The WallyAce broke the long-range cruiser mould with futuristic styling, breathtaking ocean views, and an astonishing 10,000-mile range
Do you remember the WallyPower 118? An incredible looking machine launched in 2003 and 120ft long with triple gas turbines that pushed it to 60 knots!
When we launched this Cool Boat feature four years ago, it was the obvious boat to open with.
But although it was the first Wally motor boat, it wasn’t the first Wally – the yard had been building high performance carbon-fibre racing sail boats for almost ten years prior to that.
Clearly not a company to be pigeonholed, superyacht tenders followed, along with the frankly shocking-looking WallyWHY floating island superyacht concept, and then, out of the blue in 2012, the company pivoted into yet another new sector, the long distance low- speed displacement yacht, and it did it with its customary disregard for convention, binning the rule book to create something seriously cool in what had always been a fairly traditional marketplace.
The original concept idea came from an existing Wally customer who loved the Wally ethos of style and innovation but wanted a comfortable long-range cruiser rather than a speed machine.
Trawler yacht probably sums up the ethos best, but with its futuristic styling, rectangular hull windows and multiple sunbeds, it looks nothing like a Grand Banks!
The huge living area has 360 views and a beach house vibe
And it’s not just the looks that are different. The engines are situated further forward than usual, leaving the whole aft section for two guest cabins plus a large owner’s cabin right at the back of the boat.
Down at water level, this features glazing all the way across the transom to give epic views directly from the bed, plus direct access to the bathing platform.
That leaves all of the lower deck forward for generous crew spaces, the galley, and an absolutely enormous side-opening tender garage – I told you the rule book had been binned!
On the main deck, the bridge, galley and saloon meld into one huge living area with 360-degree views and a style that’s more beach house than luxury apartment.
Even at max speed, the twin Caterpillar C12s only push the boat to 13 knots, but at WOT they’re barely breaking sweat at 1,850rpm. But the natural cruising gait is just 900rpm for 8 knots and 6,500 nms, or if you really want to push the range, back off to 700rpm where, at 6.6 knots just 8 litres per hour is being consumed, pushing the range to almost 10,000 miles! Now that’s cool.
WallyAce specifications
Year: 2012 LOA: 86ft 0in (26.2m)
Beam: 25ft 5in (7.7m)
Power: 2x Caterpillar C12 385hp diesel engines
Speed: 13 knots
Price from: €5.3 million
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