Bali Catamarans has been producing voluminous cruising catamarans in huge quantities since 2014 – during that time the company has perfected the art as Sam Jefferson discovers
They say that one of the keys to happiness and wellbeing is self acceptance. The ability to take a good, hard look at yourself and say, ‘well, this is who I am, take it or leave it’ is a hugely important step if you want to achieve a degree of serenity. What has this got to do with the Bali Catsmart I hear you cry? Well, it’s just a gut feeling I have but, in the world of yachts, more specifically multihulls, Bali catamarans is the marque that is the most willing to accept what it is and feel at ease with this. Unlike some yachts that try to be all things to all sailors, the Bali is unashamedly a cruising catamaran and the company has stuck with this basic concept since it launched its first boat in 2014. Perhaps being part of the Catana group helped because Catana had a deserved reputation for producing top end, performance catamarans so Bali felt at ease producing something tailored for cruising.
I do not mean this in a negative way. If you start with a very clear concept of what you want, then you are far more likely to reach a satisfactory conclusion. In the case of Bali, this means providing a comfortable platform for cruising while ensuring performance is perky enough to keep you happy on passage. The company has not been afraid to innovate either; guided by the steady hand of Olivier Poncin, who sadly recently passed away, Bali has pioneered a number of clever features including the tilt/slide ‘garage door’ style saloon door and also replacing the normal trampoline at the bow with a solid foredeck, which massively boosts exterior space. Along the way, the boats have been styled in a manner that fairly yells, ‘I am a cruising cat, take it or leave it’. This is an admirable philosophy which has seen the company shift truckloads of Balis both for private owners and also for charter.
All of which brings me to the Bali Catsmart, its latest and also smallest cat in its range at 38ft. This is exciting news in itself, as there is precious little on the market in this size bracket and, when you combine that with Bali’s commitment to providing masses of internal volume, you have a truly interesting proposition. Designed by the experienced Xavier Fay, the Catsmart retains all the key features of previous models (tilt/slide saloon door, solid foredeck) but simply puts it in a smaller package.
Styling wise
