Wally yachts, sail or power, have always provoked polar-opposite reactions. Purists deride founder Luca Bassani’s apparent disdain for tradition, and forward-thinkers regard him as a savior put on earth to shake up the “white boat” school of yacht design. Although the brand is now fully owned by the Ferretti Group, Bassani has lost none of his impish delight in challenging convention. His latest creation, the semi-displacement wallywhy200, is one of the most innovative yachts in her class.

Wally calls it a “space” ship for good reason. The futuristic styling and high axe bow are certainly out of this world, but the “why” stands for “wally hybrid yacht,” and the numerals reference her interior volume of 200 gross tons. Thanks to her wide-body design and beam of 25 feet, 2 inches (7.66 meters), that volume is much more than in a full-displacement yacht of the same load line length of less than 78 feet (24 meters). In fact, Wally says the design “is rewriting the rules to make volume the most important gauge of a yacht.”

The high bow—Wally calls it the “wow bow”—is actually a consequence of starting the design from the hull up. Laurent Giles Naval Architects in the U.K. worked with Ferretti’s technical office on the composite hull form, which has to lift like a planing hull as well as displace like a displacement yacht. The first unit is powered by four optional 1,000-horsepower Volvo Penta IPS1350s that produce a top speed of 23 knots. The height of the bow is more than 15 feet above the water to drive through the bow wave and maintain high cruising speeds in rough conditions.

“At that point, the very high bow meant we had more volume to fill, so we decided to put the master cabin there with a continuous, wraparound window for the best views,” Bassani says. “You might argue that it’s not the best place in terms of comfort, but the hull shape and interceptors maintain horizontal trim, and there’s very little pitching, even in a seaway. And because it’s far away from the engine room, it’s also very quiet.”

The yacht’s exterior profile may divide opinion, but the interior volume sets this yacht apart. Wally says it offers up to 50 percent more living space than aboard comparable yachts in the same size range.

The loft-style salon spans the beam and covers an area of 656 square feet (60.9 square meters). The open-plan layout is a Wally hallmark, as are the stylish, yet sober furnishings and natural color palette. The teak sole provides a visual connection with the aft decking. To port is a show kitchen/bar (the galley is on the lower deck, in the crew quarters), but the centerpiece is a single-piece, carbon-fiber staircase connecting all three decks. It appears to float in its glass cubicle in the middle of the room like a modern sculpture in a display cabinet.

A big surprise comes when you open a door in the forward bulkhead and pass into the master stateroom. A his-and-her bathroom is to port and starboard, followed by an island bed surrounded on three sides by a continuous strip of glazing and a view to die for. It is unique design, not just on a boat the size of the wallywhy200, but on any yacht. The only niggle is that the windows are all sealed and the room relies on air conditioning for temperature control. A couple of openable but watertight portholes cut into the side windows would provide a refreshing through breeze.

“This kind of wide-body layout presented some aesthetic challenges, but it gives you all this,” says Ferretti’s Stefano de Vivo, managing director of Wally, flinging his arms open wide. He recalls showing the first owner the drawings and saying, “You might not love it at first sight, but it will grow on you. I know, because it grew on us.” A week later, he says, the owner called and said, “You know what? You were right.”

There’s also a glass bridge, wide-body lounge and shaded aft terrace on the upper deck, and a transformer-style swim platform, two side-opening garages on the main deck aft for a tender and water toys, and fold-down bulwarks that extend the size of the beach club. For comfort at anchor, zero-speed stabilizer fins can be supplemented by two Seakeeper gyrostabilizers.

The Ferretti Group says the wallywhy200 is the first in a range of models based on the same space-enhancing, wide-body concept that challenges preconceived notions of what a yacht should look like and how it is used. “Designing the why200 has been a genuinely exciting process,” de Vivo says. “We always strive to push the limits of what is possible in yachting, and in doing so look to pave the way for the next 20 years.”

Specifications

LOA: 88ft. 8in. (27.03m)
BEAM: 25ft. 2in. (7.66m)
DRAFT (half load): 6ft. 5in. (2m)
CONSTRUCTION: GRP
RANGE: 350 nm @17 knots
GROSS TONNAGE: 199
SPEED (max./cruise): 23/17 knots
NAVAL ARCHITECTURE: Laurent Giles
EXTERIOR DESIGN: Wally
INTERIOR DESIGN: A. Vallicelli & C.
BUILDER: Wally

For more information: wally.com

This article was originally published in the Summer 2022 issue.