Custom designs Head to head But the reality now looks less confrontational than we had originally expected…
When the new WallyRocket 51 was announced 18 months ago it was emphasised this was not an attempt to go head to head with the TP52. Few believed that. Now the first boat is afloat it looks as if the two types can be characterised by having as many distinguishing features as they have similarities. The first hiccup, lost in subsequent commercial arrangements,
is that the WallyRocket is designed by one of the two dominant TP52 design offices, Botín Partners. This was hardly surprising, Botín and Judel-Vrolijk dominate the ‘TP52 size’ with Super Series success and with IRC-optimised ‘almost’ TP52s and ‘used to be’ TP52s, both types having achieved huge success in both inshore and offshore competitions under IRC and more recently ORC. Since the forgotten Grand Mistral 72s (Farr) and OOD48s (Reichel-
Pugh) only Nautor’s Swan has been successful in delivering fleets of large one-designs – with excellent boats, fast, stylish and well-built and a superbly managed regatta circuit that takes in the venues where owners of expensive high-quality yachts most want to go. The Mistral 72s never really got rolling, those buying 72ft race
yachts typically want something of their own. The OOD48s enjoyed good one-design racing at big USA regattas like Key West; now they too are to be found, variously modified, racing on handicap. The WallyRocket 51 was created as a one-design in the vein
more of a mid-sized ClubSwan racer than an attempt to steal owners from the Super Series. The boat features water ballast aft, the draft of a TP52 (3.5m) but on a smaller hull allowing a lighter bulb and indeed a lighter, dry displacement (6.25 tonnes). There is a trim-tab on the back of the short chord keel fin. On the basis of orders placed for rigs and other equipment, it
Custom builds BOAT
5.5 Metre TF35
11.80 Custom Fly40 AC40
Musa 40 Raison 40 Dibley 40 Lift40-V3 Mach40.6 MaX 40 V2
Pogo 40S4 V2 Agité 40 IRC42
X-Yachts XR Lift 45
LOA DESIGNER 10.1m Dave Hollom
BUILDER Composite Craft
JPK/CD Boats
11.8m Caponnetto Hueber/Pure Design Persico 12.12m Team New Zealand 12.18m Gianluca Guelfi 12.18m David Raison 12.18m Kevin Dibley
12.18m Guillaume Verdier 12.18m CT Mer Forte 12.72m Botín Partners 12.74m X-Yachts Design
Lyman Morse 46 13.95m Kevin Dibley Vismara V48 Vintage 14.6m Vismara/Villani Dazcat 1495 SailGP F50 Arcona 50 RP52
14.95m Dazcat Design 15.2m Sail GP
Wallyrocket 51 IRC 52
M&M 55 Imoca 60 Imoca 60 IRC82
Verdier 100 SW100X
Ferrari V-100 Wally 145 Project 404
15.8m Jeppesen & Pons 15.85m Reichel/Pugh 15.85m Botín Partners 15.85m Botín Partners 16.7m Morrelli & Melvin 18.28m VPLP
18.28m Verdier, Finot, VPLP 25m
Judel-Vrolijk
30.53m Guillaume Verdier 30.53m Farr Yacht Design 30.6m Guillaume Verdier 44.2m Frers
59.7m Malcolm McKeon McConaghy, China
Sangiorgio Marine, Genoa Gepeto Composites
12.18m Marc Lombard Yacht Design Gepeto Composites 12.18m Sam Manuard 12.18m David Raison
JPS Productions
Structures Shipyard Mer Agité
Carrington Boats X-Yachts
13.88m Marc Lombard Yacht Design SR Structure, UK Lyman Morse
Vismara Marine Concepts Dazcat
Sail GP Technologies Arcona Yachts
Sail GP Technologies Wally Yachts
Sail GP Technologies
Schooner Creek Boat Works Duqueine Atlantique CDK & Multiplast
King Marine, Valencia Persico
Southern Wind Shipyard Persico/Soldini/Ferrari Persico, Italy Royal Huisman
Carbon Developments NZ JPS Productions
looks as if there will the three WallyRocket 51s racing somewhere before autumn 2025, enough for the market to see what is on offer, how costs compare and also, for owners for whom it is an ambition, how well they perform in next year’s offshore races. Promoters of the 51 make much of its competitiveness under
IRC, so it would be an informative first step for a WallyRocket 51 to find its way into a team at Admiral’s Cup 2025, when the best of the world’s 50-54ft racing yachts will be on hand to offer a direct comparison. Our guess… fast versus a TP52 upwind in light to medium airs,
and downwind generally less pacey reaching in breeze inshore but with water ballast possibly tipping the scales in its favour offshore. But what do we know?
