It was a breezy fall afternoon on Chesapeake Bay, a perfect day for a sail, and I felt fortunate to have been invited out for a spin on Gary Jobson’s C.W. Hood 32, Whirlwind. Jobson—an America’s Cup winner and a member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame—keeps his boat on a hoist near his backyard in Annapolis, Maryland. As the director of Cruising World magazine’s Boat of the Year contest, I was in town for the annual Annapolis Sailboat Show and a week of boat tests. I’ve spent a lot of time on the bay in recent years and have come to know and appreciate it.

My Annapolis pals, however, never fail to remind me that their waterfront city has been called “the sailing capital of the United States.” Which, not coincidentally, is the exact same moniker that’s been applied to my very own hometown of Newport, Rhode Island. As we raised Whirlwind’s sails, I pondered the question of which town deserved the title. Only one can wear the crown, right?

Both cities began their existence in the 17th century, largely as shipping ports. The US Naval Academy is located in Annapolis, while the Navy’s North Atlantic fleet called Newport home for several decades, and the naval base remains a major local fixture. Historically, you could make the argument either way, so we’ll call that a toss-up.

Geographically, when it comes to the adjacent waters, I have a strong bias toward Newport. The Chesapeake features some excellent nearby cruising grounds, particularly along the Eastern Shore. But for me, it doesn’t match up to the neighboring Elizabeth Islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, with Maine just an overnight sail away. The Chesapeake is shallow and really doesn’t hold a candle to Narragansett Bay and the deep blue Atlantic lapping Newport’s shores. Advantage: Newport.

One thing you don’t get in Newport, however, is the abundance of rivers and creeks that you have in Annapolis to moor a boat, so many of them right along the waterfront. And there are certainly far more options when it comes to marinas and facilities. The nod goes to Annapolis here.

As a destination in and of itself, thanks to that deep water, Newport attracts huge numbers of amazing yachts, from modest cruisers to multimillion-dollar superyachts. The America’s Cup was contested there, and the town remains home to many of the classic old 12 Meters. But Annapolis is every bit as attractive as a tourist spot, and the sailboat show each fall is easily the country’s best. Flip a coin on this one.

As far as actual sailing, the southwesterly sea breeze that fills in off Newport nearly every summer day is steady, wonderful, and hard to beat. There’s plenty of sailboat racing; the New York Yacht Club’s Newport station is an amazing, iconic landmark, and there are plenty of dedicated sailors. But I have to admit, the Annapolis Yacht Club, rebuilt after a devastating fire, is every bit as dynamic as the NYYC. I don’t have hard numbers at my disposal, but my overall take on participation leans toward Annapolis. I see plenty of moored boats in Newport that never seem to go anywhere. The weekly yacht racing out of Annapolis blows Newport away on that front.

So where, exactly, does that leave us? As Jobson and I doused the sails on Whirlwind after a cracking great sail, my fondness for Annapolis was sealed. Sure, for its homegrown passion, let’s call it the sailing capital. But I think that we can still dub Newport the nation’s yachting capital, with the grandness that title suggests. And yes, I’m waffling. What’s that saying about having your cake and eating it too?  

The post And The US Sailing Capital Is? appeared first on Yachting.

Full disclosure: I carry my car keys on a Riva fob as a constant reminder of where I want to be. I’ve always appreciated Riva’s design and execution, and the Riva 82′ Diva only strengthens my admiration for the brand.

Flybridge motoryachts of this volume do not get any more elegant. Mauro Micheli and his team at Officina Italiana Design—which has penned every new Riva for about three decades—tell me their brief this time was to create a modern flybridge yacht that’s also sporty and streamlined. And haven’t they just? The 82′ Diva’s proportions are precise, and it is the first Riva with fold-down quarter platforms that turn the cockpit and hydraulic swim platform into a beach club. That guest space has a table and a pair of inboard-facing sofas, as well as a sun pad above a tender garage that you would never know was there, given its low profile. The fold-down platforms add more than 10 feet to the almost 20-foot beam.

More alfresco lounging is on the 430-square-foot flybridge. It’s partially protected by a hardtop that covers the cockpit stairs, a wet bar with a countertop, an L-shaped sofa and a table to port, and the two-seat upper helm to starboard. The hardtop’s forward edge is notched to provide headroom en route to the forward sun pad above the pilothouse. More lounging and sunbathing areas are forward on the deck below.

