Soul Sanctuary: A Bugatti, A Helicopter, Now A Superyacht. Hermès Collaborates With Wally.

Well, they've already done a luxury automobile and a helicopter (the Bugatti Veyron and the Eurocopter 135 shown above), so I guess a luxury superyacht was next on the list. Note: they actually sell an Hermès $4000.00 bicycle too.

Hermès, the respected luxury fashion and leather goods house in Paris has collaborated with Wally yachts to introduce a eco-conscious luxury super yacht, the WHY 58.

above: Hermès is best known for their coveted Birkin handbag and recognizable by their fabulous orange packaging with brown ribbon.

No, it' not Hermès orange (that would be so awesome though, wouldn't it?) nor does it don a big "H", but they did accessorize the interior of the Monaco brand yacht. And wouldn't an Hermès orange life jacket or vest make perfect sense? But I digress, back to the yacht.

cross section drawings of the yacht:

A video of the yacht that is definitely worth watching:

The full scale model unveiled in Ancona, Italy:

The press release:
Wally Hermès Yachts: a joint-venture.

WHY is the result of the joint-venture signed in June 2008 between Hermès and Wally, to develop a new type of motor yacht redefining the art of living on the sea. The iconic Parisian house and the iconic Monaco yacht brand formed an equal partnership whereby each company is fully involved in all aspects of the conception and design of each project.

Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Artistic Director of Hermès says : “When we met, in autumn 2007, Luca Bassani Antivari, President of Wally had thought about asking Hermès to accessorise the interior of one of his boats. I was impressed by the daring of his projects. My instinct was to get on board with him and go and seek out new territories in yacht design, but I had no interest in speed.”

Luca Bassani Antivari explains: “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’, ‘Wally-on-Sea’: inevitably our paths had to cross.”

WHY 58x38

The common values of the two brands have led to a first yacht that offers an unparalleled living space at sea.

WHY was developed to give life to this concept assembling a team of dedicated talents in design, engineering, and naval architecture.

Then the tried and tested Norwegian Ramform hull characterised by exceptional and unprecedented stability and volume and spotted by Luca Bassani Antivari, revealed itself as the ideal choice to be adapted to the WHY 58x38 project.

Following this unique adaptation, the decks and the interiors were developed in accordance with the fundamental credo of WHY, 'form-equals-function'. Thus were born other innovations in the world of mega yachts: 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.

WHY 58x38 offers comfort, privacy, stability, space, independence and sustainability.

Sustainability

“We are very interested in creating a yacht that will have a low environmental impact”, says Pierre-Alexis Dumas. “Its relationship with the sea must be respectful and easy. WHY intends to offer a new way of moving over water by creating an innovative way of managing and recycling its sources and uses of energy.”

“If you want to go totally ecological, the only solution is sailing. The reality is that today, 90 % of the market is powerboats, echoes Luca Bassani Antivari. Our aim is to reduce diesel consumption per year and per yacht: 20 to 30 % for propulsion and 40 to 50 % for generation.”

Thanks to its specific hull, WHY 58x38 requires less power at cruising speed than a boat of equal size. Its diesel-electric propulsion is the most efficient motorisation today, and the surface of the photovoltaic panels, almost 900 square metres, covers most of the boat’s auxiliary system needs.

WHY Research and Development plan to optimize this project’s energy consumption by improving the isolation of the yacht and the heat recovery of its engines, and is also investigating the latest wind energy production and wind propulsion system technologies.

In comparison to a yacht of the same size, WHY 58x38 has been conceived to reduce drastically its energy consumption, saving up to 200 tons of diesel per year.

The WHY R & D program includes tank testing for hull stability in the SSPA facilities in Sweden, and the construction of a full-scale mock-up in order to allow the design team to fine tune the living areas correctly in accordance with the hull’s unique shape.

“The WHY 58X38 yacht looks very unfamiliar but it remains on a human scale. Space is the greatest luxury on the sea, but I believe the new luxury will be the time to enjoy it”, concludes Pierre-Alexis Dumas.