LAUNCH COMMENTS 2024 onwards
10.6m Redondo/Kramers/May/Dubois Heol/Multiplast/Lorima/Decision 2019 onwards 11.8m Jacques Valer/JPK
2025
2023 onwards 2023 onwards 2023 onwards 2024 2024 2024
2024 onwards 2023 onwards 2023 onwards 2025 2025 2025 2025
2022 onwards 2024
2023 onwards 2024
2023 onwards 2025 2024 2025 2025 2025 2025 2025 2024! 2025 2025 2025 2025
q
Faster in a breeze, rig tweaks quickly sorted the light-air pace. Hollom’s latest champion 5.5 15m by 11m, massive foils and rig and just 1,250kg. The tooling is still keeping warm Admiral’s Cup 2025 and the Sunrise team have been tweaking the product One-design mini AC75… For those for whom the RC44 became, well, a bit of a yawn Now it’s on Luca Rizzotti to grow the ultimate one-design class
Still the all-round Class40 of choice but supply is tight… and they’re not cheap ‘Faster downwind’… New 40 for Jonas Gerckensi
New Zealand joins the Class40 in earnest with a sensible but pretty futuristic new offering A full update of the successful V2, one for Corentin Douget and a second for Frédéric Denis Manuard is predicting earlier planing plus improved reaching pace. Six sold The latest series-built option from JPS and David Raison Vincent Riou’s S4 tried a trim-tab plus single rudder (nope – ed)
‘More robust’ Class40 from Michel Desjoyeaux for those with round-the-world ambitions Admiral’s Cup 2025 and a custom build to join Beau Geste in the Hong Kong A-Team X-Yachts returns to the sharp end of the racing scene with intent. We’ve missed you, guys Zut alors! A high-performance cruiser-racer for a French owner being built in England A sailor’s yacht. Cold-moulded Douglas fir/Western red cedar. Yacht design is back to art Very classically modern… retro styled with the rig (almost) hanging off the back Ultim style A British yard with a lot to shout about. Fast exciting boats to push hard, roomy when not Naysayers be warned… boat no11 is underway and no12 in the pipeline
A yard that continues to impress as they refine their
work.Cool and in that Scandiwegan way! All-carbon high-performance push-button racer-cruiser from the ex-Core Composites team Guillermo Parada and Vasco Vascotto are both involved in Wally’s first one-design Admiral’s Cup 2025 Full-on IRC racer. TP52 with the sharper edges knocked off Fast powercat for 49 passengers for whale watching in Maui. Sounds punishing With help from Airbus… Tripon’s project is back on track
Up to eight build slots for the 2028 VG/2027 Ocean Race are now bought and paid for Dangerously seductive-looking new maxi-sized racer-cruiser for European regattas A new Magic Carpet and from Verdier too… rigging as we type
Getting bigger and looking (even) better. And they make for the best pix too 100ft foiler, removable bulb keel for record breaking (but now silent running – ed) The biggest yet from Persico. Very light at 171 tonnes. And very beautiful… Aluminium hull, carbon up top… and a sloop (because one is always cheaper than two)
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