The Balaton boats were designed by :
Gunnar (Emanuel) Cardell
Birthdate: December 9, 1917
Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
Father of 3 children.
Death: 1996 in Sweden
Worked at MFI (Malmö FlygindustrI)
Designer of the Balaton sailing yachts : 16, 18, 21 and 24
and many more !
As (almost) every yacht with Swedish roots/design,
the Balatons are good sailers and capable of
handling almost any weather. Construction is solid.
Co-designer of the famous Laurin Koster 32 (see picturebelow)
The first L32 - "Tjoo-Hoo" (owned by Gunnar Cardell) was launched in April 1964 - unfortunately not in time to be exhibited in the Hamburg Boat Show in 1963. A scaled model was produced and exhibited in stead. People were so impressed, that MFI took enough orders to keep the yard busy for a year and 75 contracts were signed, even before Tjo-Hoo was launched.
Originally "Tjoo Hoo" had sail number 663, but for reasons only known by few, it was exchanged with "Eva's" number 666, which was subsequently used in all drawings in MFI's marketing material and on this site. The whereabouts of "Tjoo Hoo" today is unknown and information would be appreciated.