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Wally breaks new ground with 143-foot Esense.
by Justin Ratcliffe
photography by Gilles Martin-Raget
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04/01/2007
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| Wally 143 |  |
Wallys stir up a gamut of emotions in sailboat owners. There are
the traditionalists who look askance at the radical styling and flamboyant paint
jobs, and there are the enthusiasts who regard Luca Bassani as a kind of demigod
put on this earth to shake up the "white boat" school of yacht design. As
always, the truth lies somewhere in between, but I defy anyone not to be blown
away by the stunning lines of the new 143-foot (43-meter) Wally, Esense.
True to her name, the yacht is both essential and sensual.
Top: The salon windows. Bottom: Expansive flush decks. Photography by Gilles Martin-Raget. (Click images to enlarge)
My first sight of her was one sparkling autumn morning last
November when she was moored in the commercial port in Ancona, Italy, while
undergoing final sea trails prior to delivery. Even our group of seasoned
journalists was awestruck by what is clearly a new breed of megasailer. Easily
the biggest Wally to date, the all-carbon-fiber Esense is clearly an
evolution of the company’s philosophy, but it is the innovative deck design that
so distinctly sets the boat apart and makes her look more like a maxi-racer than
a bluewater cruiser.
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The fused and vacuum-sealed teak decking creates what is
effectively a single massive cockpit protected by raised bulwarks some three
feet high and punctuated by a single glass-covered hatchway and central seating
area with dining table. A trademark feature of previous Wally yachts, the raised
bulwarks have been taken one step further and
are an integral part of the hull’s wishbone structure, providing longitudinal
rigidity to the huge expanse of flush deck in the absence of ring frames. In
addition to providing ample stowage space, they also house the mooring cleats,
fuel tank filling points, Condaria air-conditioning units and much of the
running rigging, which leaves the deck completely clear of ropes apart from the
halyards and topping lift. As wide as they are high, these bulwarks add a whole
new meaning to sitting on the rail, although the black carbon fiber is likely to
get more than a little hot to the touch in the sun.
Top: It only takes one to sail. Bottom: Esense
under way. Photography by Gilles Martin-Raget. (Click images to enlarge)
Close to 2,000 square feet of deck area can obviously
accommodate many more than the quota of eight sleeping guests, and herein lies
the yacht’s raison d’être. Leaving aside the slick performance of Bill Tripp’s
naval architecture (which we later experienced firsthand), and despite her
bare-boat resemblance to Wild Oats or Alfa Romeo, Esense is the
young Italian owners’ first sailing yacht, and for the time being they have no
intention of racing her.
"The family was attracted more by the styling and design of
Wally yachts than their performance," admits marine surveyor and engineer Graham
Pickering, who acted as the owners’ representative. "They wanted plenty of party
space and comfort combined with transatlantic capability, wrapped up in an
innovative Wally design package."
Wally yachts are not generally perceived as rugged offshore
cruisers, but Esense represents a determined rebuttal of the standard
criticism of Wally yachts as "Mediterranean daysailers." She is the company’s
first concerted attempt to build a true world cruiser, not just in terms of
sheer size, but also with regard to beefing up onboard systems. Pickering had a
big hand in specifying equipment from the piping up.
"The biggest step for Wally was to eliminate the whole
twenty-four-volt silent sailing philosophy," he explains. "We had to accept from
Day One that there would always be a generator running, so we have gone with
full gensets and saved on battery weight in the process."
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