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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 dinghying ashore. Taking things up a notch, I’d say there’s also a kind of vanity test underway, whereby it ain’t half bad finding yourself sailing around on a boat so cool you can’t help thinking you’re pretty cool as well. Case in point, the new South African-built Balance 482 catamaran.
Design & Construction
A collaboration between Balance president Phillip Berman and naval architect Anton du Toit, the Balance 482 features a pair of narrow, slippery hulls that include either high-performance fixed keels or dual daggerboards (the latter far and away the more popular of the two); wave-piercing bows, to reduce hobby-horsing; a nicely drawn reverse sheer to maximize living space while keeping weight out of the ends; a low cabintrunk to minimize windage; and a powerful easily handled rig with a square-top main and self-taking headsail. Reaching sails can be flow from a centerline longeron sprit fabricated out of aluminum…
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