South Africa – The Other Multihull Country

By: Francois Tregouet, Multihulls World Magazine

There is no doubt that with their large industrial groups, the French currently dominate world multihull production. With their huge market, the United States is the industry’s engine. We admire the Aussies and Kiwis for their passion for everything that sails (quickly ideally) on two or three hulls. But who ever mentions South Africa? This is a country where boat culture and production (particularly catamarans) have been firmly entrenched for decades. Behind the giant Robertson & Caine, there are lots of smaller shipyards which, when taken as a whole, make the Rainbow Nation the “other multihull country”. Multihulls World took a closer look.

Despite their world cup winning exploits in 2019, South Africans aren’t just great rugby players. Among their other qualities (resilience being one of them) they have carved out a substantial niche in the multihull construction industry. So how does a country that was shunned for decades because of its apartheid regime manage to succeed in its export markets? And how does a country that is far from the well-sailed wake of the favored sailing regions and with minimal internal demand become the world’s second biggest catamaran builder? At 35 degrees south, the climate is pretty good, but the swell, with no other land masses to get in the way of it, can be huge. The weather can also be capricious, with violent storms coming from the Indian Ocean, and depressions rushing from east to west down in the roaring forties. Add to all this the grim reputation of Cape Agulhas (which separates the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans) and it’s clear to see that it’s not a boating paradise for hedonistic sailors. Unsurprisingly therefore, Springbok catamarans (the rugby team’s nickname) have traditionally been pretty solid. Even though they didn’t previously have the technology to build lighter-weight boats, the demanding sailing conditions justified super-solid construction, and this is still part of the mindset. For a long time, their rigging used double shrouds when their European counterparts were using single ones. The sails were also made from heavier cloth to survive the long delivery trips – usually to the Caribbean. Today, most multihulls reach those more peaceful waters on cargo ships. Yet a whole generation of young skippers got some amazing experience sailing multiple transatlantic crossings from the Cape of Good Hope to the West Indies.

40 Years ago, a Hobie 14 competition changed everything!

Looking back across recent history, there would seem to be three main stages in the development of multihull construction in Nelson Mandela’s homeland. First of all, let’s go back 40 years. It was December 1979, so midsummer in the southern hemisphere. The fifth Hobie Cat 14 World Championships were being organized by South Africa, at Plettenburg Bay, 30 miles east of the small tourist town of Knysna. The competition was won by the US and a certain Phil Berman, who we will come back to later. More importantly, the 72 brand-new Hobie Cats which were used for the competition, were sold for peanuts after the end of the competition and won over the skippers who up until then had sailed on monohulls. On board their IOR prototypes, they could be seen on the waters around Cape Town and Durban every Sunday. This was the era of John Robertson, Jerry Caine, Duncan Lethbridge, and the experience stayed with them.

Continue Reading…

Balance Catamarans Reports Orders Boost For New 482 model

By Bobby Jordan, International Boat Industry

Newly-launched Balance Catamarans Cape Town had confirmed six orders for the new Balance 482 on the back of a successful Annapolis show.

Balance Cape Town is a joint venture between US-based Balance Catamarans, Balance Catamarans Cape Town, and top South African naval architect Anton du Toit. The new 482 design is still in the tooling stage, but has already generated an impressive string of orders, according to Balance president Phil Berman.

The Cape Town company was set up to build a range of custom and semi-production catamarans, and hopes to emulate the success of Berman’s other South African joint venture with Nexus Yachts in Cape St Francis.

Speaking to IBI during a visit to South Africa earlier this month, Berman said the growth of his South African business ventures was largely thanks to key partnerships with Du Toit, Mark Delany from Balance Cape Town, and the Paarman brothers from Nexus.

“When you are starting out you always have doubts but I did always feel confident that if I got the right people together we would be successful,” Berman said in relation to the success of the Balance 52, of which seven hulls have so far been built. “I will say that the partnership I’ve had with Anton [Du Toit], Johnnie and Roger [Paarman] has been a really good partnership because a lot of listening and collaboration is going on, between all of us, and this has just led to a really good boat.”

He said he was equally confident about the future of his collaboration with Delany and his team.

Berman also highlighted a successful business model that linked the two South African ventures to the global marketing reach established by The Multihull Company, Berman’s US-based brokerage which sells around 100 boats a year. “Because we have the marketing resources globally through that other company, it is much easier for us to brand a product and reach the market cost-effectively,” he said. “The first three Balance 52s were all bought by customers of my other company.

