Bali 4.3 Catamaran, the Original Loft and the New Boat That Shares Its Name

Which Bali 4.3? Two different catamarans, ten years apart

For most of the last decade, Bali 4.3 meant one boat: the 43-foot Loft that Catana's Bali brand introduced right after the original Bali 4.5, shown to American sailors at the 2015 Annapolis show and named one of Sail's Best Boats for 2016. It was built until about 2020, when the Bali 4.2 took its place, and it is the boat behind nearly every Bali 4.3 for sale today.

In September 2026 Bali reused the name for an all-new Bali 4.3, a larger, 14-tonne catamaran with styling borrowed from the Bali 7.0, 5.8 and 5.2. This page focuses on the original, because that is the one on the brokerage market, and covers the new boat in its own section below. There is also a power version, the Bali 4.3 MY, which we cover separately.

Loft mode, the idea that started Bali

Designer Olivier Poncin, working with naval architect Xavier Faÿ and interior studio Couëdel Yacht Design, built the 4.3 around what Bali called Loft mode. A powered, garage-style aft bulkhead rises into the overhead to merge saloon and cockpit into one open patio, and the big forward window rises and lowers on pneumatic lifts so the galley opens onto the bow. Lower both and you have, in Sail's words, an enclosed pilothouse in under a minute.

Instead of trampolines, the foredeck is solid and furnished with settees and sunpads. The galley is split, cooktop and sink forward with a household-size fridge and microwave aft to starboard, which Sail found worked well for entertaining. Cruising World's Boat of the Year judges said they had never seen anything quite like it, and the magazine's Herb McCormick compared the Bali ethos to a loaded RV at base camp rather than a motorcycle on the road.

A power-hungry boat, by design

All those motors, for the door, the transom and the window, plus a dishwasher, optional washing machine and air conditioning, need electricity. CW reported the 4.3's answers: four 100-watt solar panels set into the hardtop, a choice of 4, 7.5 or 11 kW generators, five house batteries, standard 40 hp Nanni diesels with 50 hp optional, and extra alternators available. Sail's test boat had a big generator on a shelf in the starboard engine room and was due a watermaker to port.

On the used market this is the single biggest variable. Some ex-charter boats were delivered without air conditioning or a generator; others have been rebuilt around lithium banks and much larger solar arrays. Know which you are buying.

What testers and delivery skippers found

Sail's early production test boat was frustrating: springy steering that bound under load, a Solent jib that needed a tack pennant and incorrectly installed jib winches. The reviewer stressed these were installation faults, not design flaws, and still saw just over 5 knots in 6 to 7 knots of true wind under main and reacher. Under power it ran better than 8 knots at 2,500 rpm, turned inside one boat length and spun easily on differential throttle.

Later reports are kinder. Sail's charter editor delivered a 4.3 about 500 miles from Guadeloupe to Grenada through four days of 40-knot beam winds and 10-foot seas, averaging 7.5 knots and surfing to 10 with a single reef in each sail. Broker and owner notes collected by CatamaranSite describe 7.5 to 8 knots on a beam reach in 22 knots of wind and 8.4 knots under power at 2,200 rpm, with the solid foredeck keeping green water off the bows.

Construction and the three- or four-cabin choice

Built at Catana's La Rochelle plant, the 4.3 uses closed-mold vacuum infusion with a cored sandwich, and Sail noted balsa cores above the waterline. The hulls flare to chines just above the waterline so the underwater sections stay narrow, and the fixed stub keels double as graywater tanks. Catana left out the carbon, daggerboards and lightweight bulkheads of its own-brand cats to keep cost down.

The owner's version gives the port hull to a suite with a queen berth, desk and a separate shower stall, with two guest doubles to starboard. Charter boats carry four en suite cabins. The flybridge helm with its own sun lounge and the solid foredeck lounge give three social zones, and CatamaranSite cites total deck area of about 852 square feet.

The new 2026 Bali 4.3 is a different boat

The new Bali 4.3, announced in September 2026, shares only the badge. Bali's specifications show a 42-foot-8-inch hull and about 45 feet overall, a 24-foot-4-inch beam, 4-foot-7-inch draft and 30,865 pounds empty, against 24,912 pounds for the original. Interior design is by Piaton Berco with naval architecture again by Xavier Faÿ, and Multihulls World lists twin 50 hp Nanni diesels with 59 hp optional.

The big changes are energy and storage: a 48-volt lithium system with up to 3,000 watts of solar designed to cut generator use, a central galley, a king-size bed in the owner's suite, an XXL covered rooftop with helm, lounge and sunbathing areas, and an electric aft platform for a 3.4-meter tender. Catamaranguru adds that a four-cabin charter boat can later be converted to the three-cabin owner layout with a kit. If a listing says 2026 or later, it is this boat, and none of the original's specs apply.

• Original 4.3 (2015 to 2020): about 43 ft LOA, 23 ft 4 in beam, 11.3 t, electric garage door
• New 4.3 (2026): about 45 ft LOA, 24 ft 4 in beam, 14 t, 48V lithium, tilting Bali door

Bali 4.3 for sale, pricing and ownership

Sail listed the original at $490,000 sailaway in 2016. In 2026 we found a 2020 boat fresh from six years with Dream Yacht Charter in the BVI asking $395,000 duty paid, deliberately simple with no air conditioning or generator, and an extensively upgraded 2015 owner's version with lithium batteries and a 2024 sail package. Most clean boats should trade between about $290,000 and $450,000, with owner versions and refits at the top.

Running costs for a 43-foot cat with twin diesels and electric door and window systems typically run $32,000 to $62,000 a year, before any major refit. Set aside money for actuator and seal service on the moving bulkheads, which are the most complex systems aboard.