The Perfect Headsail Starter Pack
When many sailors first step aboard a Balance Catamaran, one of the biggest surprises isn’t the speed — it’s the sailing angles.
Unlike traditional monohulls that often sail dead downwind with a poled-out genoa, modern lightweight cruising catamarans sail faster by working with the apparent wind. Instead of running directly downwind, they sail angles. And that changes everything about sail selection.
If your current answer to “what headsails are you running?” is “just the furling jib” — you’re not alone. But you’re also not sailing the boat the way it was designed to be sailed.
This post is about the two sails we recommend most as a first addition to your sail wardrobe: the Ullman Axia Code 50 and the Ullman Axia Code 70. Together, they unlock what a performance catamaran is actually capable of.
Why Catamarans Need Reaching Sails
Balance boats are designed to accelerate quickly, sail efficiently at higher angles, and generate their own apparent wind. In practice, this means you’re often sailing at true wind angles of 140–165° — not 180°. At those angles, a traditional furling genoa is working against you. It’s the wrong tool for the job.
A well-chosen code sail or reaching sail becomes the engine of the boat. Owners who make the switch consistently report higher daily mileages, easier autopilot steering, less rolling, and more comfortable passages overall.
As Phil Berman, founder and president of Balance Catamarans, puts it: “These sails really improve performance and they make sailing a lot of fun. Having these nice big reaching sails where you can really crank along in the teens is just a lot of fun — and in surfing conditions it can be really darn exciting.”
A reaching sail isn’t an accessory on a performance cruising catamaran — it’s one of the primary sails. Many Balance owners find their code sail becomes the most-used sail on board, oftentimes more than a genoa.
A Quick Word on Ullman Sails
We’ve been working with Ullman Sails for a long time — they’re based in Cape Town, they know our boats inside and out, and we know their sails. It’s a genuine partnership built on shared standards: well-engineered products, honest advice, and the kind of local support that matters when you’re preparing for a passage or getting ready for a season on the water.
Their Axia Series is Ullman’s dedicated range of modern downwind and reaching sails — a unified system built specifically for apparent wind sailing, covering code sails, reaching sails, and stable downwind shapes, all designed with short-handed handling in mind. The series is available in two lines: the Blue Line for cruising passagemakers, and the Red Line for performance sailors and rally racing.
For most Balance owners, the Blue Line is the place to start — forgiving trim, wide wind range, and designed for couples and short-handed crews.
The Axia Code 50 — The Upwind Screecher
What it is:
A flat, high-clewed reaching headsail with a 50–60% mid-girth — what many sailors call a screecher. It deploys off the bowsprit and sheets inside the cap shrouds, keeping handling clean and positioning it perfectly for close reaching angles.
What it does:
This sail earns its place the moment the wind goes light and your self-tending jib loses shape. Phil recommends deploying it in up to around 11–12 knots of true wind for upwind work, but its real versatility shines as you bear away. You can carry it beam reaching in moderate to heavy conditions — even into the 90° apparent wind range as breeze builds — making it useful across a wide band of the sailing circle, not just in light air.
On catamarans especially, where apparent wind sits well forward when you’re moving fast, the Axia 50 is often the exactly right sail to have flying. Phil calls it a sail that “covers a lot of wind ranges” — and on Balance’s smaller models (the 442, 464, 482, and 502 in particular), it’s a near-essential part of the inventory.
Cloth:
Currently built using Challenge EC195 — a woven polyester fabric with added fibres for torsional rigidity, because this is a sail you’ll be carrying closer to the wind and in higher wind ranges than the Axia 70.
Construction:
Radial construction with your choice of cabled luff or Ullman’s Active Luff system. Upgrade options include top-down furling setup, torsional luff cables, soft clew, and custom graphics.
The Axia Code 70 — The Downwind Reacher
What it is: A furling asymmetric spinnaker with a 70–83% mid-girth — broader and more powerful than the Axia 50, designed for reaching through to broad reaching conditions.
What it does: Where the Axia 50 handles tight angles and light air, the Axia 70 takes over as conditions open up. It’s roughly 30–35% smaller than a conventional sock asymmetric spinnaker, but the key advantage is how you deploy it: no sock, no foredeck gymnastics — just hoist it, and furl it in or out as needed. For couples and short-handed crews making long passages, that simplicity is transformative.
Phil explains it well: “You just hoist it, and you can rapidly deploy it, pull it in, pull it out. So it’s a super versatile sail.” For ocean passages, downwind runs between anchorages, or sailing the trades, the Axia 70 is the sail that keeps getting used when a sock spinnaker stays in the locker. On the larger Balance models (540, 580, 750), where the cutter rig’s genoa already covers the close-reaching angles, it’s often the only additional sail you need alongside the main.
One important note: The Axia 70 is not designed to be carried tight to the wind in heavy air. It thrives at true wind angles below 110° in light conditions, opening progressively broader as the breeze builds. Stay within its parameters and it’s a joy — push it too close or too hard and you’ll know about it.
Cloth: Currently built using Challenge EC155 — a white woven polyester that balances weight, durability, and downwind performance.
Construction: Radial construction, cabled or Active Luff options, with upgrades including top-down furling setup, soft clew, and custom graphics.
Why These Two Together?
The Axia 50 and Axia 70 are complementary by design. The 50 handles close reaching and light-air efficiency; the 70 takes over as angles open and conditions build. Between your main, your furling jib, the Axia 50, and the Axia 70, you have a sail wardrobe that covers an enormous range — from 5 knots close reaching to broad reaching in 20+.
Phil sums it up simply: if you could only get three sails for a cruising ground, it’s the main, the jib, and one of these — the Axia 50 if you’re in a reliably windy place like the Caribbean, the Axia 70 if you’re global voyaging and want one sail that does everything a sock spinnaker does, but with the push of a button.
Many Balance owners end up with both — and find they’re the sails that get used every single day.
Want to Know More?
We’d love to help you work out the right combination for your Balance. Get in touch with us, or reach out directly to Dallen Roos at Ullman Sails Cape Town — he knows the Balance range well and can guide you on cloth, luff configuration, and sizing for how and where you sail.
Product Brochure: The Axia Series
Dallen Roos — Ullman Sails Cape Town: dallen@ullmansailsrsa.com | www.ullmansails.com