“When a company is starting out, securing the first customers and building the trust required… is very important,” Berman said.

The new 482 model has an owner version configuration that accommodates up to six people. She is built for both speed and cruising comfort, and includes the trademark versa helm.

Continue Reading the full article at International Boating Industry Online

Balance 482: A Perfect Performance Package

By: Sandy Parks, Blue Water Sailing

The new Balance 482 cruising catamaran, designed by Phil Berman of The Multihull Company and Anton du Toit, a South African yacht designer, is the little sister to the Balance 526 that was launched three years ago. The 48 is a true couple’s performance cruiser that from the start was intended to be easy to sail, easy to maintain, fast and comfortable at sea.

The new boat uses many innovations introduced in the 526 including the trademarked Versahelm. This inspired design innovation allows the helm wheel to pivot from a vertical position at the helmsman’s seat to a horizontal position under the protection of the hard Bimini top. In the up position, visibility forward and of the sails is good. In the down position you have good visibility forward through the huge saloon windows so you can stay out of the sun or be protected from wind and rain.

With the three-cabin layout, the master suite offers a spacious home for the owners while guests or children can bunk down in the large cabins in the opposite hull. A four-cabin version will offer everyone good private cabins and plenty of space.

The saloon is set up for indoor-out-door living with a dining area in the front of the saloon that can seat six or be folded down to convert into a double berth. Berman is all about maintaining as perfect a balance as possible between sailing performance and comfortable living and the 482 promises to do this nearly perfectly.

Continue Reading the full article at Blue Water Sailing

South Africa – The Other Multihull Country

By Francois Tregouet, Multihulls World

There is no doubt that with their large industrial groups, the French currently dominate world multihull production. With their huge market, the United States is the industry’s engine. We admire the Aussies and Kiwis for their passion for everything that sails (quickly ideally) on two or three hulls. But who ever mentions South Africa? This is a country where boat culture and production (particularly catamarans) have been firmly entrenched for decades. Behind the giant Robertson & Caine, there are lots of smaller shipyards which, when taken as a whole, make the Rainbow Nation the “other multihull country”. Multihulls World took a closer look.

Despite their world cup winning exploits in 2019, South Africans aren’t just great rugby players. Among their other qualities (resilience being one of them) they have carved out a substantial niche in the multihull construction industry. So how does a country that was shunned for decades because of its apartheid regime manage to succeed in its export markets? And how does a country that is far from the well-sailed wake of the favored sailing regions and with minimal internal demand become the world’s second biggest catamaran builder? At 35 degrees south, the climate is pretty good, but the swell, with no other land masses to get in the way of it, can be huge. The weather can also be capricious, with violent storms coming from the Indian Ocean, and depressions rushing from east to west down in the roaring forties. Add to all this the grim reputation of Cape Agulhas (which separates the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans) and it’s clear to see that it’s not a boating paradise for hedonistic sailors. Unsurprisingly therefore, Springbok catamarans (the rugby team’s nickname) have traditionally been pretty solid. Even though they didn’t previously have the technology to build lighter-weight boats, the demanding sailing conditions justified super-solid construction, and this is still part of the mindset. For a long time, their rigging used double shrouds when their European counterparts were using single ones. The sails were also made from heavier cloth to survive the long delivery trips – usually to the Caribbean. Today, most multihulls reach those more peaceful waters on cargo ships. Yet a whole generation of young skippers got some amazing experience sailing multiple transatlantic crossings from the Cape of Good Hope to the West Indies.

40 Years ago, a Hobie 14 competition changed everything!

Looking back across recent history, there would seem to be three main stages in the development of multihull construction in Nelson Mandela’s homeland. First of all, let’s go back 40 years. It was December 1979, so midsummer in the southern hemisphere. The fifth Hobie Cat 14 World Championships were being organized by South Africa, at Plettenburg Bay, 30 miles east of the small tourist town of Knysna. The competition was won by the US and a certain Phil Berman, who we will come back to later. More importantly, the 72 brand-new Hobie Cats which were used for the competition, were sold for peanuts after the end of the competition and won over the skippers who up until then had sailed on monohulls. On board their IOR prototypes, they could be seen on the waters around Cape Town and Durban every Sunday. This was the era of John Robertson, Jerry Caine and Duncan Lethbridge, and the experience stayed with them.

