Few superyachts – sail or power – have the visual impact of a Wally but the yard has surpassed itself with the blue-hulled 50.5-metre Better Place, the world’s largest carbon-fibre sloop. A star of the recent Monaco Yacht Show, Better Place was handed over to her owner earlier this year, and is already proving herself a capable performance yacht, reaching 17.5 knots in 15 knots of wind off Sardinia this summer.



The foredeck looks bare, but there is a series of lockers under the teak decks for winches, a tender, a hot-tub and staysail. Better Place sports a bespoke furling staysail system, with a no-torsion luff cable that is always ready to deploy from its 8.6-metre locker.

The yacht’s interior is styled by Wetzel Brown Partners. “The concept was to continue the Wally philosophy inside, but rather than just repeating what had gone before I was keen to move it to the next level,” says Gillian Brown of Wetzels Brown Partners. “The sightlines on the main deck are key, so I’ve left gaps between the stairs so you can see fore and aft. The light materials give the yacht a ‘cool’ feel, which is just what guests want on a hot day,” says Gillian Brown.



There is an inside/outside to the main deck and spaces interact in clever ways. The interior sofas are upholstered in the same material as the external chairs so that they can be moved outside if necessary. “The key is to create a ‘no shoes’ feel,” says Brown. This certainly makes for some very flexible deck areas, with the upper bridge area – such a great place to be when the yacht is sailing – becomes a secluded dining area in port or at anchor. Below, the an astonishing combination of LED lighting effects bring a vibrancy to the guest areas. The owner’s cabin aft not only has great views but opens onto an aft terrace.

For more images of Better Place, click here: