Sometimes, if you are lucky, there’s a moment on the water when thinking stops. When decisions seem to flow with ease and you’re not reacting to the ocean instead you’re moving with it. Surfers call this moment a flow state. Sailors know well and even instinctively.
The Balance 526 Instinct was named after world champion surfer Shaun Tomson’s iconic surf brand and a philosophy that is rooted in trust: trust in yourself, your craft, and the ocean beneath you. It’s a belief that the best performance doesn’t come from overthinking, but from feeling.
A Shared History, Forged by the Ocean
And there’s plenty of history in this boat. Shaun Tomson and Jonathan Paarman, Chief of Production at the St Francis Yard, grew up as rivals and friends in the surfing world. Different paths, same ocean. Decades later, that shared respect for performance, precision, and intuition lives on in the catamaran Instinct.
Built in the waters where waves and wind shape lives as much as they shape boards and boats, this Balance 526 carries this philosophy forward. Every line, every finish, every thoughtful detail reflects a mindset honed on waves, now translated into sail.
Pure Flow. Total Trust.
We were excited to tell this story about Instinct and its roots because it is a continuation of a way of thinking born on the water by lovers of the ocean, adventure, and high performance. Balance’s ethos is the same – adventure and high performance! We made Instinct fast, lightweight and at one with the sea. Make it luxurious and comfortable. Make it an elegant home where you are safe anywhere in the world you want to travel.
Built by Sailors.
Sailed on instinct.
Thank you to our owners who made Instinct such a tribute to decades of ocean mastery, a celebration of trust, and a vessel that lets sailors feel the water, wind, and waves as the thinking stops.
