New collaboration promises ultimate in luxury yachting

If you've got a couple of million euros to spare and have been dreaming about owning that luxury retreat on the high seas, then WHY might be your answer.

Monaco-based luxury maritime design and manufacturer Wally Yachts and French high-end fashion house Hermès have partnered for this unique one-of-a-kind project they've called a "moving island" – or, officially, Wally Hermès Yacht.

Now receiving quotations, the 58x38 metres wide yacht will cost roughly €90m (Dh491m) to €100m and take about two years to build, a spokesperson told Emirates Business.

"We think that the profile of WHY's client is somebody who understands its values in terms of ecological impact and is sensible to this urgent matter, as well as is looking for a new way of living on the water," she said.

"[The client] is driven more by the comfort and luxury of having huge living areas and does not need to run at high speed, but appreciates the incredible stability of this project that is very difficult to find on the traditional motor yacht design."

A dream project of Wally Yachts President Luca Bassani Antivari and Hermès Artistic Director Pierre-Alexis Dumas, WHY has been specially designed to have the lowest possible impact on the environment, according to a release.

"The specially designed hull requires less power at cruising speed than a boat of equal size," it said. "Its diesel-electric motorisation is the most efficient motorisation out there today, and the surface of the photovoltaic panels, almost 900 sq mts, covers part of what's needed to subsist on the boat. We're also looking into a telescopic wind-turbine system and a retractable mast with a computer-operated sail measuring over 200 sq mts that will produce at least 30 per cent of the energy used to propel the boat."

While Wally Yachts will build the "house on water", Hermès will accessorise the interior. The Paris-based fashion house has previously taken on designing one-off helicopter models and luxury cars.

"When we met, in autumn 2007, I was impressed by the daring of the project. My instinct was to get on board with Luca and go and seek out new territories in yacht design, but I had no interest in speed," said Dumas.

"Luca wanted to go fast, which, for me, didn't really seem to reflect the times. I believe that, today, we want comfort, slowness and depth.

"For six generations, Hermès has grown thanks to extraordinary designs, which our craftsmen need in order to push their limits. This project fulfils our dreams. It's not about a utopia, but rather about making a dream come true, the dream of living on water in harmony with the elements and in absolute comfort."

The yacht's decks and the interiors were developed in accordance with the credo "form-equals-function", said Antivari.

Other features included "patios generously flooding the interior with natural light, photovoltaic panels on the glass hull sides, as well as on the roof opening, like Venetian blinds, a 25 metre-long forward end swimming pool, and a 36-metre aft deck beach," he said.

The partnership with Hermès was inevitable, he said.

"What I've always liked about Hermès, aside from its intrinsic quality, is its audacity and radicalism; its desire to go beyond trends, to make no compromises and to maintain the authenticity of the house. Wally shares the same values.

"Hermès on land and Wally on sea – our paths had to cross," he added.


Technical specifications

Performance: 

- 12 knots cruising speed

- 14 knots maximum speed

- Constant cruising speed up to Sea Force 4

- Long range autonomy four Atlantic crossings

- Promenade on deck 130m x 3m

- Swimming pool with thermo-regulated water 25m long

Dimensions and capacity:

- 58m length 

- 38m beam

- 2,400 tonnes displacement 

- 12 guests

- 20 crew

- 3,400 sqm living areas

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