Inside, the salon has picture windows that make it a naturally bright space. The 82′ Diva’s standard decor is high-gloss “rigatoni” veneers—strips of Italian walnut—with other options available, including a chocolate wenge. Regardless of the wood choice, the varnish work can be 25 coats deep. And the accents are equally tactile: polished stainless steel, satin lacquer work, stitched leather, marble, and contrasting carpets and furnishings. It’s a marvelous fusion of light, midrange and dark tones. Everything craves to be touched. While the salon’s layout is conventional enough, with a lounge area aft and dining forward, the dining space is two steps up to enhance guests’ views during meals. They’re probably the best views I’ve seen on any motoryacht less than 100 feet long. The custom dining table I saw was faced with an optional Port Laurent marble top and sides. The standard one comes with black crystal. The eight chairs are from Molteni.

Also on this deck are a single-seat lower helm and an adjacent galley beneath the windshield and skylights, which can be screened. The idea is to place these crew areas together with doors to the side decks, which are protected by nearly full top-deck overhangs. The helm and galley can be partitioned off for privacy too.

Performance is also notable. The 82′ Diva is based on a new hull form with standard twin 1,800 hp MAN V-12 diesels. The builder promises a top speed of around 29 knots and a 26-knot fast cruise, at which range should be about 300 nautical miles with the yacht’s 1,700 gallons of fuel. The 82′ Diva I got aboard had 1,900 hp MAN V-12s, which Riva says deliver a top speed of around 31 knots at half load. We couldn’t quite manage those numbers in calm seas off Cannes, France, where the yacht topped out at around 28 knots, but the boat was heavy with a big generator, 88 percent fuel, 100 percent water, a Williams SportJet 395 tender and 16 people aboard. I ran it with the Humphree dynamic trim system active and the Sleipner Vector Fin stabilizers on, and I turned the Seakeeper 18 on and off. I thought the props could use some fine-tuning, or perhaps the bottom needed a scrub, costing us a knot or two. This 82′ Diva had logged around 2,000 nm in most types of weather. At a fast cruise of 27 knots, range with the bigger engines should be 250 nm to 270 nm. The driving positions are great inside and out. Each console has standard 16-inch Simrad multifunction displays (three below and two up top), with the option of 19-inch displays. The electrohydraulic steering is nicely responsive. Wind the wheel over hard, and the yacht heels gently into any turn, but comes around surprisingly quickly, given a displacement of more than 170,000 pounds.

Guest accommodations are conventional, with all four en suite staterooms on the lower deck. The owner’s stateroom is amidships with a corner sofa and a whopping 7 feet, 6 inches of headroom (beneath the elevated dining table). The forepeak VIP stateroom has 6-foot-7-inch headroom. The two other guest staterooms have twin berths; the starboard one converts to a double. Crew’s quarters are between the owner’s stateroom and the engine room, with discreet access to the starboard side deck. The standard layout is for three crew in two cabins, with a head-shower and an optional washer-dryer.

Rivas are also good with what can’t be seen. For a planing design with big, powerful engines, the 82′ Diva is fundamentally a quiet yacht. I registered just 67 decibels on my meter in the owner’s stateroom at maximum speed, and around 65 decibels at a fast, low-20s cruise. That’s the same noise level as laughter or normal conversation.

Long-term success for any brand can be measured by its consistency from product to product, year in and year out, as well as its ability to evolve with its customers and attract new ones. The Riva 82′ Diva hits bull’s-eyes on all these elements. It has first-rate fit and finish, impressive performance, and many examples of luxury, performance and sophistication. Riva’s production line should be buzzing for years to come.    

Take the next step: riva-yacht.com

The post Riva 82′ Diva Reviewed appeared first on Yachting.

Cruisers heading to the Bahamas often bypass the Berry Islands en route to the Abacos or Exumas. But this group of around 30 islands—anchored by Great Harbour Cay—provides a quiet stopover to clear customs, cast a line, and catch some sun on sugar-fine beaches.

Great Harbour Cay 

This is the largest of the Berry Islands. It was a popular vacation spot in the late 1960s for the Rat Pack, Cary Grant and other A-list celebrities. The island’s glam resort and golf course have since closed, allowing for a decidedly quieter vibe.

The cay’s well-protected namesake hurricane hole marina, a port of entry, is a convenient base for cruisers. It has 65 slips and can accommodate yachts up to 150 feet.

Nearly 5 miles of uninterrupted picturesque beaches stretch along the cay’s east coast. Toward the northern end, Sugar Beach often ranks as one the prettiest beaches in the Bahamas. Its caves entice visitors to explore when the tide is right, often eliciting comparisons to European beaches. Near the airport along Great Harbour Beach, The Beach Club is a popular midday stop for lunch and a drink. At the southern tip of the island, the wide, shallow Shark Creek Beach attracts shell collectors and nature lovers. In addition to its toothy namesake residents, the beach and its mangroves are home to myriad juvenile fish, eagle rays, baby sea turtles and spoonbills.

