Anyone want to review this boat? Balance 451

[Red Herring]

I really like some aspects of it, and dislike others. I am wondering what others think of it's potential.

I like the state rooms, the dagger boars design, some of the small touches like the trap door up front for attaching the bridle, and I like the winch station and helm position... but the saloon is really small, and looks like headroom might be an issue unless Phil is abnormally tall, and although I like the design of the seating area in back, I think a squared seating area is more practical.

Anyway, if anyone wants to put their $.02 in, go for it!

Inside:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRfNkqlhZ_U

Exterior:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVwxaNiYIE4

[Factor]

Its a Montebello 12.5 with some reverse bows stuck on it for some reason. As you chaps would say - go figure.

Still the Montebello 12.5 was a pretty decent boat.

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by Factor

Its a Montebello 12.5 with some reverse bows stuck on it for some reason. As you chaps would say - go figure.

Still the Montebello 12.5 was a pretty decent boat.

I am a little confused by the reverse bows. They look styling, but don't they increase spray while providing less lift per foot?

And OMG you are spot on about the Montebello. I thought it might be a new design, but it's exactly the same boat.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

I am a little confused by the reverse bows. They look styling, but don't they increase spray while providing less lift per foot?

And OMG you are spot on about the Montebello. I thought it might be a new design, but it's exactly the same boat.

Yes - they bought the moulds from montebello and shipped to the new factory. Like I said, the Montebello was a reasonable boat, pretty good to sail, spent a few different days delivering one of them around.

[Sand crab]

Look here:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ns-117056.html

And:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-a-131416.html

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

Look here:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ns-117056.html

And:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-a-131416.html

[scarlet]

if it is designed anything like the 421.. then I have one word for you... BLECH!!

[polak1958]

I sailed one from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale after the Miami boat show. We averaged about 11 knot with the wind blowing 15-20 sailing off the wind about 140 degrees. We passed quite a few other sailboats on the way and made very good time.

It was considerably faster than all of the charter cats I have been on.

Yes, it is a Montebello, they bought the molds. The 451 weighs the same as the 421 and has better performance. The design is not for everyone, this is not a charter boat.

[Saleen411]

Pulled this off the web. As was previously mentioned...no idea how tall Phil is, but would think lack of headroom as a deal breaker for many. Just an impression from seeing the video only.


The Balance Story
At Balance Catamarans, Phil and his team of designers, engineers, and builders are hard-focused on achieving a perfect harmony between comfort at anchor as well as safety and performance underway. Balance Catamarans is not producing charter cats or racing cats, but blue-water voyagers of uncompromising quality. We know that the demands of the sea have not changed since the days of the early Polynesian catamaran explorers and that however fashionable it may be to have a spacious and glitzy yacht, or a head turning racing cat, ultimately our vessels must Phillip Bermanbe designed and built to cope with the worst weather nature can deliver. A catamaran that pounds too hard, or cannot sail smartly into the wind, or that can't run swiftly and safely before a raging sea is simply not safe. A catamaran that is not easily operated shorthanded, too complex to maintain and sustain, or too cramped to make life enjoyable defeats the entire purpose of voyaging.

The Balance team has been listening very carefully to - and learning from - hundreds of catamaran sailors on the features they most want and need in a live-aboard voyaging catamaran. Careful notes have been taken and used in each design so that Balance Catamarans can live up to its mission of restoring harmony to blue water catamaran sailors.

The story of Balance Catamarans can be traced back to the sun-bleached Southern California beaches where Phillip Berman grew up in the1960s.

Always an entrepreneurial kid, Phil had three paper routes in Newport Beach, California, and used his earnings to fund his boyhood sailing and surfing adventures. At the age of twelve, Phil was delivering a newspaper to the home of R. Paul Allen, a film producer made famous by his surfing classic, The Endless Summer. Paul had a Hobie Cat 14 resting in his driveway after filming a movie short called “The Cat That Flies” which featured Hobie Alter surfing his latest invention off the shores of San Juan Capistrano. Suffice it to say that Phil was captivated. A year later, Paul and Hobie arranged to sell Phil a Hobie Cat 14 at a special price.

Sailing and racing Hobie’s became Phil’s obsession during high school. He went on to become one of the top Hobie Catracers in the 1970’s and ‘80s, and was crowned the Hobie 14 World Champion in South Africa in 1979. During High School he also authored several of the most popular books on the sport to fund his way through college, including the bestselling catamaran training manual, Catamaran Sailing from Start to Finish (W.W. Norton, 1982), which remains in print to this day. A surfer, sailor, and environmentalist, Phil went on to study philosophy and religion at Harvard and authored several popular books in these fields, including, with Dr. Jane Goodall, The New York Times bestseller, Reason for Hope Phil Berman with Hobie Alter(Warner Books, 1998.)

Despite success as an author, Phil grew tired of the sedentary and solitary life of a writer and longed to return to his roots on the water. By this time he had owned several large cruising catamarans he sailed with his family and felt there was a need for a company to serve as buyer’s consultants for cruising multihulls. The Multihull Company was formed in 2000 to consult on the design, build, and brokerage of cruising catamarans. Today, Phil’s company has grown to become the leading global firm selling new and used voyaging catamarans.

After managing the sale of hundreds of catamarans over the past decade Phil has learned how catamarans are built, visiting just about every major factory in the world, how they break and fall apart, how they sail in the most dangerous conditions, which systems tend to work and fail, and how they are "really" used by sailors.

