{"id":47553,"date":"2021-12-15T16:02:37","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T21:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=47553"},"modified":"2023-05-06T18:17:38","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T22:17:38","slug":"2022-boat-of-the-year-best-performance-catamaran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/sailboats\/2022-boat-of-the-year-best-performance-catamaran\/","title":{"rendered":"2022 Boat of the Year: Best Performance Catamaran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During and in the four days immediately following the US Sailboat show in Annapolis, Maryland, the <\/em>Cruising World judges inspected and sailed on 27 boats vying for recognition. Learn more about the boats in our 2022 Boat of the Year<\/a> \u00bb<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OK, confession time. When the roster of nominees for the 2022 Boat of the Year awards was released, the contest\u2019s team and judging panel couldn\u2019t help themselves, and quietly put three check marks, little symbols of anticipation, alongside a trio of boats: the untamed cats that would vie for the title of best performer in their class. After all, both Balance and Seawind had entered the winner\u2019s circle in previous BOTY competitions, and it was clear they\u2019d have a serious contender for the throne in yet another player from cat-crazy South Africa, the Kinetic KC54. How\u2019d it go? Let\u2019s just say, nobody was disappointed. The conditions on Chesapeake Bay were ideal for putting the three nominees through their paces, and the trio of scalded cats all acquitted themselves superbly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 2022, if anything, the trend for flybridge catamarans is on a major upswing. New cats for 2022 from both Lagoon and Fountaine Pajot continued down that design path, putting an emphasis on living accommodations, not performance. But not aboard the latest Seawind 1600<\/a>, a brand originally built in Australia that is now produced in Vietnam. And that suits judge Tim Murphy just fine. \u201cThis boat was very dialed in,\u201d he said, \u201cand one place Seawind has always been innovative is with their helms. This one was really great; it was -outboard and aft with great visibility, sort of half-protected where you could step in and out. There was also good access to the boom and mainsail, which you don\u2019t always see on cats. The deck layout was excellent, particularly the forward trampolines. Some cats have lacings with large openings where you can twist an ankle, but these were nice and tight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Seawind <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Twin helms on the Seawind 1600 are located so a skipper can sit or stand outboard with good visibility of the sails or inboard, out of the elements.<\/span>\n Jon Whittle<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Seawind <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The cabin\u2019s wall of glass windows can be opened to let the breeze blow through the 1600 or closed to keep the AC-chilled air in the cabin, where it belongs.<\/span>\n Jon Whittle<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Seawind <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n A central winch mounted between seats on the transom handles the mainsheet and sail control lines.<\/span>\n Jon Whittle<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cCompared to other Seawinds that I’ve seen, I was just blown away with it in terms of what it could do and how it performed,\u201d said Ed Sherman.  \u201cIt’s a fairly conservative boat in terms of technology compared to some of the other boats in the same category, which depending on a potential buyer\u2019s state of mind, could be either a good thing or a bad one. I loved the centralized winch aft which is where all the sail-handling takes place. It\u2019s pretty brilliant for a short-handed crew, and it\u2019s all in a very safe and easy-to-access location that a cruising couple can deal with without scaring the heck out of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kinetic KC54<\/a> is a fresh entry in the cat universe, and we\u2019ll let Tim Murphy get right to the point: \u201cThis is a fairly new company that was started within the past couple of years. My breath was absolutely taken away by this boat; it was spectacular. I think it was the best-built boat in the entire fleet. It\u2019s an all-carbon boat, with a foam core, epoxy resin, all infused\u2013fantastic. The whole boat felt integrated. You didn\u2019t feel like there was a conflict between the forces in terms of accommodation versus performance.\u201d With a price tag approaching $3 million, it perhaps should not be astonishing. That was a major factor in evaluating the boat, and while it did not win its class, the experts panel did present it with a Judges\u2019 Special Recognition prize to honor the boat\u2019s overall excellence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Kinetic <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n With it\u2019s triple headsail rig, the all-carbon-fiber Kinetic KC 54 can quickly switch from cruise to race mode.<\/span>\n Jon Whittle<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Kinetic <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n A trio of beefy winches for sheets and sail control lines sit in a cockpit forward of the cabin house on the KC 54.<\/span>\n Jon Whittle<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Kinetic <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The Kenetic\u2019s interior is simple but elegant, with the wheel and nav station at the center of attention. There are two additional outside helm stations located aft on each transom.<\/span>\n Jon Whittle<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cIt was my personal favorite in this year\u2019s contest,\u201d said Sherman. The materials that were used are absolutely the highest quality available in our industry at this point, and it’s a very high-tech boat in terms of systems.\u201d Gerry Douglas was also duly impressed: \u201cThis was the Tesla of sailboats. I think that that was their model. In terms of design and execution and technology, it hit all three of those marks. This boat is built without compromise, and what it cost was not an issue, they just wanted to do the best they could in every aspect of the boat. The construction was impeccable, the fit and finish was amazing. There are some very clever design things in the boat, but it all really worked seamlessly.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that level of competition, the Balance 482<\/a> had a tall order to overcome to win its class. And it did. \u201cThe sailing performance was excellent,\u201d said Douglas. \u201cThe boat felt really good. The steering was terrific. The structure of the boat throughout was exemplary. Storage is really good. Visibility was good. Ventilation was great. There was even a rain collection system on the cabin top, which is the only one of the boats we looked at had that. It was very well concealed because the gutters formed a handhold going forward. The solar panel installation was also well done. The panels were encapsulated into a fiberglass tray that elevated the deck so the panels wouldn\u2019t overheat. Very clever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Balance <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The relatively low location of the gooseneck on the Balance 482\u2019s mast makes it easy to close and open the boom pouch or work on the mainsail if needed.<\/span>\n Jon Whittle<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Balance <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n In the upright position, the 482\u2019s wheel provides the helmsman with good visibility over the cabin top. The wheel can also be lowered to horizontal, allowing the skipper to steer under the protection of the Bimini while looking through the cabin windows.<\/span>\n Jon Whittle<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Balance <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n From the athwartships owner\u2019s berth, hull ports provide a view of the world outside.<\/span>\n Jon Whittle<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

The driving force behind Balance cats is Phil Berman, a world champ at racing beach cats who brought that passion to developing and marketing fully found cruisers. Judge Murphy knows him well: \u201cPhil comes from a very strong view of wanting to see boats that have solid sailing performance. He\u2019s also a strong proponent of daggerboard boats, which tends to be quick shorthand for the dividing line between cats that are more about payload versus cats that are about performance, but not so much where you\u2019re going to fly a hull or break a rudder. There\u2019s a balance within a boat that really performs that you can still live aboard.\u201d A winning balance, it turns out, with the Balance 482 securing its position as the Best Performance Cruiser for 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quick, fast and fun, the South African-built Balance 482 is a cat that will get up and go, but offers plenty of comfort once the hook is down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":47561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Cruising World Editors","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"167","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"With a powerful, versatile sail plan\u2014as well as light, solid construction and go-fast daggerboards\u2014the Balance 482 is a go-anywhere cat that puts a premium on performing, which made it the perfect choice as Best Performance Catamaran in the 2022 Boat of the Year contest.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true},"categories":[167],"tags":[794,282,1880,211,1881,1891,195,860],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}