Bali 5.8

A New, Full-comfort Flagship

We were able to take a detailed look at this big catamaran at Port-Pin Rolland, the marina belonging to the Catana Group, the boat having been presented to the public for the first time at the Cannes Yachting Festival back in September. Larger than the venerable Bali 5.4 launched in 2018, the 5.8 pushes the boundaries of comfort even further to offer an extraordinary onboard living experience. The Bali DNA applied to a platform measuring the best part of 60 feet by 30 (18 m by 9) means that you’ve got a unique usable surface area and volume on board a multihull of this size...

The fairly lightweight Bali 5.8 performs well in light airs when under gennaker.

The general lines of this new flagship are rather flattering... This successful design nevertheless conceals a generous interior volume to say the least.

The aft cockpit transformed into an open-space lounge is the concept behind the Bali brand, founded by Olivier Poncin in 2014.

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Practical info

Boat Test price5.00€ Inc. tax

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Boat Test price5.00€ Inc. tax

Purchase

Test location: Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer, France
Conditions: Calm sea, wind 6 to 7 knots

At the beginning of November, the weather can still be very mild on the Côte d’Azur, but it can also rain... In any case, it was a rather unusual autumnal period that Bali had chosen to organize its open days in the manufacturer’s marina near Toulon. It turned out to be a good choice, as the weather was very pleasant - so I will refrain from complaining...
Under the command of Boris Compagnon, the group’s sales and marketing director, all Bali models were on display, not forgetting the latest Yot 41 from their motorboat division. Since 2014, the manager reminded us, 14 Balis have been launched and their presence in the full-comfort catamaran market has been very well received, and even represents a significant market share, since Catana Group has joined the top 4 largest manufacturers of cruising multihulls, alongside Lagoon/Excess, Fountaine Pajot and Robertson & Caine. As for the 5.8, it should have a bright future, judging by the 5.4’s success - soon to be replaced by the 5.2, which we talk about in the news section of this issue - with 200 examples of this model having been sold.
The...

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