Racing The M32 Class
Photo courtesy of M32 Class/Up top media, Felipe Juncadella
This year the M32 celebrates its 10th birthday. Swedish Olympic bronze medalist Göran Marström and Kåre Ljung designed the M32 in 2011 as the latest addition to an already impressive portfolio that includes the Tornado, M5 A-Class, M20 catamaran and the Extreme 40. Two years later, sailor and businessman Håkan Svensson acquired the design and production rights for Aston Harald AB, a company already intimately connected with the cutting-edge racing scene, having sponsored the Green Dragon and Puma Volvo Ocean Race teams. That same year, regattas in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland comprised the first M32 Scandinavian Series.
Balance 442 Performance-cruiser Design
A look at the thinking that went into the new Balance 442 performance-cruiser
A sketch of the Balance 442’s cockpit: note how the two possible positions of the boat’s Versa-Helm are shown to starboard
To say there’s a lot that goes into creating an all-new boat has got to be one of the world’s great understatements. And the job only becomes exponentially harder when boats get smaller, rather than larger a point that is lost on many as every inch of space must be used precisely.
To gain some insight into the nuts and bolts of the process, we reached out to the folks at Balance Catamarans to ask them some questions about their new 442. Currently under construction down in South Africa (where Balance has been building its boats since its founding in 2013) the boat will be the smallest of a line of performance catamarans that includes a 76-footer as its flagship and a very popular 52ft model, and carries on the company’s tradition of c