In October and November each year, some 4-5,000 yachts travel from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean to spend the winter in warmer climes, before heading back in April or May. The new 27 Wallyace displacement yacht, however, can carry 6-10 guests and four crew members either way across the Atlantic Ocean non-stop.
The 27.33-meter (90-foot) 27 Wallyace is the first Wally with features often found on much larger yachts, such as a full-beam owners’ suite and an amidships tender garage.
The owners’ suite is aft and opens onto the rear deck that Wally calls a “terrace-on-the-sea” with a “feet in the water” experience. The point is it’s a really cool suite looking over a deck that opens directly to the water. If you’re in the owners’ suite and no one’s swimming off the deck, there’s a sense of exclusivity and privacy.
The big deal about having an amidships garage is the RIB (rigid inflatable boat) tender and other watercraft and toys stored in the garage are launched from that location. Deliveries of food, supplies, and anything else are also received there.
The guest cabins are on the same level but aft of the garage. The engine is amidships and the service areas and crew quarters are forward.
The 27 Wallyace is powered by two 385-horsepower 287 bkW Caterpillar C12 Diesel Marine Propulsion Engines. That might not seem like much power for a 90-foot yacht, but according to Wally, the whole point is quiet operation and fuel efficiency. The 27 Wallyace has a top speed of 13 knots and cruises at 10 knots.
So the 27 Wallyace isn’t going to make it from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to the Bimini in the Bahamas in under an hour, as can the similar-sized AB 100. The AB 100 has a maximum speed of 54 knots and a 45-knot cruising speed from its three diesel engines, each rated at 1,900 horsepower and each paired with a waterjet thruster.
But the design purposes of the vessels are very different. The AB 100 is a semi-displacement yacht, built more for speed than space, and its bow rises out of the water at speed.
The 27 Wallyace stays level, pushing the water aside, and has more space onboard, and even though the AB100 is technically longer at 100 feet, it’s rated at 24 meters. The Wallyace has a wide, stable hull with loads of volume for its living, working, and social spaces.
The performance difference that favors the Wallyace is traveling range. At its 45-knot cruising speed, the AB100 has a 550 nautical mile range. The 27 Wallyace, however, has a 3,000 nm range at 10 knots per hour.
So what the 27 Wallyace can do, rather than just a lunch run to the Bahamas, is cross the Atlantic at cruising speed without stopping to refuel its 15,000-liter total capacity (3,962-gallon) fuel tanks.
There is a little confusion in the specifications because Wally’s material on the 27 Wallace claims the yacht can go from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean without refueling, but that’s beyond the listed specifications.
A crossing from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean is roughly 4,000 nautical miles, or about 1,000 more than the Wallyace’s range. Certainly, however, an Atlantic crossing from the Canary Islands to Hamilton, Bermuda (2,861 nautical miles) or from Tenerife to Hamilton (2815 nm) are within the rated range, although close to the limit.