Chub Cay

The Berry Islands is known as “the fishbowl of the Bahamas,” and Chub Cay (at the far southern tip of the Berry Islands) in particular is considered the country’s billfish capital. Catch a charter out of Chub Cay Marina to try your luck in The Pocket. The well-developed marina, a port of entry, offers slips ranging from 40 to 160 feet and day passes that provide cruisers access to all its facilities. Stock up on provisions at the Marlin Market. Take a dip in the infinity pool or at the resort’s beach. The Clubhouse Restaurant & Bar is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner (reservations recommended for dinner). Its menu features a mix of Bahamian and continental fare, including grilled lobster tail, conch chowder and guava crème brûlée.

Other Cays 

From Great Harbour Cay, adventure-seekers can sail south to Hoffmann’s Cay to leap off the 20-foot cliff into the cay’s 600-foot-wide blue hole, the largest in the Berry Islands.

Continue south to Little Harbour Cay, which anchors the middle of the Berry Islands and is known for Flo’s Conch Bar. The pink restaurant, with the words “You Welcome” in large white letters on the roof, has welcomed such celebrities as Sylvester Stallone, Shakira and Brad Pitt since opening its doors in 1993. Call in your order three hours in advance to guarantee your share of the famous conch fritters and rum punch.  

The post Cruising The Berry Islands appeared first on Yachting.

Compass Tenders’ 11.1 Limo Tender offers the best of both worlds: Its enclosed hardtop provides privacy, and weather and sun protection, while its dual forward-facing cameras deliver video imagery to its twin cabin screens. The tender’s rooftop glass panels articulate open in multiple directions, the integrated audiovisual system keeps the mood lively, and twin 320 hp Yanmar engines and paired sterndrives provide speed to burn.

Whom It’s For: Owners seeking a comfortable, discreet and climate-controlled way of commuting to and from the dockside tie-up.

Picture This: Your yacht is berthed at the Yacht Haven Grande Miami marina, but you and your friends want to head up to Fort Lauderdale for the evening. The Compass Tenders 11.1 Limo Tender gets you there and back again in high-end style, and traffic-free too.    

Take the next step: compasstenders.com

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The way Ed Kearney sees things, a new era of foiling technology has arrived. He hopes to lead it as CEO of the California startup Boundary Layer Technologies.

Military applications were the first era, in the 1970s, with foiling torpedo boats. The second era started about a decade ago, when America’s Cup teams invested heavily in foil engineering. Today, the idea is to make the technology accessible to everyone—with products like the Valo Hyperfoil, a personal watercraft that combines electric propulsion with foils for speeds approaching 35 knots.

“The silence is bizarre and exciting,” Kearney says. “You don’t even hear the water sloshing. It’s a very quiet hum of the electric motor, and then there’s the wind and the birds chirping.”

Boundary Layer Technologies was founded in 2019 and has worked on a few marine-specific concepts, including a micro container ship that could replace air freight, and a 150-passenger ferry. The costs for those prototypes were quite high for a startup, so in late 2022, the company pivoted to the recreational product. It built a prototype of the personal watercraft, then used lessons learned to create the updated design that was unveiled at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October 2023.

“Most people we spoke to—whether they were boatbuilders or yacht crew—said: ‘I think I’ve seen that thing. That’s cool,’” Kearney says.

The price point for the Valo Hyperfoil ($59,000) is more than double most traditional PWCs, but Kearney says that the company already has about 60 orders. A limited production run is expected to begin this year, with the main production run starting in 2025.

“We’ve had people ask us the dimensions to see if they will fit in the garage of their yacht,” he says. “We have customers who live on lakes. We have customers out here on San Francisco Bay. All of them like technology and want to be part of this new era in boating.”

Projected range for the Valo Hyperfoil is more than 60 nautical miles at an average speed of 27 knots. Put another way, it should run for close to two and a half hours at about 21 knots. A three-hour charging session brings the battery back to full.

And the Valo Hyperfoil can be towed or stowed in traditional ways. “You can put it in a garage or on the deck of a yacht,” Kearney says. “The foils fully retract, and the back one has a tilt system like an outboard engine.”

Keeping Balance

Ask any America’s Cup skipper, and they’ll tell you that a foiling craft can be hard to balance. That’s why the Valo Hyperfoil has a control system called Skyride that uses advanced algorithms to adjust the foils hundreds of times every second. “The control system is very hard to build, and that’s one thing we are really good at as a company,” says Ed Kearney, CEO of Boundary Layer Technologies.

