Don’t ask why

There can be few true yachting enthusiasts who don’t know and admire the Wally brand. Driven by the restless curiosity of Founder Luca Bassani, it has always stood for innovation and doing things differently, as much on the power side as under its original sailing roots.

Even so, when Wally launched the wallywhy200 in 2021, there was a collective arching of eyebrows in the superyacht industry. Here was a motor yacht that towered above the water with sheer sides and angular lines. Bold and bulbous, people wondered what this design was all about. The answer, it turned out, was relatively simple. Space. A total of 200 gross tonnes of it, in fact – hence the name.

And now, at last, there’s a smaller sibling. “A few hours after launching the wallywhy200, we realised it was too big for a 24-metre yacht,” explains Bassani. “We needed something smaller. That’s why the 150 is so close in terms of dimensions.”

Just 3 metres shorter than the big boat and 88 centimetres tighter across the beam, it’s not at first obvious where Wally has chipped away 25 percent of the volume. When you look at the general arrangement, however, you eventually spot that there’s one guest cabin fewer on the lower deck, and the main saloon is more compact. “What we’re doing is offering those same features of the bigger vessel but in a smaller package,” says Wally Managing Director Stefano de Vivo.

“We didn’t see the smaller volume as a compromise, but rather a challenge and a new way to innovate – and at 150 gross tonnes, the wallywhy150 is actually a true space-ship, pushing into new frontiers for a sub-24-metre yacht.”

But there’s no sense that the accommodation on this boat has been squashed in, as I discovered when I was treated to a sea trial at the Cannes Yachting Festival last September. On the contrary, in fact. The wallywhy150 shouts loud and proud about the space it offers, so let’s put a stop to any further comparisons to the bigger boat.

Stepping aboard from dock or tender, the first thing you’ll see is the huge aft deck. More on that later, though, because I’d like to skip straight to the heart of what the wallywhy150 is all about. Slip your shoes off and stroll inside, through the generous saloon, up a short flight of steps, and into the owner’s domain. Don’t linger in the bright corridor or at the bathroom door – we’re heading right to the bow.

Under generous deckheads, the walk-around master bed offers views across a broad 180-degree sweep of horizon that can captivate from a comfortable sitting position. Yes, there are windows, but it’s more than that – what Wally has termed the glass bow. Here, below the foredeck, nearly every other yacht puts a bulkhead and a bathroom between the cabin and the technical areas right forward. Not Wally.

In what must have proven an immense challenge for the engineering team, Wally managed to develop a way to safely put 18-millimetre-thick glass windows all around the broad curve of the bow.

Under generous deckheads, the walk-around master bed offers views across a broad 180-degree sweep of the horizon that can captivate from a sitting position.

Yes, there are windows, but it’s more than that – what Wally has termed the glass bow. Here, below the foredeck, nearly every other yacht puts a bulkhead and a bathroom between the cabin and the technical areas right forward. Not Wally.

In what must have proven an immense challenge for the engineering team, Wally managed to develop a way to safely put 18-millimetre-thick glass windows all around the broad curve of the bow.

Under generous deckheads, the walk-around master bed offers views across a broad 180-degree sweep of horizon that can captivate from a comfortable sitting position. If Bassani had had his way, the bed would also have been capable of rising so occupants could enjoy the view without sitting up. And, some of those bow windows would have opened for ventilation. Such are the compromises necessary when imagination and real life sit down to thrash out a new design.

For all the smooth curves of the glass, there are mullions to maintain structural integrity and two large pillars that muffle the hawse pipes through which the anchor chain rattles.

“The structure has to be very well thought out,” says de Vivo. “Basically, it’s a glass cage, but you also have to consider the piping and cable runs, air-conditioning ducting and other technical elements that must be incorporated. There’s a lot of planning and engineering design that goes into it, and the reality is we’re using glass of a thickness you’d typically find on a 50- or 60-metre yacht, which confers exceptional strength to the structure – that’s not typical for a sub-24-metre boat.”

