Contents Multihulls World #190 -

A Bali as a tribute...

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Published on 24/05/2023

By Emmanuel van Deth

Issue: 190

Published: Jul. / Aug. 2023

Discover this issue

If selecting the cover photo for a magazine about multihulls was easy, I’d tell you... It would not, however, be the typical subject for the editorial! Yet here we are: between our tests and the topics we feature, the various boatbuilders, catamarans or trimarans, sails and sometimes engines, there’s already enough to get us scratching our heads. If you add the intrinsic qualities of the chosen image (definition, sharpness, light), its dynamics (the angle of the multihull, the sails, the wake, the reflection) and finally the options for positioning the headlines (at the top and most often on the left), the possibilities become even more limited... For this issue, we decided to put the Bali Catsmart in the spotlight. For two reasons: firstly because its builder offered us an exclusive preview, 15 days ahead of the official presentation of this new model at the International Multihull Show and secondly because at Multihulls World, we have always worked to keep small, cruising multihulls on the market. And then, less than a week before this issue went to press, we learned of the death of Olivier Poncin, CEO of Catana Group. A man who succeeded in propelling a shipyard that had been placed under a financial safeguarding procedure during the 2008 crisis into one of the world’s top three boatbuilders (1,500 employees, a turnover of €149 million in 2022, and a net profit of €17 million, just to mention a few figures!) by inventing the Bali. A visionary, generous, humanist - but sometimes harsh and authoritarian - business leader. We loved him, feared him, hated him sometimes….
In the end, it’s a bit the same with his Bali, so disruptive in the face of the preconceived notions of the boatbuilding industry. Well, I’m not afraid to say it: I liked Olivier Poncin a lot, and I’m a fan of the Bali concept. I invite anyone who thinks they’re not, to try one of these catamarans!
If we’ve chosen to put the Bali Catsmart on the cover of this issue, it’s not just by chance - it is in tribute.
Fair winds to all!

Emmanuel van Deth - Editor in Chief

Gerbert Rambaud - CEO of Jours de Passions