I love you boat Phil, but some questions. When I’m taking the dagger boards up with the winch How do I know that they are all up and I should stop? When Taking them down how do I know the amount of dagger board that is in the water so I can stop at one quarter?
@@sydshuler1941 I know they put shafts on the 62 but I didn't know that they would put them on the 52. I don't like sail drives either. Just one other thing would be nice and that would be to have skeg hung rudders. Then the boat would suit me perfectly 👌
@@walterwinn2842 I think they have a different solution. They can build their boats with tiny sacrificial keels to prevent damage to the rudders. Those boats will still come with daggerboards. I'm sure they would love to tell you about that if you're willing to spend the coins... ;-)
If you have some experience sailing a non-performance catamaran like a Leopard, can you safely sail a Balance catamaran? Is there further training required? I’ve heard people being scared of sailing a performance catamaran due to sail area to weight ratio and son on. I would love the experience of sailing a Balance, based on the descriptions of the experience, but not sure if I’ll be up to the task.
Good question. Yes, no problem. In fact one of our 526 owners used to own a Leopard. The only thing with a performance cat is that you are generating more apparent wind, pulling the wind forward more, so you sail to the apparent wind. Our Balance is very easy to sail. One of our owners single-handed a 526 from the Bahamas to Rhode Island. Where people can get into trouble on a high performance cat is sailing in a strong breeze with a big asymmetrical spinnaker, pushing the boat hard, like in a racing scenario. If you get a sudden gust of wind you must drive the boat down, not up, or else the apparent swings back hard when you slow and you can get knocked over. But really that would only occur in a racing situation with a huge chute up. I do find it interesting in that of the now almost 900 catamarans I have sold in my life, not a single one of my customers has every capsized. Although I did once buy a used cat for a man that capsized a Chris White performance cat. He admitted to me he just got very lazy and did not reef his boat prudently and got hit by a massive squall. Anyways, a few days of training and good seamanship it is not hard at all. Best, Phil
As I understand it all Gunboats today come standard with some kind of load alarms (I think that i the correct term). You would think that those would be expensive... But apparently and relatively speaking they allegedly aren't... There is of course a cost, but it's not that high compared to everything else on a boat like this... So as I understand it you should be able to spec one of these Balance cats with one of those alarms as well. That should take all the 'guesswork' out if it...
I like a lot about balance except the winch and clutch positions. you Have to bend over every time you use the winches and clutches, they are very low. Why not take it all up onto roof top in front of upper helm position. Much more ergonomic. You can still leave extra jib and main winch at rear of cockpit as you already do. I think the versa helm needs a real in house redevelopment, it’s evolved piece meal over the years.
Simon, this was a good question. We have done our boats with winches up and winches down, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. When they are down, on the plinth, the stoppers and winches are not subjected to UV degradation and are very easy to reach, and you can actually do sail tweaks without opening the top. When they are on top we have to build a step on the bulkhead wall for shorter people to reach the winch stoppers, and we do that. Going forward, we make the standard boat with winches on top, but will do them down for those who prefer it. On the 482 and 442 all of the winches are on top and we will not customize them to go down. The versa helm has always remained the same and works the same way since day one. All we have done is add on some more position stoppers and a faster way to set it at various positions. It needs no changes. The issue is whether one prefers to have the winches down or up, as that impacts the steps up, or a slider floor if you want to be able to use the winches without opening the sliding top. The very simple way to do it is as you suggest, and we have done three in this manner. But then you cannot work the sails or reef without opening the top. It is really customer choice.
I love you boat Phil, but some questions.
When I’m taking the dagger boards up with the winch How do I know that they are all up and I should stop?
When Taking them down how do I know the amount of dagger board that is in the water so I can stop at one quarter?
I love this boat but I would much rather prefer shaft drive props. And maybe skeg hung rudders. Other than that this is a great boat.
They are installing shafts on mine👍
@@sydshuler1941 really, no kidding, that's cool
I want a V-Drive transmission to save space and not move the bulkhead into living space. I prefer shaft over saildrive.
@@sydshuler1941 I know they put shafts on the 62 but I didn't know that they would put them on the 52. I don't like sail drives either. Just one other thing would be nice and that would be to have skeg hung rudders. Then the boat would suit me perfectly 👌
@@walterwinn2842 I think they have a different solution. They can build their boats with tiny sacrificial keels to prevent damage to the rudders. Those boats will still come with daggerboards. I'm sure they would love to tell you about that if you're willing to spend the coins... ;-)
first reef at 18knts wind?
Upwind, for sure you will reef our boats in 18 knots of true wind. That would mean you are experiencing about 27 to 29 knots of apparent. Best, Phil
@@balancecatamarans thanks for the reply Phil
If you have some experience sailing a non-performance catamaran like a Leopard, can you safely sail a Balance catamaran? Is there further training required? I’ve heard people being scared of sailing a performance catamaran due to sail area to weight ratio and son on. I would love the experience of sailing a Balance, based on the descriptions of the experience, but not sure if I’ll be up to the task.
Good question. Yes, no problem. In fact one of our 526 owners used to own a Leopard. The only thing with a performance cat is that you are generating more apparent wind, pulling the wind forward more, so you sail to the apparent wind. Our Balance is very easy to sail. One of our owners single-handed a 526 from the Bahamas to Rhode Island. Where people can get into trouble on a high performance cat is sailing in a strong breeze with a big asymmetrical spinnaker, pushing the boat hard, like in a racing scenario. If you get a sudden gust of wind you must drive the boat down, not up, or else the apparent swings back hard when you slow and you can get knocked over. But really that would only occur in a racing situation with a huge chute up. I do find it interesting in that of the now almost 900 catamarans I have sold in my life, not a single one of my customers has every capsized. Although I did once buy a used cat for a man that capsized a Chris White performance cat. He admitted to me he just got very lazy and did not reef his boat prudently and got hit by a massive squall. Anyways, a few days of training and good seamanship it is not hard at all. Best, Phil
As I understand it all Gunboats today come standard with some kind of load alarms (I think that i the correct term). You would think that those would be expensive... But apparently and relatively speaking they allegedly aren't... There is of course a cost, but it's not that high compared to everything else on a boat like this... So as I understand it you should be able to spec one of these Balance cats with one of those alarms as well. That should take all the 'guesswork' out if it...
I like a lot about balance except the winch and clutch positions. you Have to bend over every time you use the winches and clutches, they are very low.
Why not take it all up onto roof top in front of upper helm position. Much more ergonomic. You can still leave extra jib and main winch at rear of cockpit as you already do.
I think the versa helm needs a real in house redevelopment, it’s evolved piece meal over the years.
Simon, this was a good question. We have done our boats with winches up and winches down, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. When they are down, on the plinth, the stoppers and winches are not subjected to UV degradation and are very easy to reach, and you can actually do sail tweaks without opening the top. When they are on top we have to build a step on the bulkhead wall for shorter people to reach the winch stoppers, and we do that. Going forward, we make the standard boat with winches on top, but will do them down for those who prefer it. On the 482 and 442 all of the winches are on top and we will not customize them to go
down.
The versa helm has always remained the same and works the same way since day one. All we have done is add on some more position stoppers and a faster way to set it at various positions. It needs no changes. The issue is whether one prefers to have the winches down or up, as that impacts the steps up, or a slider floor if you want to be able to use the winches without opening the sliding top. The very simple way to do it is as you suggest, and we have done three in this manner. But then you cannot work the sails or reef without opening the top. It is really customer choice.