Wally Class season ready to start: top participation with increasing competition!

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Tomorrow opens the 2016 racing season: the #wally Class #competition resumes after the winter break, and it’s already up with last year high participation, the record since the founding of the Division in 1999!

The number of yachts on the starting line ranges from 11 at the inaugural regatta of the year Gaastra Palmavela (4-8 May), to 12 at the new event of the official calendar Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta (Porto Cervo, 7-11 June), 13 at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup (Porto Cervo, 5-11 September), and the peak 15 at the season ending  Les Voiles de Saint Tropez.

“We are very thrilled to start another exciting season of regattas, and see that the participation is set to the highest levels and the #competition level increases every year –says Luca Bassani, #wally Class President and founder, and avid racer himself – During the winter, over half the fleet underwent important modifications at appendages, sail plans, or onboard weight distributions, that involved naval architects and hyper specialized professionals. ”

“Additionally, the teams hire the best sailors to maximize the level of crew work, and the best captains to manage the yachts’ constant development, raising the quality of the regattas. – continues Bassani – We created a circuit that sets new high standards in racing superyachts, while keeping the original ProAm formula. Our owner driving rule encourages the owners to steer their yachts, otherwise they get penalized, while the rest of the crew has no restrictions and is mostly made of super professionals.” 

Another plus of the #wally Class is the proven rating system: “We adopt the pure IRC because so far it’s the system that better suits the characteristics of our yachts –explains Luca Bassani “Anyhow we constantly monitor other measurement systems, to evaluate any option that can improve the rating accuracy. Like every year, all the yachts have been checked and measured before the start of the season to make sure the ratings reflect the real status of the yacht after the winter works.”

This year the fleet welcomes the new wallycento Galateia, who will join the #wally Class at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Les Voiles de Saint Tropez. She has recently raced in Saint Barth’s regattas (Bucket and Voiles) impressing the participants. The battle in the forefront of the course will be strong and hard among Open Season (reigning champion of the series), and the two wallycentos Magic Carpet3 and Galateia.  The rest of the #wally fleet includes Galma, Genie of the Lamp, J One,Kenora, Lyra, Magic Blue, Nahita, Ryokan 2, Sensei, Tango G, Tilakkhana, and Y3K.

At each regatta, the #wally Class has three classifications and relevant prizes: overall (the whole fleet), group 80 (80-foot fleet), and group 2 (yachts with a more cruising approach compete with sail inventory restrictions).

At the end of the season, the Wally Class Trophy is awarded to the winner of the series, determined using the high point scoring system.

This system rewards the results according to the number of participants: the higher the participation, the higher the score because the #competition is stronger. The #wally with the highest number of points wins the #wally Trophy.

Every race of the series can be followed live with the tracking system, uploaded in the Wally website dedicated section.

In addition, two novelties will delight the passionate aficionados: the Wally Class app and the Wally Class book 2016. The app, available in both the Apple store and the Play store, gives direct access to the live racing information including the tracking and standings in corrected time at the mark roundings! It also informs on the fleet, the regatta calendar, the leg by leg performance, the races and regattas results, and the #wally Trophy standings.

The #wally Class book is dedicated to the 2016 racing season, presenting the yearly regattas and the teams with exclusive pictures and insider information. The ABC of the #wally Class 2016 will be published for Christmas.