Phil concluded that none of the catamarans currently offered by the major production builders are ideally suited to the needs, budgets, and performance expectations of today's committed live-aboard voyagers. The catamaran market has simply focused too much on the charter trade and lost the ideal balance of performance, comfort, quality, and practical seamanlike features required by serious sailors. Phil decided it was time to explore a range of new designs and build partnerships, leading to the formation of Balance Catamarans.

Balance Catamarans are unique because they were designed solely for live aboard voyaging. They result directly from the enormous fund of experience Phil and his team gained through sea trials, owner feedback and the collective result of millions of blue water miles. There really is no substitute for experience and the direct relationship with the Multihull Company's customers has given Balance Catamarans the invaluable feedback it relied upon in the design of each model.

[polak1958]

If you are 6' 2" or less head room is not an issue, 6' 4" or better and it is.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Saleen411

Pulled this off the web. As was previously mentioned...no idea how tall Phil is, but would think lack of headroom as a deal breaker for many. Just an impression from seeing the video only.


The Balance Story
At Balance Catamarans, Phil and his team of designers, engineers, and builders are hard-focused on achieving a perfect harmony between comfort at anchor as well as safety and performance underway. Balance Catamarans is not producing charter cats or racing cats, but blue-water voyagers of uncompromising quality. We know that the demands of the sea have not changed since the days of the early Polynesian catamaran explorers and that however fashionable it may be to have a spacious and glitzy yacht, or a head turning racing cat, ultimately our vessels must Phillip Bermanbe designed and built to cope with the worst weather nature can deliver. A catamaran that pounds too hard, or cannot sail smartly into the wind, or that can't run swiftly and safely before a raging sea is simply not safe. A catamaran that is not easily operated shorthanded, too complex to maintain and sustain, or too cramped to make life enjoyable defeats the entire purpose of voyaging.

The Balance team has been listening very carefully to - and learning from - hundreds of catamaran sailors on the features they most want and need in a live-aboard voyaging catamaran. Careful notes have been taken and used in each design so that Balance Catamarans can live up to its mission of restoring harmony to blue water catamaran sailors.

The story of Balance Catamarans can be traced back to the sun-bleached Southern California beaches where Phillip Berman grew up in the1960s.

Always an entrepreneurial kid, Phil had three paper routes in Newport Beach, California, and used his earnings to fund his boyhood sailing and surfing adventures. At the age of twelve, Phil was delivering a newspaper to the home of R. Paul Allen, a film producer made famous by his surfing classic, The Endless Summer. Paul had a Hobie Cat 14 resting in his driveway after filming a movie short called “The Cat That Flies” which featured Hobie Alter surfing his latest invention off the shores of San Juan Capistrano. Suffice it to say that Phil was captivated. A year later, Paul and Hobie arranged to sell Phil a Hobie Cat 14 at a special price.

Sailing and racing Hobie’s became Phil’s obsession during high school. He went on to become one of the top Hobie Catracers in the 1970’s and ‘80s, and was crowned the Hobie 14 World Champion in South Africa in 1979. During High School he also authored several of the most popular books on the sport to fund his way through college, including the bestselling catamaran training manual, Catamaran Sailing from Start to Finish (W.W. Norton, 1982), which remains in print to this day. A surfer, sailor, and environmentalist, Phil went on to study philosophy and religion at Harvard and authored several popular books in these fields, including, with Dr. Jane Goodall, The New York Times bestseller, Reason for Hope Phil Berman with Hobie Alter(Warner Books, 1998.)

Despite success as an author, Phil grew tired of the sedentary and solitary life of a writer and longed to return to his roots on the water. By this time he had owned several large cruising catamarans he sailed with his family and felt there was a need for a company to serve as buyer’s consultants for cruising multihulls. The Multihull Company was formed in 2000 to consult on the design, build, and brokerage of cruising catamarans. Today, Phil’s company has grown to become the leading global firm selling new and used voyaging catamarans.

After managing the sale of hundreds of catamarans over the past decade Phil has learned how catamarans are built, visiting just about every major factory in the world, how they break and fall apart, how they sail in the most dangerous conditions, which systems tend to work and fail, and how they are "really" used by sailors.

Phil concluded that none of the catamarans currently offered by the major production builders are ideally suited to the needs, budgets, and performance expectations of today's committed live-aboard voyagers. The catamaran market has simply focused too much on the charter trade and lost the ideal balance of performance, comfort, quality, and practical seamanlike features required by serious sailors. Phil decided it was time to explore a range of new designs and build partnerships, leading to the formation of Balance Catamarans.

Balance Catamarans are unique because they were designed solely for live aboard voyaging. They result directly from the enormous fund of experience Phil and his team gained through sea trials, owner feedback and the collective result of millions of blue water miles. There really is no substitute for experience and the direct relationship with the Multihull Company's customers has given Balance Catamarans the invaluable feedback it relied upon in the design of each model.

Saleen 411,

Dont believe everything written by salesmen on the web,

As others have indicated the Balance 451 is definitely a slightly modified Montebello 12.5. 3 or 4 were built.

Karma Kat Montebello 1250 | Whitsunday Sailing - Charter Yachts Australia

I saw the mold and original vessel built in the Montebello factory near the Gold Goast in Australia. The Montebello factory subsequently went bankrupt and the molds were eventually aquired by Phil Boreman of Balance catamarans. He seems to have modified the bow and made a few fitout chances but the Balance 452 is definitely the previous Montebello hull designed by KIWI cat designer Rodger Hill.