New Wally superyacht

The extreme cost of building and campaigning a 30-metre super maxi racing yacht these days has seen the class almost come to a standstill for the past five years as owners have modified existing designs rather than commission a new boat.

That doesn't means there aren't a significant number of blokes who want to go racing in big and fast yachts -- but until now there hasn't been anything competitive and sensible.

Wally Yachts, the Italian manufacturer who has built some of the world's most coveted giant yachts in the past couple of decades, has now stepped forward to solve the problem with the state-of-the-art Wally/Otto -- an 80ft one-design racing yacht that can also be used to take the family cruising in comfort.

The Wally/Otto will offer uncompromising racing performance with a small crew, greatly reduced annual racing budgets, a quick conversion into a comfortable cruiser and a much longer lifespan than a gung-ho 30-metre super maxi.

The Wally/Otto will offer the only one-design racing fleet in a maxi-sized yacht. The class rules and design will mean far fewer crew are needed and there will be limited annual sail inventories to minimise campaigning costs.

And unlike most full-on racing yachts, the Wally/Otto will have a dedicated space at the stern where guests can enjoy the racing experience in safety and comfort and without getting in the way of the hard-working crew.

When the racing season ends, the yachts will quickly convert to comfortable day sailers that can take the family and friends out on the water and be handled comfortably without a full professional crew aboard.

Below decks, rather than the stripped-out carbon fibre shell of a super maxi, the Wally/Otto will have standing headroom, a proper galley, a comfortable salon and three separate cabins.

Speaking at the launch of the project in Port Cervo recently, Wally founder and president Luca Bassani Antivari said the yachts would allow owners to compete at the very highest level -- alongside America's Cup and Olympic class sailors.

"This intelligent flexible design dispenses with the ownership challenges normally associated with a traditional 'pure' racing yacht," Antivari said.