Marking the completion of one of the most technically complex projects of Design Unlimited to date, the first WallyCento 100ft sailing yacht Hamilton by Wally Yachts has been successfully launched. The Hamilton superyacht boasts both exterior styling as well as interior design by this well known UK-based studio.
WallyCento sailing yacht Hamilton with exterior styling and interior by Design Unlimited
The rules that underlie all Wally yachts including these exceptionally powerful cruiser‐racers require that they all have full cruising interiors. For Design Unlimited this presented the dual challenge of designing a luxury interior that fully satisfied the Wally ethos while adhering to a strict weight‐saving regime devised to ensure that the yacht would be competitive out on the race course, and undertaking the exterior styling to produce the Wally ‘essence’ with clean elegant lines, a low profile and strong feeling to the cabin top.
The owner’s requirements were for a simple interior which would be functional for racing, but still exhibit the contemporary modern feel of a Wally and have a comfortable relaxing ambience. The owner also wanted a sleek, thoroughbred exterior with a guest cockpit separate from the sail handling area where guests could observe the racing in comfort and safety.
While project leader James Stagg worked with the appointed leading lightweight build yard Green Marine and assembled a team of engineers and composite specialists to ensure that the hull and its sailing systems were the minimal weight possible, Mark Tucker and his team at Design Unlimited designed and specified an interior that would deliver everything that the Wally rule and its owner required. They then worked very closely with interior outfitters Struik & Hamerslag UK to ensure that the weight compliance was met.
Design Unlimited has unrivalled experience in the design of lightweight interiors for fast sailing yachts, including superyacht Visione, charter yacht Sojana, Ran 2 and Singularity who have all been successful on the race course as well as accumulating many cruising nautical miles, but the WallyCento presented an exceptional set of challenges.
While ensuring that every possible kilogram of weight would be used to maximise the WallyCento luxury yacht Hamilton’s performance, Design Unlimited also set out to create an interior that met the requirements of the Wally box rule. These include the stipulation that the interior make up at least 54% of the overall volume of the hull, with a large master stateroom with en‐suite, two guest cabins again with en‐suite and crew cabin with en‐suite/day head, as well as additional regulations governing surface finishes and headroom requirements.
Other comforts required for extended cruising must also be available including air conditioning, a fully functional galley and entertainment systems ‐ all for the least possible weight.
Visually the Design Unlimited interior adheres to the trademark Wally pattern of clean, stylish simplicity and also conforms perfectly to the owner’s brief of providing a comfortable relaxing ambience. Much less visible are the underlying materials used to ensure that every component weighs the absolute minimum.
The fundamental joinery is constructed from aluminium honeycomb panels with lightweight plywood skins for excellent wear characteristics while more delicate areas are constructed from Nomex core with carbon skins for further weight reduction.
The cabin soles are finished in American Black Walnut and beneath the walnut lies again carbon skins with Nomex cores, making it strong but lightweight. The interior has not been carpeted, but the bulkhead and hull linings use Sunbrella in Natural Linen and the headboard feature panels are in Opuzen Tiger Velvet. The saloon starboard side seating is Spinneybeck Copenhagen Leather while the port side seating and feature panels are Alma Mocha Bull nubuck suede.
The beauty of the interior is in the fine detail. Specific features have been enhanced and created by clever use of carbon weave, the dining seating has sprung bases for optimum comfort and custom mattresses have been specified for all cabins to both adhere to the Wally rules and weight tolerances set by the team and also to provide maximum comfort for the owner. Vola taps and bathroom hardware are fitted throughout along with titanium handrails, Heirlooms linen, Savage Marine aluminium LED light fittings and stylish door furniture to give Hamilton a true superyacht pedigree. The galley is fully functional and equipped in accordance with the Wally rules.
“This has been an exciting and demanding project,” said Design Unlimited’s Mark Tucker. “The focus on saving every possible kilo while ensuring that the interior was both luxurious and complete with all the amenities that cruising guests would expect required a rigorous attention to detail and left absolutely no room for error. The exceptionally short timescale for the entire design and build process also added an additional dimension. However we are delighted with the outcome and it was a pleasure to work alongside so many partners active at the cutting edge of sailboat design, building and engineering.”
