"Better Place", designed by Wally and Bill Tripp and built by Wally Europe, recently dipped into her element for the first time. This took place in Ancona, on the Italian Adriatic coast, as part of a private celebration at which the owner's wife burst a bottle of fine champagne on the keel bomb in the presence of friends and shipyard founder Luca Bassani.
As we all know, tastes differ, and the appearance of this luxury vessel is no exception. Beautiful or not, the most striking feature of this 165-foot luxury vessel is the deckhouse (90 square metres of interior space) with its huge windows, which offers space for 20 people in addition to a lounge, navigation system and steering position. But this boat is also in a league of its own in other respects. The hull has a lot of volume, but is comparatively light thanks to the carbon fibre, which is good for the sailing characteristics. With a total weight of 250 tonnes, 88 tonnes, or more than a third, are accounted for by the ballast and 11.5 tonnes by the rig, which is stowed with standing rigging made of PBO. The ship is also equipped with a hydraulically retractable keel, which reduces the draught from 6.5 to 4.5 metres.
Engines can also be used, with a diesel-electric drive that is designed to develop a total of 705 kilowatts with three generators. This is enough to drive the boat and also leaves enough to supply many on-board systems with energy, which no longer have to run on hydraulics. For example, the fully automatic sail system - almost 1,200 square metres of cloth need to be tamed - with a staysail that can be set in just a few moments from an 8.6 metre long storage compartment on the foredeck.
"Better Place" specifications
Lüa 50.50 m
LWL 44.80 m
Width 10.25 m
Draught 4.60/6.50 m
Displacement 250 tonnes
Ballast bomb 70 tonnes
Sail area 1,190 square metres
But sailing alone is not enough, you also want to stay in style. Spacious, open-plan living areas and an interior design by the well-known design company Wetzels Brown Partners provide guests with every conceivable comfort, which can also be enjoyed "al fresco" on deck. Better Place" has room for a crew of ten and up to ten guests, who are accommodated in four cabins, each with a separate bathroom.
The owner's flat is flooded with natural light, measures 62 square metres and has direct access to the sea terrace. In front of the deckhouse is the guest cockpit with 20 sun loungers and a retractable jacuzzi (black tinted). There is also a so-called winch cockpit, a garage for two tenders, sail storage areas and an anchor locker below deck. At the very top is the 100 square metre sun deck with barbecue and sun loungers and its own catering lift, which ensures that the distances to and from the galley remain short. And if someone really needs to disembark, the bathing platform and the extendable dinghy dock amidships can be used.
Despite this luxury, "Better Place" has also been classified according to the Rina Green Star standard, which is a standard for ships that meet certain environmental requirements in both construction and operation. Lightweight interior fittings made of carbon fibre with different surfaces and colours are just as much a part of this as the LED lighting, which can be individually changed in colour.
In June, it's time to cast off for this palace under sail, which will initially sail the Mediterranean with its owners. And Wally? They seem to be doing well again. The press office reports that six more ships are under construction. Two of them are racers/cruisers according to the Boxe Rule, one is a 147-foot mega-sailer, and three are WallyAce motorboats.
