above: the newly refined design of the original Wally WHY Superyacht
Remember the incredibly blogged about WHY Yacht by Wally in collaboration with luxury brand Hermes? The cgi images and video of the modern sustainable superyacht were on almost every luxury and design site in 2009 and the drool-worthy vessel made just about everyone's dream wish list.
Well, it's been almost a year since the spectacular modern luxury superyacht received enormous press coverage, so what's happened since then?
As the yacht has come closer to being finalized, design and engineering refinements have been made to the 58 x 38 version and Wally has also introduced a 37 x 24 version to accompany the original, both of which are shown in this post. The association with the Hermes brand seems to have fallen by the wayside, except for the visible H seen on the helipad /pool deck of the larger version.
WHY Yachts unveils smaller 37x24:
above: the new smaller Wally Why Yacht (37m long and 24m wide)
The new "littler" superyacht.
The new WHY 37x24 (121.39 feet long and 78.74 feet wide) is developed to complete the range, offering the same concept in the smaller segment. Like the larger 58x38 (190 feet long and 125 feet wide), the hydrodynamics of the 37x24 are designed by Roar Ramde, the Norwegian naval engineer who developed the Ramform vessels, Mauro Sculli and Claudio Cicconetti, naval architects.
The WHY 37x24 is designed to deliver the WHY concept in the 700 ton range of displacement (as opposed to the 2,400 ton displacement of the larger WHY yacht). She outperforms all traditional "slender' yachts similar in displacement, not only in sustainability but also in terms of available guest surface area which comes close to 1,000 sq meters (3,280 feet) for WHY versus 650 sq. meters (2,132 sq. feet) rarely reached within benchmark yachts.
The New WHY 37x24:
WHY 37x24 provides for the same unique and unparalleled characteristics as the WHY 58x38, from every point of view: design, stability, sustainability and volumes. This model features three decks and accommodates up to 10 guests and 15 crew.
The living area is 3,280 sq. feet (1,000 sq. meters). The target price is between $51.5 and $56.5 million (or 42 and 46 million EUR).
Now, The Newly Refined Larger Wally WHY 58x38:
Since the successful launching of the Why in September 22, 2009, the innovative project has focused on unprecedented stability, unparalleled volume and sustainability, and has been further developed improving the design, introducing the new Why 37x24, and finalizing the engineering as well as the construction plan.
As a result of the eight month sustained activity of the design and commercial departments, the highly acclaimed WHY is entering the operating phase according to schedule.
WHY has so far generated hundreds of contacts and press articles worldwide: a huge and extraordinary coverage for the yachting industry. To fully exploit this success, Wally has signed a business partnership with brokerage houses YCO and Yachting Partners International (YPI Group) to develop and organize the customer plan of the breakthrough concept which may well be set to revolutionize the luxury yacht market.
above: the full size mock up of the Why in Anacona, Italy.
The 1:1 mock-up of WHY58x38 was built in Ancona, Italy as an essential tool of the intensive R&D programme. The possibility to test the innovative design ideas in real size, has lead to some modifications of the original project.
Changes to the Wally WHY 58x38 Luxury Yacht:
The Design Team has improved five different main features since the initial reports of the superyacht in 2009:
1. the shape of the Venetian blind sliding roof that support the 900 sq. meter photovoltaic panels, has been changed to a flat surface rather than rounded as it was before.
The new design maximizes the efficiency of the panels and provides for the full exploitation of the living areas of the terraces. As a result, the roof now includes fixed parts (wheelhouse roof and lateral sections of each terrace roofs) and seven movable parts (three identical ones on the Upper Deck roof and on the Owner’s deck roof, and one on the Wheelhouse Deck roof that can be only orientated but not retracted)
2. the interior area aft the Wheelhouse has been fully exploited: the new layout of this area features two guest lounges along with the Captain and the First Officer cabins.
3. the proportion between interior and exterior volumes of the Upper and Owner decks has been revised to further increase the interiors: the new accommodation layout provides for the Owner’s suite with two double cabins, and six guest cabins, for a total of 16 guests.
4. the deck walk-around has been improved reducing the gradient to 8 degrees max; the result has been obtained by lowering the Wheelhouse deck level of approx 40cm and by moving the start of the ramp aft
5. the forward swimming pool has been widened by reducing the bulwark and moving slightly aft the helipad.
The complete and exhaustive preliminary technical dossier of the 58x38 that includes the ProShip and RINA plans, is ready to be submitted and quoted by the three selected shipyards (one in the USA, two in Europe). The outcome of the consultations defining price and building times, is expected for July 2010.
To see interior shots, a video and the original version, go here.
thanks to Wally Why Yachts and Super Yacht Times for info and images.