Bali Cats

[CbroTheDude]

Originally Posted by SV DestinyAscen

I thought the Bali 4.0 was more like the size of a Lagoon 380. But a lot heavier.



For me I struggle with the logic of how high the boom is relative to the deck or helm position. How does one secure the sail?



The 380 is proven and sails.

4.0 is actually right between the Nautitech open 40 and the lagoon 400S2 in LOA so bigger than the 380 and Lucia 40
The super-high boom looks really awkward indeed but while chartering you only need to drop the main in the lazy bag and secure the halyard climbing the few steps on the mast.

[CbroTheDude]

Originally Posted by Factor

Sure have pal. But more importantly I understand the laws of physics. Apparently they are a mystery to some

First, try to be somewhat thorough in your posts (saying "if it's fat and heavy it will be slow" is everything but rigorous) then I might imagine you could apply any physics law
For now let's stick to your only experience on these cats, if you have witnessed any, and not set anything over it.

[Cotemar]

One attribute of the Bali line that we do not care for is the step down Saloon.

A lot of the new designs have everything on the same floor level from the stern sugar scoops all the way through to the Saloon.

[SV DestinyAscen]

Originally Posted by CbroTheDude

4.0 is actually right between the Nautitech open 40 and the lagoon 400S2 in LOA so bigger than the 380 and Lucia 40
The super-high boom looks really awkward indeed but while chartering you only need to drop the main in the lazy bag and secure the halyard climbing the few steps on the mast.

Wow - I dug up the numbers and am surprised by the 2 ft difference between the length and waterline - wonder what they're measuring.

[Izikalvo]

I have sailed the Bali 4.0 for more than 3 weeks crossing the Atlantic ocean.
I am not an expert but here is what I think of it:

Sailing:
Sailing with heavy headwind against the waves is a bad option for her, she will do 3 knots max with sails and 2500 RPM engines on.
The waves just stop her every time.
with up to 25 Knots back wind she will not go above 8 knots speed in a calm sea, riding on 5-meter waves in the back is something else she will go up to 15 Knots when going downhill than slowing to 7-8.
the self-tacking Genua is a problem with back winds as in all catamarans, since most of our sailing was going west with easterly winds it was a big issue for us so we disconnected the sail from the traveler and connected it to the middle clit also improvising a spinnaker pole with the gangway but this is another story to tell.
Riffing the main was ok even tho we added a downward rope to help to pool down the sail when needed.
the "no front net" structure gave us bad feeling at the beginning especially at night when you think she is about to scoop the front wave, but it never happened (i think that the highest waves we had were about 7 meters from the back).
engines are ok, tho I don't understand why Bali made the right one with 2 alternators, for bank and starter and for the water purifier pump and the left one for starter battery charger only and for water heating.

in general, the helm is located good enough above the spray, adding sprayhood will help to avoid the cold wind.

Port side is missing rails you can hold going down to the cabin and also a hatch to be able to communicate from the helm to the cabin is a must.
Front seats with the small tables are great for sunsets also the sliding back door is great for cold weather.

The inside carpentry is bad, very IKEA style with corners everywhere (a lot of blue marks on your body) and poor quality, smaller cabinet doors will help to keep the hinges intact, we had to tighten the screws all the time.

refrigerator and freezer are in good size but not for marine use, the one we had was 120V operating with converter all the time without proper locks to the doors, our gave us 2 major throw ups shifting out all the goods inside out on the floor due to bad locks.
cabins are roomy (4 cabins version), the 2 front cabins gave us hard time when sealing planks fail on us when we had the front waves in rough seas.
swimming ladder is missing another step.

batteries cover in the cabin is missing grooves to hold the dirt coming down on the batteries.

360mAh house bank is on the edge for this boat, we had to change the GEL batteries every 24 hours.

Over all it is a nice boat for a catamaran.

[Lifes a beach]

Thanks Izikalvo. This is the type of response I was looking for when starting the thread.

[ffelker]

Hi everyone - noobie here, 1st post, but need to share this info.

I just returned from a 2 week charter in the Caribbean on an almost-new Bali 4.3 fly. We had unusually heavy weather for a pleasure charter: winds sometimes above 35 kts, seas up to 5m. It was pretty miserable up on the fly in those conditions...

I can confirm the comments from Izikalvo above. The boat sails very poorly upwind or upseas, but does fine downwind and downseas. The boat is very spacious and comfortable at anchor.

