Wally

Wally builds carbon sailing yachts the way nobody asked them to — which is precisely the point. Founded in Monaco in 1994 by Luca Bassani, a Milanese who wanted a big boat a family could sail without a paid army on the winches, the yard pioneered prepreg carbon construction and push-button hydraulic sail handling: the Magic Trim system, conceived with Cariboni in 1998, took the winches off the deck and put the loads in cylinders below it. Every flush-deck “minimalist” maxi of the last twenty-five years is quoting a Wally, whether it knows it or not.

The fleet was never large — 48 carbon sailing yachts in the first three decades, most of them one-offs — and the closest thing to a series is the Farr-designed Wally 80 of 2004–2009, still winning superyacht regattas two decades on. Ferretti Group bought the brand in 2019 and pointed it at motor yachts and new sailing ranges; the classic sailing fleet now lives on through its owners, its class circuit, and a web of specialist contractors.