The post Valo’s Foiling PWC appeared first on Yachting.

The traditional doctor’s advice is, “Take two, and call me in the morning.” After Willie Urbieta sold his family’s petroleum company in South Florida in 2021, the veteran boater found cruising to be just the right medicine for transitioning into semiretirement. In fact, he liked the Sirena Yachts 68 he’d purchased for cruising in the Mediterranean so much that he decided to trade up his Sirena 58 in Fort Lauderdale for a second Sirena 68. He’s now able to call on exciting ports in the Eastern and Western hemispheres in Sirena 68 style. Sold On Sirena’s Spaciousness Urbieta, 65, bought his first boat, a 29-foot Cruisers, when he was 24. “I made many, many mistakes in Biscayne Bay,” he says with a chuckle. During the following decades, he owned a half dozen increasingly larger boats, a mix of Sea Ray, Hatteras and Greenline models.

When he saw the Sirena 58, “what attracted me was how roomy and spacious a Sirena is inside,” he says. It also had a large flybridge, a requirement for him. “We have such beautiful nights here in Florida. You go out to dinner and can see the skyline or the stars from the flybridge as you’re cruising back.”

With greater freedom in time and travel on his hands, Urbieta also wanted to base a boat in the Mediterranean. He ordered a Sirena 68, not only to accommodate the necessary crew, but also to provide more room for him and his family: his wife, Maria; his daughter, Mariah; his son-in-law; and three grandchildren ages 10 and younger. In 2022, the family took delivery of Willma (a combination of his first name and his wife’s first name) in Turkey. They explored the Turkish and Greek coasts, and cruised all the way to Mallorca, in Spain’s Balearic Islands.

“That’s when I fell in love with the Mediterranean,” Urbieta says. “Such beautiful beaches, beautiful waters, beautiful marinas. Everywhere you go has so much history. I’ve been to Europe many times before, but seeing it from the water gives you a whole different perspective.” The Perfect Size For Urbieta, the 68 is the perfect size. “You can get into most marinas without having to reserve too far ahead,” he says. His family likes the spacious interior, especially the long dining table next to the galley. Urbieta’s favorite spot is the desk next to the helm, where he can keep one eye on business matters and the other eye on the beautiful scenery ahead.

There is even room on board Willma for Urbieta’s extended family. He hosted a reunion in 2022 of around 30 relatives at the marina in Sitges, Spain, where he keeps the boat.

In 2022, he cruised the Balearics and the mainland Spanish ports of Denia and Valencia. In 2023, Urbieta and a cousin cruised the whole Iberian Peninsula and up the Guadalquivir River to Seville. “Seville is special, but it’s even better when you arrive by water,” he says. A pro at navigating the many bridges in Fort Lauderdale, Urbieta took over from the captain and nosed the Willma under Seville’s bridges, with about 6 inches of clearance to spare.

To make all kinds of maneuvers easier, he loaded up Willma with a variety of technical extras: fins, gyros, a Yacht Controller, dynamic positioning, and an extra helm station on the outside. The optional 1,000 hp Volvo Penta engines (900 hp Volvo Penta diesels are standard) “navigate so well,” he says. “Even in 6- to 8-foot seas, you’re doing 18, 19 knots, and it’s steady going.” That ride is aided by a high freeboard, and a seakindly and semidisplacement hull form from naval architect Germán Frers. Additionally, the Sirena 68 is a solidly built yacht that displaces about 103,600 pounds.

Thrilled with Willma, Urbieta ordered a twin Sirena 68 with a lighter interior to keep at his 105-foot dock at his home on the New River in Fort Lauderdale. “Sirena has been excellent,” he says. “It’s not just about buying a boat, but who stands behind it. That makes the biggest difference in the world.”

Urbieta plans to cruise Valentina (named for his grandmother) throughout the Caribbean, with St. Martin topping the list. And he’s frequently conferring with his European captain, his service team near Barcelona, and the Sirena dealer in La Palma about maintenance priorities so that Willma is in prime shape for the upcoming summer season. “I always feel happiest on the water,” he says.

The post Two Sirena Yachts Are Better Than One appeared first on Yachting.

The fall and winter boat shows mean that an armada of technology is being launched to make everyone’s time on the water safer and more fun. Without further ado, here is some of the top tech to put on your radar for the new year’s boating season.

