Our 100′ Wally ‘Tango’ was launched in Savona, Italy yesterday to begin a busy month of sea trials before the handover to the client.  This opens a new chapter in an intense and exciting build project, our largest to date.  It is also we believe the most innovative, the most stylish, and certainly has been one of the most satisfying to develop in collaboration with the client and his team, Wally Yachts, Pininfarina, and Persico Marine.

We owe our involvement to the vision of Wally founder Luca Bassani who suggested us to bring a fresh mindset to the wallycento design question.  Presenting as a team with research partner KND-Sailing Performance and structural partner Pure Engineering we showed a radical proposal combining dramatic deck geometry with a novel interior layout for the most efficient ‘packaging’ of the required volumes, integrated with the structure to a level not yet seen in a yacht of this size.  That proposal very quickly became the yacht that launches this month after huge amounts of detail development, but very little deviation from the original vision for a sleek, light, and exciting sailing machine.

To bring this highly refined concept to a full resolution required the total engagement of Persico Marine in the development and execution of the complex composites and systems.  Setting a new standard for large race yachts of this type, the intensity of the composite construction matches that of aTP52 or Maxi 72, and with the optimisation of the extensive systems with Project Manager Carlo Torre, have resulted in significant gains through weight reduction and centralisation.  Combined with the strikingly modern interior design from Pininfarina it is clear the entire team have achieved something extraordinary.

We are looking forward to the launch and sail trials, then  showing her off briefly at the Monaco Yacht Show before she gets to her natural environment on the racecourse.  Designer Mark Mills commented that “For such a significant and challenging project with so many key players it still surprises me that it has been the most positive and dynamic of environments.  That collaborative ethos contributes hugely to making the gains in all of the areas we wanted in order to move the game on.”