Continue Reading the full article at Mulithulls World

Writer Jumped Ship To Excel At Building Boats

The world’s biggest multihull yacht broker lands on SA shores yet again to spearhead two ventures

 Featured in The Sunday Times, South Africa  January 2020, By Bobby Jordan

 Phil of Enthusiasm

 American Phil Berman has ignited a boatbuilding Renaissance in South Africa

As an author and philosophy student, Phil Berman spent years wondering what makes the world go round. He discovered it’s more fun just to go around the world – and help others do it, too.

 The New York Times bestselling author and former world champion sailor has teamed up with SA boatbuilders to construct some of the world’s best multihull catamarans – 50ft vessels able to circumnavigate the globe.

 And in so doing, he has turned his personal philosophy into a commercial fairytale for the local marine economy.

 Berman, who gave up writing books to become the world’s biggest multihull yacht broker, is spearheading two boatbuilding joint ventures in SA, one with Nexus Yachts in St Francis Bay, the other with Two Oceans Marine in Cape Town.

 Hobie Champion

 Phil Berman, pictured with Hobie Alter, won the inaugural Hobie Cat World Championships in South Africa – the start of his South African love affairBoth involve Berman’s US-based company Balance Catamarans, which is also building vessels in China. To date, Balance has built seven luxury catamarans in SA, with several more in production or on the order book. One of the models has already earned the prestigious international Cruising World ‘Boat of the Year’ award.

 Berman first visited SA in 1979, when he won the World Hobie Cat World championships in St Francis Bay. He says the visit made a lasting impression and set in motion a love affair with SA that continues to this day.

 “After the world champs I travelled SA, learned about apartheid, what it meant and followed Bishop [Desmond] Tutu and Nelson Mandela’s progress,” Berman told Times Select from his base in Philadelphia.

 “I have seen the SA experiment in racial justice and the effort to create a rainbow nation and am committed to it. South Africans’ number one challenge is jobs … and boatbuilding is a great business for job creation.”

 Like many boat industry stalwarts, Berman was drawn into the industry due to a love of travel and adventure – particularly sailing. His CV is unusual in that he turned his back on an Ivy League education to contemplate the finer points of epoxy resin decking.

 The garrulous Berman has earned a reputation as a master salesman, even among those who consider his ‘American-style’ self-confidence too brash.

 Before selling and building boats Berman wrote several books, including a bestseller he co-wrote in 1999 with primatologist Jane Goodall. Most of his books examined philosophical ideas around belief and ethics, which he also explored in his Harvard master’s degree on the history of religion. His CV lists several TV appearances, including on the Today Show, CNN and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

 Ultimately, however, Berman preferred to mix some secular with the profound: “Many people ask: ‘Why did you stop writing books?’ The reason was that I was sitting by myself all day, lonely. I like people, and I love travel. As a writer, it is a very solitary life and sedentary … those two things are really not well-suited to my personality.

 “I said to my wife, we’ve made enough money so that I could explore other things. I really want to get back to the water. I want a more adventurous life again – that is what compelled me to start another company. I wish I had started Balance Catamarans sooner.”

 Berman said his literary career and academic training laid the foundation for his business career. “I learned a lot about how to write well and how to think clearly, and also a lot about marketing and promotions. I think that has helped me a great deal.”

 Smells Like Team Spirit

 American boat tycoon Phil Berman has put together a dream team in South Africa, building multihull yachts for the international market.

 The garrulous Berman has earned a reputation as a master salesman, even among those who consider his “American-style” self-confidence too brash. His public persona contrasts starkly with some of the more reclusive SA boatbuilding and yacht designing global stars – who include several of Berman’s local partners. SA has a proud boatbuilding history and is the world’s second-largest catamaran producer, with about 3,500 people employed in the sector. Local boat yards produce famously sturdy yachts due to the demanding Southern Ocean conditions.

 Local maritime industry sources said Berman’s sales acumen was a natural fit with SA’s design and boatbuilding skills. “He finds guys [in SA] who really do a good job building boats and then tries to sell them into the American market,” said one of Berman’s former clients, businessman Ivor Karan.

“He is a straight shooter – a straightforward, honest fellow. He works, is full of energy, and is an accomplished sailor.”

Vanessa Davidson, executive head of the SA Boat Builders Export Council, said: “The relationship Phil Berman has with SA boatbuilders has been cultivated over many years. He has a very good understanding of the American boat buyer, and vertically integrated partnerships such as the ones he has established with local boatbuilders are definitely beneficial to the industry.

“Phil pulls the threads together, and this creates efficiencies in getting SA-built boats on to the world stage.”

Landlocked yacht club says its sailors can’t get to the sea.

 With Special Thanks To The Sunday Times

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