wallywhy200
| LOA 27.03 m, beam 7.66 m, 200 GT | |
| Owner's suite forward with 270 degree wrap-around glazing | |
| Volvo Penta D13 IPS1350 propulsion | |
| 23 knots max, 20 knots cruise, 370 nm range | |
| Draft 2.1 m | |
| Naval architecture by Laurent Giles, interior by A. Vallicelli and C | |
| Beach club with hydraulic platform and concealed tender garage | |
| World premiere at Cannes Yachting Festival 2021 |
The game changer
Wally calls the wallywhy200 the game changer, and for once the label is literal. The name decodes the concept, why stands for Wally Hybrid Yacht and 200 is the gross tonnage, the true measure of interior volume. By extending the full beam of 7.66 metres far into the bow, the design achieves the internal space of a conventional yacht well over 30 metres inside a 27.03 metre hull, and wraps it in a silhouette the press immediately labelled a spaceship.
The team behind it explains the confidence. Luca Bassani and the Wally design office shaped the exterior with Ferretti Group's engineering department, Laurent Giles Naval Architects drew the hull, and A. Vallicelli and C designed the interior. The first hull premiered at Cannes in 2021, series production followed, and by the time the model crossed to the American market Wally had reported multiple hulls sold, with the fifth sale confirmed in the trade press.
The owner's apartment in the bow
The defining space is the owner's suite, placed where every other yacht puts anchor lockers and crew. It occupies the full-wide-body bow behind a wall of wrap-around glazing that rises 4.7 metres over the living area, giving the owner a 270 degree panorama from bed height. No other yacht near this size offers anything comparable, and it converts the least used real estate on a conventional yacht into the best room aboard.
Three further guest cabins complete the accommodation, with four bathrooms on the guest side, three crew cabins and space for up to twenty people on board. Circulation is theatrical where it should be, a carbon fibre staircase, and practical where it must be, with crew flows kept separate. The upper deck is enormous for the class, crowned by the signature glass dome that has become the visual identifier of the whole wallywhy family.
The first full-wide-body superyacht, with the owner's suite behind 4.7 metres of glass where the foredeck used to be.
Volume that still does 23 knots
Wide-bodied yachts usually pay for their volume in speed, which is where the Laurent Giles hull earns its fee. With Volvo Penta D13 IPS1350 propulsion, the wallywhy200 reaches 23 knots flat out and cruises at 20, with a range of 370 nautical miles at cruising speed. Draft is just 2.1 metres, opening anchorages that conventional 200 gross tonne yachts cannot enter, and the pod drives make close-quarters handling undramatic.
The engineering package reflects Ferretti Group's scale. Systems, sound insulation and build quality follow group superyacht practice, and the IPS installation frees volume that shafts and gearboxes would consume. The result is an unusual combination, the interior of a small superyacht, the speed of a sport motor yacht and the draft of a dayboat, delivered in a hull that can be run by a compact professional crew without any of it feeling compromised.
Living on the water, close to it
Aft, the beach club builds on a hydraulic bathing platform, with the tender kept in a concealed garage so the transom stays clean at anchor. The main deck flows from a broad cockpit through glass into the saloon, and the upper deck under its dome works as a second saloon, dining room or command space depending on the hour. For a 27 metre yacht the variety of distinct places to spend a day is remarkable.
The aesthetic runs deep. Vallicelli's interior keeps surfaces calm and architectural so the glazing and the sea do the decorating, and the exterior's faceted, low-slung mass has aged well since 2021. This is a yacht that photographs like a concept boat and functions like a family cruiser, and it made its American debut at the Fort Lauderdale show in 2025 precisely because demand had crossed the Atlantic on the strength of those images.
The flagship of a new family
The wallywhy200 seeded a range. The wallywhy150 and wallywhy100 followed it down the size ladder, each keeping the volume-first philosophy, the glazing and the design language. As the founding hull of the family and its flagship, the 200 holds a particular position, the yacht that proved an avant-garde idea could become a production success, which is historically when early hulls become sought after on the brokerage market.
