Our trend-setting circumnavigator ticks off big nautical miles yet remains small enough to easily maintain and operate short-handed.
With her carbon reinforced foam core hulls and powerful sail plan the 482 was designed to knock off big nautical miles. Upwind she points high, with little leeway, in the 7 to 10 knot range with her high aspect daggerboards. Reaching she blasts along between 8 and 14 knots. Of course if you really want to crank her up in surfing conditions the current record for a 482 is 28 knots.
Carbon Cross Performance Hull
We use E-glass (a Silica -based fiber) with significant carbon-fiber reinforcement in the high-load areas of our hulls and decks. Every Balance 482 is hand-laminated and vacuum-bagged with closed cell foam cores with a combination of polyester inner-skin resin and vinylester outer-skin resin.