NOTE!! When we returned to port an underhull inspection revealed that the port keel was absent. We certainly did not hit anything, and so this appears to be a manufacturing quality issue. I recommend that all Bali owners immediately inspect their keel bolts.

[smj]

I'm guessing the Bali doesn't have keel bolts?


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[ffelker]

There must be bolts - there's no other way that the keel could just disappear.

[smj]

Can't say I've ever seen a catamaran keel bolted on. Some are part of the hull mold, some are glasses on after the hull is laid up and some are glued onto a stub on the hull.


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[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by ffelker

There must be bolts - there's no other way that the keel could just disappear.

Some are bonded in with 5200, so as to breakaway when hit with a log or other hard objects without compromising the water tight hulls

[CruiserAD]

I have not sailed the Bali 4.9 but looked thoroughly at her at the boat show in Cannes last summer. Among what the other people have already said, thre things made me step back:
1. the anchor arrangement is completely blocked under the fixed foredeck. I already dislike the arrangements on the Fountaine Pajots but this is by far worse! Imagine having to pick up the anchor at night when a thunderstorm is approaching and one sees absolutely nothing, let alone being able to clear a fouled anchor...
2. The opening front window is very heavy and is sliding downwards. To cloes it one must push it upwards and let it lock with a mechanism which tome seemed undersized. Imagine the locking mechanism letting go up when in bad weather and you have a HUGE opening exactly where you definitely don't want it.
3. The folding door at the back of the salon is really heavy and opens upwards and swings agains the roof. Also here I doubt that the opening mechanism will be very reliable over time

I also thought of that a cat from Catana would be a decent sailing machine. This cat is not made for sailing performance and finally the steering position is a lot less protected then with the other same sized cats from Lagoon, FP or Leopard.

But for protected waters and warm climates it must be a fantastic vacation plattform (albeit rather ugly)

cheers Jan

[CruiserAD]

sorry meant Bali 4.0 of course...

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Izikalvo

I have sailed the Bali 4.0 for more than 3 weeks crossing the Atlantic ocean.
I am not an expert but here is what I think of it:

Sailing:
Sailing with heavy headwind against the waves is a bad option for her, she will do 3 knots max with sails and 2500 RPM engines on.
The waves just stop her every time.
with up to 25 Knots back wind she will not go above 8 knots speed in a calm sea, riding on 5-meter waves in the back is something else she will go up to 15 Knots when going downhill than slowing to 7-8.
the self-tacking Genua is a problem with back winds as in all catamarans, since most of our sailing was going west with easterly winds it was a big issue for us so we disconnected the sail from the traveler and connected it to the middle clit also improvising a spinnaker pole with the gangway but this is another story to tell.
Riffing the main was ok even tho we added a downward rope to help to pool down the sail when needed.
the "no front net" structure gave us bad feeling at the beginning especially at night when you think she is about to scoop the front wave, but it never happened (i think that the highest waves we had were about 7 meters from the back).
engines are ok, tho I don't understand why Bali made the right one with 2 alternators, for bank and starter and for the water purifier pump and the left one for starter battery charger only and for water heating.

in general, the helm is located good enough above the spray, adding sprayhood will help to avoid the cold wind.

Port side is missing rails you can hold going down to the cabin and also a hatch to be able to communicate from the helm to the cabin is a must.
Front seats with the small tables are great for sunsets also the sliding back door is great for cold weather.

The inside carpentry is bad, very IKEA style with corners everywhere (a lot of blue marks on your body) and poor quality, smaller cabinet doors will help to keep the hinges intact, we had to tighten the screws all the time.

refrigerator and freezer are in good size but not for marine use, the one we had was 120V operating with converter all the time without proper locks to the doors, our gave us 2 major throw ups shifting out all the goods inside out on the floor due to bad locks.
cabins are roomy (4 cabins version), the 2 front cabins gave us hard time when sealing planks fail on us when we had the front waves in rough seas.
swimming ladder is missing another step.

batteries cover in the cabin is missing grooves to hold the dirt coming down on the batteries.

360mAh house bank is on the edge for this boat, we had to change the GEL batteries every 24 hours.

Over all it is a nice boat for a catamaran.

But clearly not blue water.

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by smj

Can't say I've ever seen a catamaran keel bolted on. Some are part of the hull mold, some are glasses on after the hull is laid up and some are glued onto a stub on the hull.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

My Privilege 435 was bolted on. About 1/3 of a Privilege keel is steel surrounded by foam and grp and the steel part is through bolted.