August 29, 2026
The Bali Catspace: A Flybridge on a Forty-Footer
The Bali Catspace puts a flybridge on a 40'5" platform and spreads 757 sq ft of usable deck across three levels, with three or four cabins b…
Read the articleBali Catamarans Catspace
Expert Review, Technical Specifications & Market Analysis
The Essentials
| Feature | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Overall Length | 40'5" |
| Beam | 21'5" |
| Draft | 3'10" |
| Displacement | 20,838 lbs |
| Engines | Twin Diesel (2 x 21 HP) — standard (2 x 37.5 HP optional) |
| Fuel Capacity | 106 gal |
| Water Capacity | 201 gal |
| Cabins / Heads | 3-4 Cabins / 3-4 Heads |
| Max Speed | - |
| Cruise Speed | - |
Source: Spec & Photos courtesy of Bali Catamarans.
What ends a good evening at anchor is running out of places to be. The Bali Catspace answers that with a flybridge on a 40-footer, an up-and-over door that turns saloon and cockpit into one room in seconds, and 757 sq ft of usable deck — with three or four cabins below, each with its own head.
Part of the Bali Catamarans Cruising series — see how owners step up through the lineup.
Quick Verdict
- A flybridge on a 40'5" platform gives a raised helm with sightlines over the whole boat, and a third place to sit that does not steal the cockpit
- The up-and-over aft door merges saloon and cockpit into one room in seconds and closes just as fast, across 757 sq ft of usable deck
- Three or four cabins below, each with its own head — two couples aboard without a shared bathroom, which is unusual at this length
Our Take
The Catspace exists to solve one problem, and it solves it well: on a 40-foot boat with a full crew aboard, people run out of places to be. Bali's answer was to build upwards instead of longer. You get a foredeck lounge, a cockpit that merges with the saloon, and a flybridge with a real helm and real seating. Three zones on 40'5" is a genuinely good piece of space planning, and the flybridge earns its keep as a social space rather than sitting there as a styling exercise.
The other reason to buy it is below decks. Three cabins with three heads, or four with four — nobody is sent down a corridor to share. That is what makes this boat work for two couples cruising together, and it is a specification most builders reserve for longer hulls.
Two things to be clear-eyed about. There is no door from the saloon onto the foredeck on this model; you reach the forward lounge along the side deck, and if that door is what you are really buying, the 4.2 is where it starts. And the trade for all that glass and openness is more seals, more openings and four heads to maintain — none of it difficult, all of it worth putting into your service rhythm from day one rather than finding out in year three. Specify the larger engines if you cruise where the current runs, and settle where you will keep 21'5" of beam before you settle anything else.
Official Bali Catamarans Premiere: Inside the Bali Catamarans Catspace
Video courtesy of Bali Catamarans.
Bali Catamarans Catspace Photo Gallery
Photos courtesy of Bali Catamarans.
Bali Catamarans Catspace Overview
The Bali Catspace is a sailing catamaran of 40'5" (12.33 m) overall on a 21'5" (6.55 m) beam, drawing 3'10" (1.19 m). Hull length is 38'5" and waterline length 37'3". Empty weight is 20,838 lbs, with displacement at maximum load of 28,404 lbs.
She was designed by Olivier Poncin, with naval architecture by Lasta Design Studio and interiors by PIATON BERCO, and she is built by the Catana Group teams. Usable deck area is 757 sq ft (70.4 m²), spread across a rigid foredeck, an aft cockpit and a flybridge — three separate places to sit on a 40-foot boat. Tankage is 106 gal of fuel and 201 gal of water, with 265 liters of fridge and freezer. Layouts are three cabins and three heads or four cabins and four heads, and CE certification is A: 10 / B: 12 / C: 24 / D: 28 persons.
Performance & Handling
Auxiliary power is a pair of 21 hp diesels as standard, with a larger option offered. The 3'10" draft and 21'5" beam are the numbers that shape where and how you use her: shallow enough for the thin-water anchorages, wide enough to stay level once the crew moves around at anchor.
