NEW BALANCE CATAMARANS 442  

Climb aboard the new Balance 442 and behold the boldly contemporary lines of our trend-setting high performance blue water voyager. Designed by World Champion catamaran racer Phillip Berman and Award Winning naval architect Anton Du Toit, the Balance 442 is blue water tough, fast as a gazelle, yet exceptionally easy to handle.

Balance Catamarans began in 2012 when World Champion catamaran racer Phillip Berman joined forces with Kiwi Naval Architect Roger Hill to design the Balance 451. She proved to be a remarkably fast and able blue water voyager, yet a growing chorus of buyers began to demand a smaller version of the Balance 526 and 482. And so it was that Berman and Du Toit set about to design the ultimate modern 44 foot performance voyaging catamaran. A new Balance was born.

The initial inspiration for the Balance 620,526,482, and 442 came from our passion to design and build - from the ground up - the finest performance voyaging catamarans for a couple or family who really want to go places in speed and comfort yet carry significant cruising payloads. We set out to design the new 442 to be simple to operate single-handedly if required, easy to maintain, but offering enormously gracious living spaces, inside and out. Forward-raked wave piercing bows, dual daggerboards, foam core hulls, decks and furniture, carbon reinforced, she offers incomparable performance and stunning design.

GRACIOUS LIVING, ELEGANT DESIGN
After selling over 500 catamarans we know that our customers wish to turn their yachts into gracious, elegant homes. We've spent hour upon hour examining our interior sight lines. We've profoundly improved upon catamaran living ergonomics - our beds, toilettes and showers, as well as our cabinetry and finishes are truly state-of-the-art. Our European styled interiors have been designed and coordinated by the esteemed Philadelphia design firm, OLC, known for over 25 years as a leader in high-end interior design. (Click here to see some of our interior designs)

With her owner version configuration, the Balance 442 easily accommodates up to six people for a long voyage. She may also be ordered in a four cabin version. Our innovative salon table converts into a queen size bed so you can always sleep another couple if required. It is a superb place to hang out, read a book, or sleep when your partner is on watch. Her master shower aft is luxurious, and the 442 sports 6 foot 10 inches of headroom, boasts a large U-shaped galley, and offers more quality, hand-crafted cabinetry than any performance catamaran of her size and class.

SAILING MADE EASY
With the Balance 442 there is never a need to wait for crew. We've designed her to be easily piloted single-handed. Our self tending blade jib, reefing station, and innovative Versa-helm Trademarked design now make it possible for almost anyone to single-hand our catamaran safely in any sort of weather.

With her powerful 1205 square foot sail-plan the Balance 442 will ghost along in 6 knot winds while the others are burning diesel. Like all Balance designs, the 442 is one Green Machine. When it's blowing, however, just furl in her headsails, reef her down, and keep on going. She's built to withstand the worst weather you'd ever wish to sail in.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE
The 442 is fast, sure. But she's easily sailed. Her self-tending blade jib makes tacking a simple matter of turning over the helm. All of her reefing and sail management takes place at the upper helm station. With her dual furling headsails, electric winches, and a mainsheet system that operates without a traveler, you don't need to be a racer to sail her.

DUAL DAGGERBOARDS
The 442 is configured with dual daggerboards for those seeking maximum performance under sail. Shallow waters are no longer off limits. Upwind performance is dramatically improved with the boards in the down position, while off wind performance is enhanced with the boards raised. In dangerous cross seas, with the "boards up, " the 442 will side-slip to avoid the tripping effect associated with large fin keeled cats.

VERSA HELM DESIGN - BECAUSE ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
The first of its kind in catamaran design, now copied by others, our all-weather Versahelm design blends the best of both worlds for serious voyagers. In fair weather you open up the sliding hard top and sail upstairs in open air. In inclement weather you close the hardtop and drop our cantilevered wheel into the aft cockpit. From here you pilot in total protection looking through our large vertical salon windows. The down position enables you to see all four corners of the yacht for docking and offers a safe, warm and comfortable place to sit watch and pilot the 442 in any sort of weather. We have labored sedulously to eliminate the ugliness and problems of two-tiered hard tops that must be covered with plastic or glass for cold weather sailing. We see no reason why a modern catamaran must look like a fishing trawler but find every reason to believe she must often be piloted like one - in any sort of weather in comfort and safety. Sailing must be fun whenever it can be but warm and safe went it cannot.

The new 442 delivers the most expansive sight lines in the catamaran industry today. The flow and openness between the main salon and the cockpit are superb, and her permanent up and down helm stations take the ground breaking Versa-Helm design to an entire new level. Spitting rain? Cold and tired? Who cares? You're sailing a Balance.

It's been said before that, "Balance Doesn't Make Perfect - Only Perfect Balance Makes Perfect. " This sums up our designs perfectly! We've thought through every aspect of the 442 to strike a careful Balance between speed and comfort. Racers at heart, Berman and Du Toit are also deeply practical sailors who've spent thousands of miles at sea. For them, a great catamaran must live as well as it sails. A superb galley, great sleeping and eating spaces, plenty of storage, and enchanting areas in which to live and play - inside or outside - this is our 442

Exposure to bad weather on the 442 is minimized while your ability to sail away from the worst is maximized. But sailing fast isn't enough, is it? No catamaran should brag about being the first at anchor if she's not also a sheer delight to live on. That's why the 442 is the most gracious live-aboard 44 foot performance catamaran we could possibly design.

She's a pleasure to move about on, to sleep on, cook, lounge, bathe, dine and entertain friends and family. There is a place to store everything on the 442, and a lot of places to just hang out and relax - you can pilot her up top in fair weather, pilot her down in the cold, you can lounge and read inside or outside, turn your tables into beds, into dining tables, into pleasure nooks for reading or watching the latest film. The 442 is your home away from home.

Quote - Multihulls World
"In addition to being a yacht of the finest quality, the new "Versa-Helm" is so elegant, wise and functional one wonders why nobody thought to do it before"

Contact us for a full list of standard 442 equipment and a detailed options pricing list.