Design and Construction
Catana builds the Bali 4.0 of vacuum-bagged, foam-cored sandwich in La Rochelle, France, and because there is no wood in the laminate it will not rot. The solid foredeck also serves as a structural member and is built of box sections and kept light in weight, while the nacelle below the foredeck should deflect waves and reduce slamming. Reviewers found the design and construction of the ski-shape forward to be really noteworthy, with fine-entry bows contributing to how the hulls slip through the water. The interior joinery is Alpi, an Italian composite material made of thin African woods laminated together with an attractive outer surface, and on the test boat this was all tabbed into the main structure and the cabinetry fit perfectly. The plumbing and wiring were neat and properly installed, with through-hulls of the alloy common to European boats along with double-clamped hoses, and a handrail is molded into the cabintop. The entire boat meets CE standards for Class A, Ocean for 10 people.
Rig and Handling
The rig is simple and powerful, with a VMG aluminum mast and a big, square-topped mainsail that delivers plenty of drive. A self-tacking Solent jib on a traveler makes coming about simple, and the rig is set further aft with a self-tacking solent of useful size that test sailors found easy to trim and powerful. All lines lead nicely to the raised helm station and are easy to reach, though the main is heavy and unreachable without a step stool. In 8 to 10 knots of breeze on a close reach the boat achieved about 6 knots of boatspeed, and bearing away to a beam reach that picked up to nearly 8 knots in occasional puffs. The boat tacks without effort through 80 degrees, though the big square-top mainsail creates plenty of weather helm by itself, so a headsail must always be up. An unexpected pleasure was the light, responsive helm coupled with excellent tracking, and under power the turning circle was less than one boatlength with both engines running forward.
Accommodations
The eyecatcher of Bali boats is always the cabin “Garage Door,” which opens on hydraulic lifts to create a huge living space, and the builder no longer uses an electric mechanism for the door, a simplification welcomed by the reviewer. The center of the windshield drops down like the window of a school bus for wide-open access to the foredeck, and a sun-deck is installed in place of the trampoline with a retracting aft window panel. The entire port hull of the sailed version is an owner's suite, with a big double berth aft and a large head compartment forward complete with separate shower, while the starboard hull is divided into two cabins, each with space for a couple, with a shared head compartment between them. Bali also makes a version with two ensuite heads in this hull, plus a model which has four cabins, presumably for charter businesses. The galley includes an Eno stove and Liebherr fridge. One serious oversight noted by the reviewer is that the saloon has no overhead grab rails for rough water.
Equipment
Hardware is by Antal, with the headsail furler coming from Profurl, and navigation electronics are Raymarine. The Bali 4.0 has about the best dinghy davit system the reviewer has seen, with the entire afterdeck transom lowering from husky steel supports to produce a platform for boarding. A tubular bimini is fitted, though it means the gooseneck is fixed higher up. Up a few steps to starboard is the raised helm, which is high enough for excellent visibility, with everything in sight except the stern of the port hull.
Known Issues
Beyond the missing grab rails in the saloon, the principal operational caveat is the mainsail's behavior: it is heavy, the boom is too high to reach without a step stool, and by itself it creates plenty of weather helm, demanding disciplined headsail use and reefing. The plumbing and wiring quote on the test boat was cut off, but what was documented showed neat installation; buyers should still verify through-hull alloy condition given the European-standard fittings. The bridgedeck clearance is comparable with the competition and weight loading is reasonable, so no structural deficiency was recorded.
The Verdict
The Bali 4.0 distills the marque's rigid-foredeck, door-forward thinking into the smallest hull the range offers, and it does so with a foam-cored, wood-free laminate and a genuinely clever transom and garage-door arrangement. It sails with notable balance and a light helm, and its accommodations split cleanly between owner and guest hulls with charter-grade alternatives available. The trade-offs are specific: a heavy, high main that must be managed with a headsail always drawing, and a saloon lacking rough-water handholds.
Pros
- Vacuum-bagged foam-cored sandwich with no wood in the laminate, so no rot in structure
- Solid box-section foredeck serving as a structural member with wave-deflecting nacelle
- Simple, powerful rig with self-tacking Solent and excellent balance under sail
- Garage-door aft opening and lowering transom davit system for huge living/boarding space
- Light, responsive helm with less-than-one-boatlength turning circle under power
Cons
- Saloon lacks overhead grab rails for rough water
- Big square-top main creates weather helm by itself and is unreachable without a step stool
- Boom height and heavy main demand careful headsail and reefing discipline
