When gazing the shiny silhouette of the Wally 130 – the new member of the shipyard family, built in Fano, Italy – we feel as if we were admiring a breaking glacier, a miracle of nature coming to life just to glorify men. With her accurate shapes designed by Javier Soto Acebal, an Argentine engineer specialized in racing yachts, and her interior decoration by Foster & Partners, this new sea animal has become the maximum expression of contemporary naval architecture. Embracing minimalism, this sparkling sculpture, with her high gunwales open to the sky, shows the purity of her hull lines as a principle of clarity. Thus, in the eyes of any skeptic, this ship offers a cleared and continuous deck similar to that of the Wally 143 (under construction). The deck is opened as a dance floor where owners and guests will enjoy the infinite space, indulging their every whim.
At the zenith of this minimalist design, in the stern, is the classic and highly praised terrace overlooking the sea. The main sail, elevated as a banner and waving in the wind towards success, is attached to the deck at a unique spot near the crystal-clear door of such a glorious terrace.
In the interior, the loft-like layout confirms the simplicity of her design. As an extension of the exterior, below the deck, a stern space
opens to the terrace, skillfully integrating the living-room and the night lounge. Then, from bow to stern, there are three double cabins for the crew, three guest cabins (two double and one single), the owner's stateroom, and the gleaming main salon.
To optimize the performance of this exceptionally large ship, the Wally R&D Department has devised an 11-ton movable water ballast in perfect combination with the keel. While the ballast provides the necessary stability for a light-displacement yacht (barely 84 tons), her loyal and allied keel with a 6-meter draft is responsible for improving lifting, with the necessary variations at accesses to ports and bays.
As for engineering, High Modulus performed an iterative process in collaboration with Matrix Applied Computing, using advanced composite pre-peg carbon. The President and CEO of Wally, Luca Bassani, referred to this experience as follows: "With an 8-knot wind, this yacht achieves optimum stability and only requires water ballast at an actual speed of 10 knots. The first challenges at sea seem to confirm that the Wally 130 is the only yacht that can sail faster than an Alfa Romeo, under favorable wind conditions." Believe it or not, this car metaphor does not establish any distance between its reference points. The Wally 130 launch empirically lives up to the highperformance expectations aroused by her features. As any mythical animal, this rigid and crystal-clear creature was designed to place the bullet where it sets its sight.