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Fastest race boat? Meet Wally’s new TP52 beater, the wallyrocket51

• Toby Hodges
• October 4, 2023

Wally Yachts has unveiled a new one-design racing yacht, the wallyrocket51. Toby Hodges takes a look at what Wally hopes to be the fastest race boat

Product Overview

“This will be the fastest boat in the world on corrected time,” Wally founder Luca Bassani announced at Ferretti Yachts’ global unveiling of the wallyrocket51 in September. On paper, the one-design racer should be faster than the top racing yachts in IRC and ORC classes, yet rates lower. Its potential for prizes (and fun) therefore looks highly promising.

‘Faster and less expensive’ is the slogan.

It’s a surprise move from the iconic Italian brand, which has latterly been focussed on large power yachts and performance cruising superyachts . This is its smallest new Wally since the 37ft Wally Nano daysailer 15 years ago, and by far the most race oriented.

And it’s deliberately pitted in this size range to line up against the most competitive class, the TP52s . “The benchmark boat to beat is the TP52,” Bassani confirms, “but Wally will always be faster.” He calculates that in a one hour race the wallyrocket51 will be 20-30 seconds quicker in real time and 40-50 seconds quicker on corrected time. That’s not bad over a typical two hour race!

The wallyrocket51’s sleek deck lines

Wallyrocket51, TP52 killer?

The 1ft less length is critical in allowing the design team to optimise the hull and appendages to get a rating bonus in other areas, such as the wallyrocket’s very light displacement, water ballast and a trim tab on the keel.

What really sets this new project apart from just marketing hyperbole, is that the naval architecture is by Botin Partners, the same designers behind some of the most successful TP52s. This studio’s designs have won 12 consecutive season titles, so it knows all the secrets of the class and design rules.

“It’s designed by Botin against a Botin. In light winds it will be faster in any condition,” says Bassani with a knowing smile.

The ultralight displacement of 6,250kg will be key to achieving such a promise. It compares with the TP52’s minimum displacement (governed by its box rule) of 6,975kg or the 8,250kg of the ClubSwan 50 . While there will be less crew aboard too…

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The water ballast system has a 550-litre capacity, the equivalent of five crewmembers on the rail. It takes 80 seconds to fill, 60 seconds to ditch, and just 10 seconds to transfer from side to side.

Meanwhile, an adjustable trim tab on the trailing edge of the keel will help it go faster and higher, and crucially, not sideways, says Bassani. The aim of the trim tab is to produce lift upwind for a smaller keel stem profile to help produce neutral leeway. Aligning water flow with the boat also means less drag, hence Wally’s claims that it will sail higher and faster than the competition.

While it’s’ designed for 11 crew (935kg), the wallyrocket51 can actually be crewed with 8 or 9 aboard with the addition of a fully electric winch package, says Bassani. Nevertheless they have gone with twin grinding pedestals to avoid a higher rating penalty (the aft pedestal can be replaced by an electric motor for more shorthanded racing ).

Vasco Vascotto, one of the world’s most successful regatta sailors, and Argentinian Olympic sailor Guillermo Parada, are project developers, who have helped shape the one-design series as well as make the design easier to handle and fun. Vascotto believes the wallyrocket51 is something everyone is looking for and wants: “A yacht able to perform in all regatta fields, but at the same time that maintains the design and that is fun.”

The aft grinding pedestal can be replaced if electric winches are fitted for shorthanded sailing

Carrau expands further on this: “We looked at everything, from windward-leeward courses in 6 to 25 knots of wind, to the classic offshore 600-milers such as the Rolex Middle Sea , Rolex Giraglia, RORC Caribbean 600 or Fastnet Race … Indeed, our simulations show that she can beat her competition under IRC or ORC in any of those inshore or offshore scenarios.”

“The wallyrocket51 is very close to our hearts and has eluded us for years as we sought to develop a design that could win any regatta in the world,” continues Wally’s managing director Stefano de Vivo. “We have cracked it at last.”

