Wally built the wallyrocket71 to answer a narrow question: how do you beat a Maxi 72 without simply building a bigger boat? The answer runs through weight. Botin Partners drew a hull marginally shorter than the class it targets, and King Marine took two tonnes out of it. Lighter displacement lets the keel shrink and the rig come down slightly, and each saving feeds the next. The boat that results is quicker in light airs and sharper when a gust arrives.
Water ballast carries the other half of the argument. The wallyrocket71 holds 2.7 tonnes of it, around 35 per cent more than its rivals, and the system moves the full load across the boat in roughly six seconds. That speed matters: it lets a crew tack short and often without paying for the manoeuvre, which is where races on corrected time are usually decided.
Twin rudders and a high-performance bulb keel hold the boat steady when it is loaded up. Early sail trials put it at its 10.5 to 11 knot upwind targets without difficulty, and matching or exceeding true wind speed on the way back down. Wally declined to optimise for either end of the course, on the argument that a boat tuned only for upwind or only for downwind hands the result to the forecast.
For an owner costing a competitive maxi programme, this is a purpose-built race boat, and the published specification is still preliminary.