Under sail she carries 807 sq ft as standard and 1,087 sq ft of maximum upwind sail area, on a hull drawn by Lasta Design Studio with a deliberately low wetted surface. The flybridge carries the helm, which puts the person steering above the coachroof with sightlines over the whole boat and into an anchorage — and, just as usefully, in the same conversation as everyone on the flybridge seating. At sea trial, take her in and out of a berth from the flybridge helm rather than from the dock, and ask for observed fuel burn at your intended cruising rpm in writing so you can work your own numbers off the 106 gal tankage.
Interior & Accommodations
The Catspace is built around the up-and-over door, which takes the boat from Open Space to closed in a matter of seconds. Opened, the saloon and the aft cockpit are one continuous room; closed, the same glass makes her a boat you can cruise at any latitude and through any season. Large sliding side windows and a forward window that tilts open handle light and ventilation without you having to choose between the two.
Below, both layouts give every cabin its own head — three and three, or four and four. That is the detail worth noticing on a boat this size: at four cabins you are not sending anyone down a corridor to share, which is what makes the Catspace work for two couples cruising together as readily as for a family. Catana builds hull and nacelle for stiffness, and the boat is notably quiet under way, with low wetted surface below the waterline.
Market Position
The Catspace sits directly above the 39'7" Catsmart in the Bali range and below the 42'2" 4.2, and its argument is vertical rather than linear: it adds a flybridge and a raised helm to a 40-foot platform, where the Catsmart keeps both helms aft at deck level. It is the point in the range where a Bali stops being a two-level boat and starts being a three-level one.
Cross-brand it lands against the Fountaine Pajot FP41 and the Lagoon 38, the established mid-size cruising cats a buyer at this length shortlists. Against them the Catspace's case is the count of separate places to sit — foredeck, cockpit, flybridge — and a below-decks layout in which no cabin shares a head.
Who the Catspace Is For
Choose the Bali Catspace if you cruise with a full boat and the thing you keep running out of is somewhere else to go. Three usable outdoor zones on 40'5" is the whole proposition, and the flybridge is the piece that makes it work rather than a styling exercise — it gives you a helm with sightlines and a social space that does not steal the cockpit. The other reason to buy is below: four cabins and four heads means two couples aboard without a shared bathroom.
Be clear-eyed on the trade-offs. She is 20,838 lbs empty against 28,404 lbs at maximum load, so what you load matters on a boat carrying 106 gal of fuel and 201 gal of water. The forward lounge is reached along the side deck; the saloon-to-foredeck door starts at the 42'2" 4.2. And if you would rather have the helms aft at deck level and the simpler boat underneath, the Catsmart is the one to look at.
Bali Catamarans Catspace Articles & Guides
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much fuel and water does the Bali Catspace carry?
201 US gallons of fresh water and 106 gallons of fuel, with 265 litres of refrigeration and freezer capacity. Standard power is twin 21 HP diesels.
Water is usually the binding constraint on a boat this size with a full crew aboard for a week, so it is worth pricing a watermaker against the tankage before you finalise the order.
Who designed the Bali Catspace?
Olivier Poncin conceived her, Lasta Design Studio drew the naval architecture and Piaton Berco designed the interior. She is built by the Catana Group teams in France.
The Catspace is the one model in the current range whose hull comes from Lasta rather than Xavier Faÿ.
Is there a door from the saloon to the foredeck on the Catspace?
Not on this model - the forward door arrangement begins at the 4.2. On the Catspace the rigid foredeck lounge is reached from the side decks, and the tilting Bali door is the aft one, which lifts to merge saloon and cockpit onto a single level.
If walking straight out to the bow from the galley is what you want, the 4.2 is the smallest boat in the range that does it.
Does every cabin on the Bali Catspace have its own head?
Yes, in both layouts. The Catspace is built as three cabins with three heads or four cabins with four heads, so nobody shares.
CE certification is category A for ten people, B for twelve, C for twenty-four and D for twenty-eight. Category A is the offshore rating, so ten is the number to plan passages around.
Does the Bali Catspace have a flybridge?
Yes, on a 40'5" (12.33 m) hull. With the rigid foredeck lounge and the aft cockpit, that gives three separate places to sit, and 757 sq ft (70.4 m²) of usable deck in total.
It is the main reason the Catspace lives larger than its length suggests, and it is the feature that most separates it from the Catsmart.