The first wallyrocket51 is in build at Wally’s new carbon fibre specialist facility within Ferretti’s gargantuan 70,000m2 yard in Ravenna. This includes two new ovens to cook yachts up to 50m. “No one else has this facility,” says Bassani.

Hulls will be built in pre-preg carbon with Corecell foam, while Nomex is used as the core for the deck. Wallyrockets will sport high modulus Southern Spars masts, Future Fibres AeroSix rigging, and carry 164m2 of upwind sail and over 360m2 downwind.

So what about the cost – the ‘less expensive’ part of the slogan? ”It costs around €2m to run a TP52,” Bassani estimates, “but you will be able to run this for less than a third of that.” He puts this largely down to TPs needing those extra crew numbers over a full season of events. And that Wally will have strict rules on expenditure, which a one-design format helps control.

They will offer their staff to look after the boats, so he sees some clients doing long charters too.

Wally has prided itself on being a market innovator, claiming it is ‘30 years old but 20 years ahead’. As an example, it cites the beach terrace concept Bassani came up with in the late 1990s and which is used by many new designs today.

So why now? Why try to top a class which is already 20 years old? Bassani says that there is a need for a new racing class, something exciting but smart and reasonable. While secondly, he adds that: “fast and easy was always Wally… and we need to go back to fast!”

Wally has a network of owners and knows what they are looking for. With its new WallyWhy power range as potential motherships, Bassani believes the wallyrocket51 will be the perfect complement for racing. “It’s more fun and much less expensive than a 40m performance cruising sailing yacht,” he says, adding that such a superyacht is three to four times the price of a 90ft WallyWhy 200.

The first two wallyrocket51s are slated to launch in the summer of 2024.

Wallyrocket51 specifications

LOA: 15.5m LWL: 14.68m Beam: 4.32m Light Displacement: 6,250kg Draught: 3.50m Water ballast: 550kg

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Platoon take tiny three points lead into 2023 title showdown Saturday on Bay of Palma

After two excellent races in a brisk cross-offshore breeze on the Bay of Palma, which saw honours shared almost equally between the two title protagonists, it is Harm M üller-Spreer’s German flagged world champions Platoon crew which leads into the final day of the 2023 52 SUPER SERIES season but by only three points over the long time circuit leaders Provezza.

While Provezza comfortably triumphed in the first race of the day and then finished third behind their second placed German rivals in the second contest, Platoon also benefited today from a subsequent application of average points redress which was granted for two races they missed on Thursday due to standing rigging damage caused in a collision with Gladiator on Wednesday.

Müller-Spreer’s crew in effect had eleven points deducted from their overnight tally over today, corresponding to the application of average points, 5.5pts each, for Races 4 and 5 of this regatta season. 

With two races scheduled for Saturday, which is forecast to see light winds, the 2023 title is now poised on a knife edge and could go either way. On the water this week so far Platoon have never scored worse than fourth over the races they have sailed. But Provezza’s win in the first race today was inspirational. Under the  extreme pressure of coming back out after the blackest day ever for their storied Turkish flagged TP52 program – having had to miss three races yesterday with rig damage – amassing a colossal 36 points – Provezza took the race to their rivals and came out on top by three clear places.

Platoon responded with slightly better start and were largely able to sail their own lane upwind to then keep Provezza in check round the course. After a blustery, bumpy Thursday racing in winds of 19-23kts, today’s NNW’ly wind blowing off the beautiful city of Palma and the mountains behind, was riddled with shifts and gusts to be used to best effect.

Despite their lead being overturned at the final hurdle Provezza’s skipper-helm John Cutler is staying positive,

“ We are three points behind and I don’t think we would win if it came to tie break, so we have to beat Platoon by four points over the next two races. That is easily possible. We showed that in the first race so we will give it everything tomorrow. We are going well, we got off the line well and were going in more or less the right direction. We will just let the cards play out as they do, but it was tricky, shifty conditions and we will see the same tomorrow.”