Garmin 

Innovations in marine electronics hail from two places: hardware and software. In recent years, hardware advances have slowed compared with a decade ago. Case in point: While Garmin has long pushed the software envelope, the company’s flagship multifunction display—the GPSMap 8400/8600—premiered in 2016. Garmin’s newest flagship display, the GPSMap 9000 series ($9,900 to $17,000), brings significant hardware advances.

These advances include edge-to-edge 4K displays, processors that purportedly deliver seven times the speed of Garmin’s previous offerings, and a faster local network (Garmin BlueNet gigabit network, which can hustle data at up to 1 gigabit per second to and from peripherals, including radar and sonar modules).

GPSMap 9000-series displays are available in 19-, 22-, 24-, and 27-inch screens that ship with Navionics+ cartography and AutoGuidance+ routing. The displays also support engine-room monitoring, Garmin’s OneHelm integrated digital switching, and Garmin’s Surround View Camera System, which eases the challenges of docking. Users can control these IPX7-rated displays via a touchscreen interface, with voice commands using a headset (sold separately) or with a paired Garmin smartwatch (also sold separately).

Speaking of peripherals, Garmin also unveiled its GSD 28 sonar module, which is a dual-channel Xchirp-enabled black-box sonar that can probe depths to 10,000 feet. The GSD 28 ($3,000) can be networked to Airmar- or Garmin-built transducers, and can transmit at 300 watts to 3 kilowatts. The sonar has Garmin’s Rapidreturn, which delivers two to six times faster ping rates than previous-generation black-box sonar. Boaters who cruise with Garmin’s MSC 10 satellite compasses can also leverage the GSD 28’s Heave Compensation feature, which removes vessel motion from its returns.

Furuno 

Integration has long been a marine-electronics buzzword, but Furuno took a different tack with its FCV-600 and FCV-800 stand-alone fish finders. The sounders (call for pricing) have chirp and dual-frequency (50/200 kilohertz) capabilities, and they can explore depths to 3,937 feet.

The FCV-600 has 5.7 inches of screen real estate and transmits at 600 watts, while the FCV-800 has 8.4 inches of glass and transmits at 1 kilowatt. Additionally, the FCV-800 cooperates with NMEA 2000 and NMEA 0183 networks, while the FCV-600 uses only N2K networks.

Both fish finders are compatible with a range of transducers, and both support Furuno’s proprietary fish-finding technologies, including RezBoost signal processing, Bottom Discrimination and TruEcho Chirp, which yields better image resolution and onscreen target separation than traditional 50/200 kHz sounders. Also, both fish finders are Wi-Fi-enabled, which lets one fish finder communicate wirelessly with another identical sounder. In other words, two FCV-600s can talk, or one can communicate with select third-party apps and smartphones.

Raymarine

Sailors love wind information. Raymarine’s Alpha Series Displays and RSW Series Wind Sensors capture and present data that is user-customizable.

Alpha displays ($1,200 to $2,000) come in 7- and 9-inch screens that can be mounted vertically or horizontally at the mast or the helm. Users can customize screen views, and they can control the displays via the individual touchscreens or through networked Raymarine-built Axiom multifunction displays.

RSW Series Wind Sensors ($850) are self-calibrating, with embedded attitude-heading-reference-system sensors that measure pitch, roll and yaw. This combination allows the system to calculate true-wind metrics and present them on an Alpha Series Display.

VoltSafe

From a distance, the smartest thing about VoltSafe is the magnetic connection between an ordinary 30-amp shore-power cable and VoltSafe’s proprietary charging station. Should someone forget to disconnect before engaging the boat’s throttles, 40 pounds of load breaks the magnetic connection.

Better still, VoltSafe’s shoreside chargers use an electronic vetting process (think electric-car chargers) with the reciprocal magnetic connector. If the connection doesn’t pass muster, electricity stops (or never starts) flowing. This feature adds a significant safety margin, especially given the presence of water.

While VoltSafe systems are currently a marina-facing product, in time, users will be able to communicate with the system via VoltSafe’s app. This feature should be useful for tracking bills, tracing low-voltage issues, and receiving power-outage alerts.

OceanLED

Lighting can help set a mood, but controlling belowdecks, topside and undercarriage illuminators can be challenging. OceanLED’s OceanBridge (call for pricing) is a multizone control system that can be driven from a networked multifunction display via an NMEA 2000 or Ethernet connection, or from a smart device using OceanBridge’s built-in Wi-Fi connectivity.

OceanBridge systems can control all OceanLED lights, plus most third-party DC-powered lights. In total, the system can control 64 lights (this can be expanded to 150-plus with splitters), including color and brightness, color fades and transitions. There’s also music sync and OceanLED’s proprietary movement-to-color feature across 10 zones.

