It’s splashdown time for Balance Catamarans in South African with two high-profile launches in recent weeks.
In Cape Town the long-awaited Balance 442 spread its wings across Table Bay, shortly followed in Cape St Francis by the first full-carbon Balance 526 XP Mark II.
The 442 hails from the Balance Catamarans Cape Town yard, while the 526 comes courtesy of Balance’s Eastern Cape joint venture partners Nexus Yachts.
“The excitement and gratification we feel whenever we launch a newly designed and tooled Balance Catamaran is enormous,” said Balance Founder and President Phil Berman of the first 442. Berman was able to see the final stages of the build during a recent South African visit. “We started this project over two years ago and my hat is off – as always – to Anton du Toit and his team and Mark Delany and his team.“
Named Umoya by her owners, the first Balance 442 was launched at the Royal Cape Yacht Club. Umoya is a Zulu word meaning wind. Mark Delany, Managing Director of Balance Catamarans Cape Town, Anton du Toit, and his team of designers from Du Toit Yacht Design and the yacht’s new owners attended the launch.
“The launch of Umoya is an important step in completing our full range of Balance Catamarans. With Umoya’s launch, we could not – as a team – be more excited or proud of this new performance cruising catamaran!” Berman said.
Delany said: “I am so proud of our team for their hard work and dedication in creating this beautiful performance cruising catamaran. This is an exciting time at Balance Catamarans Cape Town.
We are busy with a demanding build schedule that stretches out for years. The B442 is a big part of the reason for this,” he said.
The launch of the first 442 follows closely the launch of the award-winning Balance 482 in May of 2021. The Balance 482 has already won three prestigious industry awards: Cruising World’s Best Performance Catamaran, Sailing World’s Boat of the Year: Best Multihull, and SAIL Magazine Best Boats Best Multihull Cruising Boat 40-50ft.
Balance is also celebrating the launch of its first full carbon Balance 526 XP, also the first Balance 526 Mark II, which features several design revisions. Wahoo was built at Nexus Yachts in Cape St Francis.