Viewed from outside, the truth of this statement is clear. A strip of uninterrupted black glass runs all the way around the main deck, while glass goes almost to the waterline on the lower deck, where it intersects with the deep chine in the hull. The planar stealth superstructure of the upper deck is also in glass, with carbon-fibre supports. It makes the cabins and living areas of this boat exceedingly light, of course. And it plays to the open-plan saloon concept that Wally has developed so well here.

There’s something almost throne-like in the way the broad sofa unit is arranged on the raised part of the saloon, gazing across a low sideboard unit and out over the aft deck to sea. With the sliding aft doors folded away, any hint of a refreshing breeze is welcomed in, and the oak panels of the curved ceiling above act as a sort of natural frame for the view. It’s majestic in a typically quirky Wally fashion.

“I very much like the 2.5-metre headroom of the living area,” Bassani tells me when I ask him which features he’s most proud of.

“I also love the large flybridge, which is perfect for our new type of climate – breezy.”

This point will be of interest to Australians who dream of bringing the boat to home waters because the flybridge is exceedingly well shaded. From the Costa Dorada to the Gold Coast, its mix of sunpads, a protected helm station, shaded dining, and sofas makes this a supremely multifunctional space that works as well for sundowners as it does for lunch in the heat of the day.

There’d be space for a barbecue up here, drink fridges and even a wet bar. Herein lies part of the appeal, according to de Vivo. “There are plans to do a few funky configurations to please the different uses of the yacht that different owners will have,” he tells me. “Some of our clients will use it as a family boat, while some will use it as a dayboat, and others will use it as a chase boat. That’s kind of the point. We can provide an exceptional platform and then let people’s imaginations run wild.”

When not up top, the social focus of the boat at anchor will be that huge aft deck space, and the sea terrace that cascades down to the hydraulic swim platform. As the deck is on the same level through the sliding doors and into the dining area, you get the sense of a single, huge indoor-outdoor space. The platform can be raised or lowered such that it serves as a launchpad, beach club or swim ladder, or as a toy carrier capable of supporting a 3.9-metre tender plus a host of sea scooters or jetskis.

Our sea trial took us out of Cannes’ Vieux Port early enough that the croissants were still being pulled out of boulangerie ovens all across town. The seas that blighted much of the show had yet to fully build, so it was an ideal canvas on which to enjoy the yacht. With both stabiliser fins and a Seakeeper operating, there would have been no fears for a flute of champagne left out on the table.

Opening the throttle wide, we managed 22 knots on the boat’s triple Volvo Penta IPS 1350 drives. These beasts can put out 1,000 horsepower apiece at the crankshaft for a combined fuel consumption rate we measured at 560 litres per hour. At a less hasty 10 knots, that hourly rate plummets to around 100 litres, giving a range of some 700 nautical miles. These engines are an upgrade on the standard IPS 1200s, which generate around 2 knots less at full tilt.

Sliding quietly back into port afterwards, a chuckling Luca Bassani is still dressed in spotless white. The only hint we’ve pushed the needle up to 22 knots is the slightly ruffled look to his equally white hair and a loose cuff.

“The boat looks very bulky,” he smiles. “But the hull is very narrow to cut through the waves,” he says, and if you watch her steaming along, you’ll see he’s right.

The bow throws just a thin sheet of water aside, making for a safe, comfortable ride in heavy conditions.

Of course, most owners will manage to avoid big seas and use this instead as a boat for exceptional living on the water. Fun as she is to helm from the flybridge and well-engineered to boot, the wallywhy150 is – like her bigger sister and the smaller 100-gt design under construction as you read this – all about the volume. Her smart Studio Vallicelli interior with its natural oak and synthetic leather finish is redolent of a roomy penthouse apartment, albeit one with a different view every day. And Wally is flexible enough to adapt the design to suit any buyer.

Just one word of warning to would-be buyers, though – you’d better be looking your best if you own this boat because everyone’s going to be staring your way.

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