wallytender48X

• LOA 15 m, beam 4.4 m
• Four Mercury Verado V10 425 or Mercury Racing V8 500R outboards
• Up to 56 knots max, 34 to 36 knots cruise
• Range 360 nm at standard cruise
• Draft about 0.7 m with outboards tilted
• Split 2+2 engines with central hydraulic passerelle and swim ladder
• Cabin with double V-berth and shower room, 12 people on board
• World debut at Miami Yacht Show 2020

Where the X line began

The inboard 48 wallytender was the first new Wally launched under Ferretti Group ownership, premiering at Cannes in 2019 and crossing at once to Fort Lauderdale for its American debut. The reception in Florida settled the next decision, the market wanted outboards, and at the Miami Yacht Show in February 2020 Wally answered with the 48X, the same 15 metre platform wearing four Mercury Racing 450R engines.

That first specification cruised at 40 knots and topped 55, numbers that put a design-led European tender ahead of the American center-console establishment on its own terms. The current engine menu has evolved with Mercury's catalogue, four Verado V10 425s as standard for 50 knots, or four Racing V8 500Rs that push the top speed to 56 knots, but the character was fixed in Miami in 2020.

The split-engine trick

Most quad-outboard transoms are a wall of cowlings that cut the boat off from the sea. Wally split the 48X's engines, two to port and two to starboard, and used the gap for a retractable hydraulic passerelle that doubles as a swim ladder dropping straight down the centreline. Guests walk between the engines into the water, a piece of lateral thinking that no spec sheet captures and no owner stops appreciating.

The same practicality runs through the deck. Expanding aft wings widen the platform at anchor, the walkaround flush deck lets guests circulate without gymnastics, and the forward sun lounge keeps the bow useful underway and at rest. With the outboards tilted, draft shrinks to about 70 centimetres, so the 48X noses onto beaches that even its own tenders would once have scouted first.

Four outboards split around a centreline swim stair, 56 knots on tap and 70 centimetres of draft with the engines up.

Numbers that still lead the class

At 15 metres overall with a 4.4 metre beam and 11,500 kilograms unladen, the 48X carries 2,800 litres of fuel, enough for 360 nautical miles at the standard 34 knot cruise or 320 at the optional spec's 36 knots. Twelve people ride certified, and the deep-V hull inherited from the wallypower school keeps the speed honest when the afternoon chop arrives.

Below deck the cabin does more than tick a box, a double V-berth, sofa seating, a vanity unit, proper storage and a shower room, which turns an overnight at anchor from an endurance test into a pleasure. Joystick control tames the four-engine transom in a marina, and Mercury's global service network means the exotic silhouette hides entirely ordinary maintenance.

Tender, flagship, or both

The 48X was drawn as a superyacht tender, and it remains the definitive one for owners whose mothership deserves better than an inflated RIB. It matches a Wally mothership's geometry, obviously, but it has become the chase boat of choice across brands because it carries guests, toys and provisions at 50 knots while looking like part of the fleet. Owners of large sailing yachts in particular treat it as the second hull of the programme, the fast link to shore that speaks the same design language as the mothership.

The twist is how many owners run it as their primary boat. As a standalone weekender it out-styles the console fleet, out-accommodates most of it and holds its value on the strength of the brand. The inboard 48 remains in the range for owners who prefer a clean transom and quiet marina manners, but the X is the version that built the following.

The owner's calculation

Five years into its production life, the 48X has done the thing that matters most in this segment, it has stayed the boat the others are compared against. The combination of 56 knot capability, beachable draft, a real cabin and the split-transom swim stair remains unduplicated, and the design has not aged a day, which is the Wally brand promise working at 48 feet.

For an owner the risk profile is as attractive as the styling. Proven platform, current engines, a deep used market that clears quickly, and a builder in Ferretti Group that will still be here at resale time. Whether it shadows a 45 metre wallywind or headlines its own dock, the 48X is the rare performance boat that is also a sensible decision.

Para quién es: The owner who needs the definitive superyacht chase boat or a standalone 50 knot weekender, with beachable draft, a usable cabin and the only quad-outboard transom you can walk through to swim.