Craftsmanship

A Special Land
Creates Magic
at Sea

Two oceans, multiple cultures, and a tradition of seafaring coverage in South Africa, where Balance Catamarans are designed and built.

Multihulls have dotted the seas of this country for generations and that means that designers, fabricators, and builders have the experience and skill to match any boat-building country in the world.

Our factory employs craftspeople from multiple generations and cultures, infusing each vessel with character and an artisan’s touch.

Industry-Leading Quality

We engineer and build elegant, contemporary, durable, safe, blue-water performance catamarans that are as easily operated and maintained as possible.

Our hulls and decks are hand-laminated carbon-reinforced thermo-formed closed-cell foam core in either epoxy or vinyl-ester/polyester resins. Our daggerboards, rudders and sliding cockpit doors are built with carbon construction and reinforced and our bulkheads are only foam cored, fully tabbed, and hand-laminated. Tempered glass windows that will not shrink or craze and offer superior visibility in all conditions. Tough and thoughtfully built.

Geoff Fish and Jonathan Paarman work it out

Jarrod Mienie and Johannes Kabane have a bit of fun

“The #1 hull that I inspected was spray finished in a gray blue color and the fairing quality was flawless, not a single bump in her shiny blue hulls. It is hard to imagine the amount of time it took to fabricate tooling that allowed for this, or the amount of time spent fairing her to gain such a finish.” — Multihulls Magazine

Design Philosophy

Engineering and design work hand in hand at Balance. Engineering focusing on solving problems and design bringing livability and grace to the live-aboard performance catamaran.

The best designers focus on how things ought to be. We are no exception. We want design and performance, durability and grace, innovation and practicality. We invented the groundbreaking VersaHelm™ with its four-corners visibility. And designed our signature wave piercing, chine-free, gradual-flare-hull shapes to reduce pitching and enable our catamarans to carry significant cruising payloads at impressive speeds. Handcrafted cabinetry, spacious galleys, luxurious living quarters, capacious bathrooms, and light filled, open-plan salons and cockpits…design that performs.

Simon Mtonga, Austin Marshall, Siyanda Loni, and Marchant Hesse get down to business

Legato Motashabi takes it all in stride

Why South Africa?

A culture of sailing and a love of catamarans
The rough, unpredictable waters of South Africa forge better sailors and better boats
Expertise, parts, and materials procurement are superb. Boat building is 14% of South Africa’s exports, so we have access to many resources to customize your boat to your liking
South Africa is a wonderful place to visit, vacation, and enjoy the experience of watching your catamaran come to life
For those who aspire to sail their catamaran north upon delivery, they are met with consistent beam winds all the way to the Caribbean
South Africa has favored nation trading status with many countries in the world including the United States where Balance Catamarans are imported Duty Free