, while awaiting the arrival of the 750, a 75-foot catamaran that should be ready by the end of 2023 or during 2024. The main idea behind the brand is to offer high-performance catamarans that are easy to handle and comfortable to spend a lot of time on board. It must be said that performance runs in the veins of the founder of Balance catamarans, Phillip Berman who was Hobie Cat world champion in 1979, in South Africa. An interesting coincidence since it is precisely in this country, in Cape Town, that the ...