For an owner the practical case is straightforward. Nothing else at 27 metres offers this volume, nothing else with this volume offers 23 knots and a 2.1 metre draft, and nothing else in the class carries a design this identifiable. Add Ferretti Group support coverage worldwide and a growing fleet that validates residual values, and the wallywhy200 reads less like a niche experiment and more like the safest radical purchase in yachting.
Motori e impianti
| Main engines | Four Volvo Penta D13 IPS1350 pod units, 1,000 hp each, per Power & Motoryacht's sea trial report. |
|---|---|
| Fuel and range | 12,000 l (3,170 US gal) fuel; about 370 nm at a 20-knot cruise, per NautiStyles' published review. |
| Draft | 2.1 m, shallow for a 200 GT yacht, opening anchorages a conventional yacht of similar volume cannot enter. |
| Hull | Full-beam-forward composite hull by Laurent Giles Naval Architects, engineered with Ferretti Group; exterior styling by Wally's own studio. |
Cosa riferiscono armatori ed equipaggi
The propulsion decision, from the yard's own founder
"I actually thought that the propulsion system was going to be our biggest headache. I assumed IPS was just for fast boats. But Volvo said it would be fine, and they were right." This is Wally's own account of its engineering choice, not an independent owner's, but it is a genuine first-hand engineering admission rather than marketing copy.
Luca Bassani, Wally founder, quoted by Alan Harper, Power & MotoryachtWhy the boat was tuned for 15-16 knots, not top speed
Bassani said the target buyer wanted something "more comfortable, more sociable, more sensible" than a fast boat, and the trial captain called 15 knots at 1,850 rpm "pretty optimal in terms of range, ride and comfort."
Luca Bassani and the sea trial captain, quoted by Alan Harper, Power & MotoryachtIndependent tester's impression of the ride
"The 200 does indeed offer an extraordinarily smooth and quiet ride," and "even on a choppy day, it was very restful."
Alan Harper, European editor, Power & MotoryachtSales pace
Brokerage trade reporting recorded the sixteenth in-build hull sold, the sale introduced by broker Alex Banning of SuperYachtsMonaco - real demand evidence rather than a shipyard claim.
YachtBuyer trade reporting
Cosa convince e cosa va valutato
Punti di forza
- A genuinely new layout, not a styling exercisePutting the owner's suite in the full-beam bow behind 4.7 m of glazing is not available on any comparably sized conventional yacht, and reviewers who toured the boat treated it as the real point of the design, not a gimmick.
- Confident handling despite the volumeAn independent European editor reported smooth, quiet, restful handling even in choppy water, and Wally's own founder admitted he had doubted the IPS pod choice before trials proved it out - a rare candid admission from a manufacturer.
- Real sales tractionMultiple hulls sold well into double digits by brokerage count, evidence the format found a genuine buyer beyond the show-stand novelty.
Da valutare
- Modest range for the volumeAbout 370 nm at a 20-knot cruise is short next to a conventional-hull yacht of similar interior volume, the price the wide-body bow pays in wetted surface and drag.
- Running costs scale with the beamThe reviewer who tested it flagged that the 7.66 m beam raises berthing costs, and that insurance premiums run higher given the extensive glazing and pod-drive systems.
- Premium price for the format, not the lengthUsed examples were reported in the EUR 7-9 million band - a price that reflects the 200 GT interior volume the wide body buys, not the 27-metre hull length, which buyers used to conventional yacht pricing by the metre need to recalibrate for.
Informazioni pratiche
| Price | Used examples reported in the EUR 7 to 9 million range; new-build pricing commands a premium and was not confirmed from a primary source. |
|---|---|
| Build | First hull built at the Pershing plant in Mondolfo; Wally is now owned by Ferretti Group, which reviewers credit with tightening quality control since. |
| Sales | At least sixteen hulls sold as of the most recent brokerage report found, introduced in one case by broker Alex Banning of SuperYachtsMonaco. |
| Show calendar | Debuted at the Cannes Yachting Festival 2021; United States debut at FLIBS 2025. |
| Layout options | Four- or five-cabin configurations, so a buyer should confirm which is fitted before assuming charter or family capacity. |
A chi si rivolge: The owner who measures a yacht in volume and daylight, wants the master suite in the bow with a panoramic view, and expects sport-yacht speed and shallow draft from a 200 gross tonne interior.