Digital Yacht

Devices enabled for the internet are handy, but they can open the door to hackers. Digital Yacht’s N2K Protect ($350) stops onboard cyberthreats by validating all equipment on an NMEA 2000 network.

After that, N2K Protect creates a baseline network map, which it stores locally. N2K Protect locks down and monitors the network 24/7/365. Users can configure the system to generate an alarm (N2K network alerts or SMS messages via a Digital Yacht 4G/5G cellular modem) if unscrupulous activity or poor N2K performance is detected. And N2K Protect is updatable via an embedded web interface.

Digital Yacht also recently unveiled its CO Alert carbon-monoxide detection and alarm system. CO Alert ($330) is a two-piece system consisting of a white-box detection sensor and a black box that tackles power supply and network connectivity. The low-draw system constantly monitors its self-test feature to ensure safety and performance. If tripped, the system generates audio and visual alarms on NMEA 2000-networked multifunction displays.

Actisense

NMEA 2000 networks move a lot of information. Actisense’s NGX-1 gateway helps boaters access this data.

Actisense makes two versions of the device: the NGX-1-USB ($280) and the NGX-1-ISO ($260). Both allow all major PC-based chart plotters to communicate with networked instrumentation, and both provide a firewall between the computer and the N2K network. The NGX-1-USB plugs into PCs, while the NGX-1-ISO is wired to an NMEA 0183 device or a serial port.

The post Top Helm Technology For 2024 appeared first on Yachting.

Wally has always been a disrupter in the yacht world. For more than 30 years, its team has taken what came before, stripped away everything but function, and rethought just about every other aspect. The results have included the original wallytender, the unique wallypower 118, and, more recently, various wallytenders and wallypowers. The trend continues with the 78-foot-8-inch wallywhy150, whose model name refers to volume.

The wallywhy150 is a two-and-a-half-deck design with around 150 gross tons—a spec we don’t often see with yachts this length, but, again, Wally likes to do things differently. The “why” bit of wallywhy is an acronym for Wally Hybrid Yachts, which has nothing to do with hybrid propulsion, but rather references hulls that are optimized for a range of displacement and semidisplacement cruising speeds.

Exterior styling is futuristic, defined by a typically Wally-shaped raised pilothouse and a high, blunt, and slightly reverse-raked bow. The bow design helps punch through seas at semidisplacement speeds and provides plenty of room for a main-deck owners’ stateroom.

Outdoor living is also key to Wally. There are two principal zones on the 150: the cockpit and the upper deck aft. The latter serves as a sun deck with partial protection from a mostly carbon-fiber hardtop that extends aft from that mostly glass raised pilothouse. It’s a vast space, whether used for family fun or as a party venue. The furniture options include free-standing, for maximum flexibility. The wallywhy150 that I got aboard had a dining table forward, a C-booth sofa and a pedestal table amidships, and scattered cushions for lounging aft. A gate to starboard accesses the foredeck, which serves as a technical area for crew.

The cockpit, occupying two levels, is the heart of this design. The forward half is at the same level as the after end of the main salon, which is lower than aboard more-conventional yacht designs. The rest of the cockpit is down a step. It has an island sofa amidships with a flippable backrest, so guests can laze facing forward or aft. There is no garage, but the hydraulic stern platform—which is normally flush to the cockpit—will accommodate an 11-foot-6-inch tender, chocked transversely.

Interior design is by Andrea Vallicelli, and the decor of Hull No. 1 is pure Wally: light, satin-varnished veneers with light-dark contrasts. The overall vibe is modern and tending toward minimalism, but with no hint of starkness.

The salon is also a split-level affair. The after end is a dining area with two runs of hullside windows from the main and lower decks, and high ceilings with a double curvature. A day head is in the after port corner. The raised forward half of the salon is all lounges, save for some built-in cabinetry. Free-standing furniture choices, once again, allow owners to personalize the space.

The owners’ stateroom has an access corridor that runs forward along the starboard side from a lobby. The corridor is surprisingly long, enhancing the stateroom’s sense of exclusivity, and it is flanked by picture windows and walk-in closets. The en suite head has twin sinks, a head and bidet, and a shower stall. The sleeping area has a forward-facing king berth and 270 degrees of glazing, including panes that wrap around the stem. Save for a pair of structural mullions, they provide clear views ahead for a “wow” factor.

Wally says that some owners might prefer to use this glorious space for something other than a stateroom, such as an entertainment area with a bar and a dining table. That would leave the entire salon as a two-tier lounge.

