If you want to understand what Alain Hamel brings to Balance, you don’t need to look much further than a dock in Canet-en-Roussillon this spring, where he stepped aboard the very first Balance 580 delivered to Europe — fresh off a 7,700-nautical-mile, 36-day crossing from Cape Town — to walk a journalist from ActuNautique through the boat, the brand, and Balance’s new European technical base.
It’s a fitting scene. Alain has spent his career in exactly this part of the world — Canet-en-Roussillon sits at the heart of what the French sailing press calls “the multihull valley,” and Alain knows it well from his many years as Commercial Director at Catana, one of France’s most respected performance catamaran builders. That background shows in how naturally he moves between technical detail and big-picture brand story: in the interview, he walks through Balance’s core philosophy — boats built for owner-operators, balancing speed and comfort for short-handed sailing — before diving into specifics like the VersaHelm steering system, the boat’s generator-free power setup (4,500W of solar, 48V lithium, twin 9kW Integrel alternators), and how the crew ran air conditioning in all four cabins through a sticky Doldrums crossing without ever starting an engine.
The occasion also marked something bigger for Balance: the launch of a new European technical and hand-over base, established at MDCP in Canet-en-Roussillon, where boats now get final checks, commissioning, and owner hand-over before heading to their next destination — in this case, Corsica. After 7,700 miles at sea, the punch list was almost nothing: a few lines to whip, a couple of chafed blocks, a loose connection on a furler. A strong testament to the build.
As Marketing and Sales Director for France, Alain is the one bringing that same depth of experience to French buyers specifically. Over the course of his career, he’s sold countless catamarans and worked closely with owners, dealers, and builders across the francophone multihull community, building a network and a reputation that few in this industry can match. It’s this combination — deep technical fluency, decades of relationships in the French multihull world, and a comfortable, credible presence in front of press and owners alike — that makes Alain such a valuable part of the Balance team and such a trusted point of contact for anyone in France curious about the brand.
Get in touch with Alain:
+33 651 819 633
alain@balancecatamarans.com
