Balance 526

BoatsBalance 526

See her sail

The Balance 526, on the water

The fleet's own footage — the truest look at how she really moves.

Is it for you?

Character

Where this design lands on the numbers a shopper trusts — read straight from her own ratios.

Shoal draftDraws 1.16 m, board up where she has one — creeks, sandbars and thin anchorages most keels have to stay out of.

LightHeavy

90 — light for her waterline, so she is easily driven and quick to accelerate.

Displacement / length 90

EasygoingPowered-up

30.3 — a lot of sail for her weight; powered-up and eager, a real performer.

Sail area / displacement 30.3

Draws more than ~78% of boats her size on file
Beamier than ~77% of boats her size on file

Compared with 224 boats of the same type within a quarter of her length.

What the fleet has seen

The Balance 526, as the fleet has seen it

Derived from the videos the fleet has analysed of this model. ▶ marks open the moment aboard.

The Balance 526 is a performance cruising catamaran designed by Phillip Berman and Anton Du Toit, built by Balance Catamarans in South Africa since 2016. It features a fractional sloop rig with a rotating spar and twin daggerboards. The boat measures 16.0 meters LOA, has an 8.3-meter beam, a 2.2-meter draft, and displaces 12,199 kg. A carbon XP version is available, reducing displacement to 10,600 kg.8:19 Balance Catamarans is an independent builder in a market that includes HH, Outremer, Gunboat, and Katana, and the 526 incorporates Balance's VersaHelm design.

The living fleet

Sailed by the fleet

Where the fleet has filmed this boat.

Basemap © Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The record

Full specifications

The complete reference set — tap any figure to switch between metric and imperial.

Dimensions

Weights

Rig & sail area

Rig

Frac. Sloop (Rotating Spar)

Ratios

SA / displacement

30.3

Displacement / length

89.6

Hull

Hull type

Catamaran Twin Dbrd.

Construction

E-glass/cabon

Production

Years built

First built 2016

Designer

Phillip Berman, Anton Du Toit

Builder

Balance Catamarans

Boats like this, on the water

More boats like her, on the water

Comparable boats the fleet has on camera: same type, within a quarter of her length. Open the boat, or watch the video — a timestamp means she only appears in passing.

Outremer 5215.73 mSame hull family0.3 m shorterA VPLP-designed performance catamaran featuring twin daggerboards and a high sail-area-to-displacement ratio for speed

The Untold Story of the World's Top Performance Catamaran Builders11:08 from All About Sailing

Neel 5215.85 mSame hull family0.2 m shorterA high-performance trimaran from Marc Lombard featuring a massive 8.8-meter beam and a high sail-area-to-displacement ratio

INFLATABLE SAILS! The Future of Sailing?14:25 from Sailing Nahoa

Seawind 160015.74 mSame hull family0.3 m shorterA Reichel-Pugh designed performance catamaran featuring twin daggerboards and a high sail area-to-displacement ratio

Finding a secret 200ft waterfall in French Polynesia... (Episode 230)2:40 from Sailing Parlay Revival

Outremer 5115.65 mSame hull family0.4 m shorterA 15.65-metre performance catamaran built since 2013, featuring a fractional sloop rig and a 2.35-metre draft

NOT Our Smartest Decision! Hauling in the Middle of NOWHERE9:19 from Sailing Nahoa

Voyage Yachts 52015.82 mSame hull family0.2 m shorter

Building an Aluminum Sailboat Pt 6 - Your questions answered | EP 2249:14 from Distant Shores TV

Hh 5516.74 mSame hull family0.7 m longerA 16.74-metre carbon catamaran with a high 33.37 SA/displacement ratio, built for rapid passage making since 2018

FILTERING THE LITERAL CRAP 💩 OUT OF THE OCEAN16:06 from Gone with the Wynns

The family

Related models

The designs closest to hers — usually the rest of the builder's range, sometimes the same hull sold under another name.

Balance 580A 17.78-metre performance catamaran with a 28.41 sail area-to-displacement ratio designed for rapid, long-range cruising Balance 451A high-performance catamaran featuring a rotating fractional rig and twin daggerboards for exceptional upwind speed Balance 464 CCA 2026 center-cockpit catamaran designed for high-speed cruising with an impressive 23.84 sail area-to-displacement ratio Balance 482Fractional Sloop · 14.71 m Balance 442A high-performance catamaran by Du Toit featuring twin daggerboards and a powerful sail area-to-displacement ratio Balance 502A 15.25-metre performance catamaran offering VersaDrive hybrid propulsion and a versatile sail plan for varied conditions

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