Since winning first regatta in May in Saint-Tropez, Imre’s crew have led the 2023 season standings all the way through until this evening, only to be overhauled on the penultimate day of the season by the team which has become their nemesis, one which last month stole the Rolex TP52 World Championship title from them on the last run of the last race.

Platoon’s Vasco Vascotto highlights how he feels their team have grown and improved over the season,

“I think to get to the last day of the season with an opportunity to win the circuit I think this is a huge achievement. I think we need to be proud of what we have done as we did not start well in the first event but then we grew up, we learned, we improved, everything that sport asks of you. And so we are already very happy with our season. We won a world  championship and another regatta. And we are in the fight for the overall to win the season and are in third place to win the last regatta of the season too. I can’t ask for more.”

The third step on the 2023 season podium is still open to dispute with Quantum Racing Powered by American Magic are now two points ahead of tony Langley’s Gladiator whilst Sled are only six points behind in fifth.

Top boat of the day was Andy Soriano’s Alegre team were firing on all cylinders taking a second behind Provezza in the first race and then winning the second race. Their Italian navigator Francesco Mongelli smiled,

“Finally we had a full day with two very good races. I think we were very good at understanding the rhythm of the breeze. We spent a lot of time in phase which helps a lot, we are fast and sail better in flat water. Now we have to get better in waves. But it was a very, very good day for us on Alegre. We always go on the water always looking to win every single race, just like everyone else round here.”

And while the destination of the 2023 season championship is finely balanced, so too is the fifth and final regatta title of the season. Hasso and Tina Plattner’s Phoenix scored three back to back wins but were not as strong today with a pair of sixth places but they lead into the last day ahead of a hard charging Sled whilst Platoon are only one point behind Tak Okura’s team.

Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week after eight races 1. PHOENIX (RSA) Hasso and Tina Plattner, 5+3+1+1+1+5+6+6 = 28 2. SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 6+5,5(RDG)+5,5(RDG)+3+2+4+3+4 = 33 3. PLATOON (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 3+5,5(RDG)+5,5(RDG)+5,5(RDG)+5,5(RDG)+3+4+2 = 34 4. ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 2+7+6+9+4+8+2+1 = 39 5. QUANTUM RACING POWERED BY AMERICAN MAGIC (USA), Doug DeVos, 4+4+3+5+9+2+9+5 = 41 6. GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 1+10(DNF)+7+2+5+1+5+7+4(PEN) = 42 7. INTERLODGE (USA), Austin y Gwen Fragomen, 8+2+8+4+3+6+8+8 = 47 8. PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 9+6+2+11(DNF)+11(DNS)+12(DNS)+1+3 = 55 9. VAYU (THA), Family Whitcraft, 11+5+5+7+6+10+7+9 = 60 10. ALPHA+ (HKG), Shawn and Tina Kang, 7+1+9+6+7+9+10+11+1(PEN)= 61 11. PAPREC (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 10+8+4+8+8+7+11+10+1(PEN) = 67

52 SUPER SERIES 2023 season standings after 8 races in Puerto Portals 1. PLATOON (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 45+51+34+25+34 = 189 2. PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 34+42+35+26+55 = 192 3. QUANTUM RACING POWERED BY AMERICAN MAGIC (USA), Doug DeVos, 40+43+54+43+41 = 221 4. GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 40+66+41+34+42 = 223 5. SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 45+52+46,5+51+33 = 227,5 6. ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 43+64+46+44+39= 236 7. VAYU (THA), Familia Whitcraft, 58+48+65+54+60 = 285 8. PHOENIX (RSA) Hasso Plattner, 57+71+100+39+28 = 295 9. INTERLODGE (USA), Austin y Gwen Fragomen, 45+54+100+58+347 = 304 10. PAPREC (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 56+81+58+88+67 = 350 11. ALPHA+ (HKG), Shawn y Tina Kang, 65+91+72+66+61 = 355

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