The story of a chance meeting BALI 4.4

We come from the world of monohulls. We had a Dufour Arpège, with which we crossed the Atlantic; we’ve had 3 Jeanneau yachts of different sizes, and our last boat was an Oceanis 51. We’ve made 4 Atlantic crossings (2 round trips) and 2 Mediterranean circuits. We’re not counting the summer cruises here and there, but
that brings us to just under 35,000 miles in all.

There’s no doubt about it, we’re monohull people! At least, we were until... until the day we met Jacqueline and Patrick in an anchorage in Menorca, at Cala Coves to be precise. Their tender was getting stranded in the bay with an outboard that wouldn’t start... they were getting dangerously close to the cliffs. Our dinghy was already in the water and ready to go, so I immediately went to their aid and got them back to their boat, anchored further into in the bay, in almost no water... Because yes, a catamaran has the advantage of being able to anchor in very little water. Naturally, in the evening, Jaqueline and Patrick invited us for a drink on their boat, to thank me for helping them.

We arrived at around 7.30pm at their BALI 4.6, which they had just taken possession of in La Rochelle. There was a lot of prejudice on our part: a CATAMARAN,
and a BALI at that! On the face of it, surely, we weren’t going to have much in common with these people... To tell the truth, we’d never had a close-up look at these boats, because “caravans on the water” just aren’t our thing.

I’ll try and keep the story short, but we had an excellent evening discovering this model, about which I fully admit I had been very much mistaken... We swapped
tales of our experiences, and they “sold” us this boat, explaining their choices, justifying them, and asking us how we would do it on our monohull.... Sure, they
had quite a few valid arguments... but we weren’t for giving in, because there are also things a monohull can do that a catamaran can’t! Basically, it’s all about
compromise...
After that wonderful evening, it must be said that neither Sandra nor I looked at BALIS in quite the same way... we saw definite advantages in them, and the
idea (and above all the acceptance of switching from monohull to catamaran) was beginning to take root. At the 2022 Multihull Show in La Grande Motte, we
made an appointment to see the BALI 4.4, because it’s the only model with a flybridge but a boom that’s still accessible to sailors like us! Not only that, but we
find the boat better balanced, with a larger sail area and more elegant lines, less high up on the water.

We’re increasingly attracted by the features of the BALI: the up-and-over door at the back, the surface area of the forward cockpit (which we took full
advantage of during the evening aboard the boat of our “rescuees”), and the space! Everywhere! in the nacelle, in the cabins, the large galley, the American
fridge, the very large saloon, etc...

There was just one question to overcome: performance. As you can imagine, coming from a monohull, we’re not prepared to make any compromises either. Comfort at anchor is all well and good, but sailing is the one area where we’re not prepared to make any concessions. So we made an appointment with the
shipyard directly at Canet-en-Roussillon, where they have a demonstration fleet available all year round. It was easy to choose the date, and off we went!

20 knots from the south, slight sea, bright sunshine: I-DE-AL!

Richard, the skipper, manoeuvred the boat out alone, while we helped him by stowing the fenders in the large bow lockers (deeper than I am tall...!). We set
off downwind, so he decided to hoist the lot. Looking back, I think that was to impress us... But he did a good job of that: 20 kts TWS, 130° to the wind, full
mainsail and solent, and we were rolling along at 12 knots...

We we’re sat in the forward cockpit, with both doors (forward and aft) wide open, the boat flat, not a drop of water over the boat: WOW.... And above all: not a
squeak. The boat is silent. Richard explained that because the boat is fully decked at the front, it is less flexible, works less, and therefore doesn’t squeak.... QED.

On the way back, Richard decided to keep the full main up and use the solent to get close to the wind. The seas weren’t rough, so the boat could hold them.
And indeed, we sailed upwind between 35 and 40° off the wind at between 8 and 9 knots, which is pretty honourable compared to our monohull, which would
have already been properly heeled over with 1 reef in the mainsail...!!!

One look from Sandra on the way back in, and I immediately realised that this was going to be our next boat! She will be delivered to us this autumn, with
NANNI engines (we’ve just found out), but the way the boat is built, the way she sails, and the way we were received at BALI on our visit to the factory and trying
out the boat, we have full confidence in the yard and its choices, despite all the setbacks we all experience when we receive a new boat, from any yard...