Guest accommodations on the lower deck are accessed via a central amidships lobby. There are three staterooms, all en suite. The VIP has an inboard-facing king berth. One guest stateroom has an inboard-facing queen berth, and the other has forward-facing twin berths.

Crew quarters are below the owners’ stateroom, with access from the main-deck galley. These quarters include two en suite cabins with a total of four bunks, although most owners will run with a captain and just two crew.

Standard power is triple 900 hp Volvo Penta D13s and IPS1200 pod drives, which should deliver a top-end speed of around 21 knots. This wallywhy150 had the bigger alternatives: triple 1,000 hp D13s with IPS1350s. Hull No. 1 managed over-the-ground speeds of 22.9 knots one way and 22.6 knots on a reciprocal heading with the Humphree dynamic trim system and Seakeeper gyrostabilizer running. Wally quotes a 23-knot speed at half-load.

The ultimate range at 10 knots should be around 1,000 nautical miles, about the same with each engine package. At around 15 knots, this yacht would run for 350 nm, including a 10 percent reserve. Tank capacity is 2,378 gallons.

The wallywhy150 drives nicely, almost sprightly. Visibility is good, although chunky mullions in the raised pilothouse present a few blind spots. The two high-backed carbon-fiber helm seats look like something you would expect to see on a spaceship.

Off Cannes, France, in glorious weather with virtually no swell, this yacht was marvelously quiet. At the helm, I noted about 53 decibels flat-out and just 50 decibels at 10 knots and 1,000 rpm.

While the inside of this yacht may be whisper quiet, the wallywhy150’s forward-thinking design, solid ride, and chic interior speak loudly and proudly to the company’s motto of being 20 years ahead. It’s just what Wally does, again and again.

On a Roll

The first wallywhy150 was shown at Salone Nautico Venezia 2023 this past May and June in Italy. As this issue went to press, Hull No. 2 had launched, and Hull No. 3 was nearing completion, bound for the US.

Where It’s Made

Wallywhys are built at the Ferretti Group’s Mondolfo plant, which was originally home to Pershing. It’s 20 miles northwest of Ancona on Italy’s east coast. A new 750,000-square-foot plant in Ravenna will soon become Wally’s home and a principal production facility. 

It’s Easy Being Green

The first wallywhy150 has a striking metallic-green hull. Stefano de Vivo, the Ferretti Group’s chief commercial officer and Wally CEO, described it as “power gray.” (Like mice and bananas, green is an unlucky word for superstitious mariners.) Various Wallys have been green, including the one that inspired the company’s name, Luca Bassani’s 105-foot ketch Wallygator. It launched in 1994 and was primarily dark green. The wallypower was originally metallic gray-green.

Pursuit of Perfection

Chief designer and Wally founder Luca Bassani brings passion to the boatbuilding process. While walking through the wallywhy150 with him, I mentioned that the small, aft-facing bench sofa below the big window in the stem of the owners’ stateroom was perhaps a little underwhelming. Bassani paused and then said: “You’re right, Phil. It needs to be the other way around. Or maybe…”

Later that morning, Bassani was sitting at the table on the upper deck, chatting on his cell. He cupped a hand over the phone and said, “By the way, I have already got the Vallicelli guys coming over later today to talk about what we can do better down there.”

Take the next step: wally.com

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Hurricane Ian was a monster when it struck Southwest Florida in September 2022: Category 5, winds up to 162 mph and damage that topped $100 billion.

The good news for boaters is that the waterways are once again clear, with marinas and services coming back online for transient cruisers. Some spots are fully reopened, while others are partially back in business. Overall, Southwest Florida is eager to welcome yachtsmen once again.

“Our docks are open and available,” says Brandon Skinner, marina manager at Sanibel Marina, which takes transients up to 80 feet in length overall. He says that the ship’s store and the restaurant, Gramma Dot’s, are expected to reopen by the time this issue publishes. “Their kitchen is larger now. The menu is going to stay pretty similar. Everybody loved it, so it’s going to come back.”

Over on Captiva Island, John Wankel, assistant dockmaster at the Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa, says that some of the local marinas have services such as shore power but are still working on restoring others. Tween Waters, which takes transients up to 100 feet, is fully operational. “We have everything on-site, including all the restaurants, back up and running,” he says. “The rest of the island is starting to come back together too.”

Anyone looking to bareboat can contact Southwest Florida Yachts on the mainland in Cape Coral, where operations are resuming this spring. “Thanks to the support, thoughts and prayers from our cruising family, we have been able to rebuild our company,” co-owner Barb Hanson announced. “We will be adding to our fleet as we proceed.”     

