Wally Better Place
If the Bugatti blue hull of Wally‘s Better Place doesn’t get your attention, then maybe her classification will. The 164-footer is the first sailing yacht to be granted the environmentally minded RINA Green Star classification.
Green Star is a voluntary notation that takes several factors into account. These include the materials used to construct a yacht, the onboard equipment, and the operations of the yacht herself. It all comes down to lessening impact on the environment, whether through cleaner, less wasteful build practices or avoiding pollution while cruising. Better Place is constructed of carbon fiber and has diesel-electric propulsion for times when under-sail operation isn’t practical. Three gensets developing 705 kW comprise the diesel-electric system and will power _Better Place’_s sheet-tensioning devices and other systems when so desired.
Still on the subject of Better Place’_s sailing systems, Wally’s in-house team equipped the yacht with mostly automated controls. It further designed the furling staysail with a no-torsion luff cable. As it has done in the past Wally additionally worked with a naval architecture firm, this time Tripp Design, for the hull design and overall engineering. While performance figures haven’t been released, Wally says _Better Place was designed for fast cruising under 10 knots of wind.
As for _Better Place’_s gathering spaces, a fully open layout on the main deck means large parties can take place. In fact, when there are more friends aboard than the 10-person dining table can accommodate, the saloon’s coffee table converts to handle upwards of eight. Nearly two dozen friends and family can also fit on the sunpads in the forward cockpit. But the 323-square-foot swim platform is somewhat of a private playground for the owners, given that it’s immediately accessible from their stateroom.
Better Place should be handed over in June so that the owners can enjoy the summer season in the Med.
