Twenty years and counting
It’s really been that long since Wally – and Wally style – burst on the scene… The best large yachts would never look the same again
When it comes to maxi boat racing few marques define and have progressed the genre as well as Wally. Part luxuriously appointed superyacht, part refined racing machine, technically ground- breaking and always the last word in stylishness, Luca Bassani’s creations have been stopping people in their tracks with their aesthetics and stunning looks since the first Wally was launched in 1994. Today Wally owners race hard
and such is the competitiveness in the fleet that in 2017 there were different winners at each event, with the championship title undecided until the last gasp. One reason for the Monaco-based company’s success as a racing class has been firmly establishing the parameters of its brand. Wally yachts must have a minimum standard of interior fit-out to ensure they can be cruised as well as raced. This effectively prevents overly enthusiastic owners going too far down the racing route, although this has not otherwise quashed their appetite for top performance, with many Wally campaigns being run like grand prix raceboats. Today their magnificent
60 SEAHORSE
craft bristle with top international pro-sailors and the very latest sails and state-of-the-art equipment. As Luca Bassani explains: ‘A key
factor in the success of the Wally Class is to allow teams to push the boundaries of competition, but within the limits of a truly cruiser- racer division. Pure racer classes always have a short life because of the high running costs as well as a rapid drop in resale value. We protect this essential Wally quality carefully by continuing to evolve and improve our rules with the commitment to preserving the cruiser-racer characteristics.’ Similarly, to ensure owners
remain fully engaged, Wally racing is exclusively owner-driver. Wallys have been raced at the
most glamorous sailing events in the Mediterranean ever since they were conceived. Wally competition at events such as La Nioulargue and Les Voiles de St Tropez has been a catalyst for owners of other brands of superyachts starting racing. Wally owners are almost all
captains of industry, entrepreneurs and a highly competitive group, so the ante is perpetually being upped.
Top-end racing indeed… as Galateia leads fellow Wallycento Magic Carpet3 around the top mark in Porto Cervo. In a nice touch that reflects all the Maxi classes’ historic ties with the Costa Smeralda the Wally Class recently became a signatory to the Charta Smeralda –a local ethical conduct initiative that forms part of the wider work of the One Ocean Foundation
To cope with their ever-increasing demands for the best-quality racing, the Wally Class was established in 1999. Today this is responsible for liaising with event organisers to establish individual starts, courses and results for Wallys, to look after the class’s rating system (currently IRC) as well, of course, as providing a ‘rather pleasant’ social hub plus a discussion forum for a band of very enthusiastic owners. With input from these owners the
Wally Class has developed its race programme into a regular circuit counting towards an annual championship comprising four events, each featuring the Wally division. In 2018 the circuit will start with the Real Club Náutico de Palma’s season opener in May, Sail Racing PalmaVela, move on to the Giraglia Rolex Cup in St Tropez in June, then September’s Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo. The sailing season concludes with Les Voiles de St Tropez in October, an event that Wally have supported since its inception in 1998. [One indicator of the increasing competitive level in this class has
ROLEX/CARLO BORLENGHI
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