The Recovery

• Damage from Hurricane Ian was extensive. Florida’s governor recently issued an update to help people understand the scope of recovery efforts.
• National Guardsmen numbering 5,000 strong were brought in for search and recovery.
• Utility linemen were involved at a level of 43,000 individuals from 30 states.
• Cubic yards of wet debris removed numbered 931,000.
• Zero-interest emergency loans totaling more than $37 million have been awarded to more than 900 small businesses.
• Habitat restoration is underway for more than 200 acres of damaged mangrove forest in Collier County, as well as nearby oyster habitats and wetlands.
• Beach erosion is being repaired, with more than $14.6 million awarded to property owners along the shoreline.

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During the Miami International Boat Show last February, a bevy of builders introduced a host of new models for yachting enthusiasts of all kinds. Attendees had the opportunity to see enhanced helm stations, eco-friendly propulsion options, plush creature comforts, and more. Here, we offer a glimpse at some of the yachts that were seen and talked about, whether they’re already under construction or just now coming off the drawing boards for early orders.

CLB80: Made for Different Cruising Styles

CL Yachts is adding a fourth model to its B Series: the CLB80, which joins the CLB65, CLB72 and CLB88 flagship. Aboard the CLB80, owners can choose a forward or aft galley. With the latter, there’s a stool-height dining table that can tuck away against the galley counter, becoming a high bar or a side table for different styles of entertaining. Owners also can choose a single or double helm station, depending on how they prefer to cruise. All four guest staterooms are belowdecks, including an amidships master that spans the 22-foot-6-inch beam. The VIP stateroom is forward with a skylight for additional natural light. There are also two crew cabins with separate access, located between the engine room and beach club.

Saxdor 400 GTO: A New Flagship

Saxdor Yachts is a Finnish yard that was established in 2019. It offers three models: the 270 GTO, the 320 GTO and the recently launched 400 GTO. Note the size of the foldout balcony in the image below; there’s another one on the starboard side of the vessel, substantially increasing the outdoor space when the boat is at anchor. Guests can have snacks or lunch in that shaded section or set out a spread forward on the table beneath open skies. Belowdecks are two staterooms: one forward and one amidships. For cruising families, the shipyard offers the option of adding a kids cabin. Standard power is a pair of 300 hp Mercury Marine V-8s, though the boat is designed for a maximum of 800 hp, if owners want other outboards at the transom.

Vicem TM 37: Sport Fishing in High Style

The TM in the model name of Vicem’s TM 37 stands for “Tuna Masters.” This is a line of center-console boats that the Turkish builder launched earlier this year, with more models expected to come at different lengths overall. Hull No. 1 of the TM 37 is powered by triple 350 hp Mercury Marine outboards that reportedly give eager-to-get-there anglers a top hop of nearly 48 knots. The standard power package is a pair of the 350s, which Vicem says allows for a top speed of about 40 knots. Range is estimated at 350 nautical miles, with a Seakeeper gyrostabilizer as part of the standard-equipment package for more-comfortable time spent on board. Belowdecks are twin berths and a wet head for overnights. Electronics at the helm are by Raymarine.

Cruisers Yachts 55 Fly: Coming this Spring

The 55 Fly is the first model in the new Flybridge series from Cruisers Yachts, which also offers Cantius and GLS series. Expect the official launch of the 55 Fly this spring, with the second model in the Flybridge series on tap for next year. Luiz De Basto collaborated with the Cruisers team on interiors, using the design theme “back to nature in a tech world.” Josh Delforge, vice president of operations and engineering at Cruisers, says that one goal with the 55 Fly was best-in-class water interaction—hence the foldout side platform and sizable swim platform shown in the image below. Power will be twin 725 hp Volvo Penta IPS950s, allowing extra volume to devote to the accommodations for six guests.

Princess Y95: High Style Meets 23-Knot Speed

The Y95 is the new flagship of Princess Yachts’ four-model Y Class of open-flybridge designs in larger sizes. There are five en suite staterooms for a total of 10 guests, with the master spanning the full beam on the main deck. The flybridge is set up for driving and entertaining in comfort. There are twin adjustable helm seats, along with a forward-facing L-shaped seating area for guests. The dining table up top seats 10 people (additional dining space is on the main deck). A bar on the flybridge includes a sink, an electric barbecue, a hob and a drawer refrigerator. Power is a pair of 2,000 hp MAN V-12s that, according to Princess, allow for a top speed of 23 knots. Crew quarters are abaft the engine room, separate from the guest spaces.

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