Story by TMC Editor / September 18, 2023
The Multihull Company is thrilled to unveil the new Tao 452, an exciting addition to the world of blue-water performance cruising catamarans. Meticulously engineered and crafted to perfection, the Tao 452 is set to redefine the catamaran experience for sailors worldwide.
If you’ve ever felt the need for more sailing performance from your current production charter catamaran or been disappointed by cramped living spaces in racing vessels, the Tao 452 is your answer. This exceptional catamaran has been expertly designed to strike the ideal balance between on-anchor comfort and on-water performance. It’s swift, robust, secure, incredibly comfortable for extended stays, user-friendly to operate, and straightforward to maintain.
The Tao 452 represents a natural evolution from Hill’s earlier 421 design, which later evolved into the Balance 451. With a slimmer hull fineness ratio, extended and sleeker bows and sterns, and the addition of dual high aspect ratio daggerboards alongside two shallow fixed mini-keels guarding her rudders and sail drives, the Tao 452 takes performance and comfort to new heights.
Intriguingly, despite its nearly four-foot increase in length, the Tao 452’s weight remains remarkably similar to that of the original design with its fixed keels. This remarkable achievement is the result of innovative engineering, including an ultralight foam core composite hardtop bimini and the use of vinylester resins, foam cores, carbon fiber, and buoyant high aspect ratio daggerboards.
“The Tao 452 is a natural evolution of this boat’s lifespan and represents TMC’s continued commitment to the boat and her place in the market,” said TMC CEO Will Miller. “All of us here at TMC were such huge fans of this boat when it was being sold and marketed as the Balance 451. So when Balance made the decision to move their production entirely to South Africa, it gave us a really interesting opportunity with this boat to give it a second life – and Tao was born.”
“It’s amazing to be able to work with Startown Marine again to reintroduce the Tao 452,” Miller continued. “The Tao 452 is engineered to be the swiftest yet most spacious and luxurious mid-sized performance production catamaran available today in her price category.”
For those who share a genuine passion for sailing, who revel in mastering all points of sail, and who seek unwavering reliability even in the most adverse weather conditions—the Tao 452 is unequivocally the vessel of choice.
Experience the Tao 452 for yourself and witness the future of catamaran by scheduling your appointment to see her at The Annapolis Sailboat Show from October 12 – 15, 2023.
Chuck at The Multihull Company is the real deal.
He helped us find our Lagoon 40 after genuinely listening to what we needed, not just what he had to sell. He let us visit the boat multiple times, answered every question honestly, and helped us make a confident decision on a major purchase.
What impressed us most was the post-sale support. Once the paperwork was signed, Chuck was still picking up the phone, offering referrals, and helping us work through the early stages of liveaboard life. That kind of follow-through is rare.
If you are looking for a multihull and want someone who knows the boats and actually cares about the outcome, Chuck is the person to call.
We just purchased a 2025 Nautitech 44 Open with The Multihull Company. The process of getting here has been great, and we could not have asked for a better agent. We worked with Conor, whom we met at the 2025 Cannes Boat Show. We started our search for a cruising catamaran in Florida at the beginning of the year. We spent a couple of months looking at different boats/models within our price range and quickly narrowed it down to what really mattered to us, in part thanks to the wealth of knowledge and expertise our broker provided. When we found a perfect match in Montenegro, Conor and The Multihull Company did not hesitate to continue supporting us and to lead the efforts from start to finish with great care and transparency. Communication and support have been outstanding throughout this entire process. Conor, in particular, showed great compassion and care, going above and beyond to ensure that no stone was left unturned and that we would be able to safely and happily sail off into our big adventure.
A sale well handled. No inflated expectations and an honest opinion throughout. Highly recommended.
Absolutely THE ONLY company to use for buying or selling a catamaran! Our Broker Andrew Hodgdon, was excellent to work with, an experienced catamaran captain with extensive knowledge of sailing catamarans, the ins and outs of the construction, performance, systems, everything involved and life on board catamarans. All of which is invaluable in looking for the right boat for someone to buy or helping market your boat when selling. The Multihull Company is so connected in the catamaran world and used by so many catamaran sailors and searchers that we had an interested buyer before our boat was even listed and a completed sale 60 days after her first showing!!! Thanks Andrew and all of the Multihull team who worked diligently to make it happen so smoothly!
We had a great experience working with Andrew! He was extremely knowledgeable and listened to our needs of what we wanted our next boat to be. He responded quickly to all of our requests and got us to the finish line. Working with Multihull was seamless and we highly recommend using Andrew and Multihull.
Successful relationships cannot exist without it. At The Multihull Company we base every relationship on a firm commitment to earning and retaining our client’s trust.
Advice of any kind is valuable only when grounded in hard-won expertise. It too, must be trustworthy. Trust and expertise define the heart and soul of The Multihull Company. We are a team of skilled professionals who thrive on providing expert, trustworthy advice and service to catamaran and trimaran sailors around the globe.
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