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Other owners who place an emphasis on entertainment but who crave even more extreme styling will be intrigued by the first-ever line of motoryachts from Wally Yachts. If you've never heard of Wally, mention the name to your blowboat brethren and see how they react--chances are they'll turn pale if they're traditionalists and grin broadly if they're nonconformists. Monaco-based Wally turned the sailing world on its ear seven years ago with aggressively styled, fiberglass sailing yachts. The three motoryacht models Wally plans to launch starting next year are poised to do the same thing among the powerboat set.

The models include a 45-foot tender/dayboat known as WallyTender and 88- and 118-foot megayachts each known as WallyPower, the latter of which will be the first to splash. All will be constructed of fiberglass at Intermarine Italy and feature futuristic, sharply linear exterior styling--notably a vertical bow, air inlets that resemble folded wings, and (with the exception of the open WallyTender) a mostly flat-surfaced, semitransparent superstructure. In fact, the superstructure will be entirely of glass, tinted for privacy and sun protection.

It all boils down to a profile that makes the yachts appear poised to take off in a heartbeat. Tank tests performed at SSPA in Sweden last year verified the 118 should be capable of 70 knots, depending on various gas turbine power options coupled to waterjets. And wind-tunnel tests performed in Italy in May verified the aerodynamics of the styling; in conditions simulating 60 to 65 knots of yacht speed with 20 to 25 knots of wind speed, the only modifications reportedly required were minor alterations to the turbines' air inlets.

While not as far-out looking as the other yachts featured here, a megayacht envisioned by UK design consultant firm Design Q still takes some things to extremes. Start with her length--all 361 feet of it. Not only is there plenty of space to land a helicopter (one that can carry a handful of passengers instead of just the pilot and a passenger) and to stow PWCs (in the yacht's sides, of course, to preserve the linear profile), but also there's also a fold-out "dock" for these toys or another large tender (even a regular boat like the Princess V65 that Design Q contributed to) to pull up alongside. And oh yes, the owner who commissioned the design, which will go out for bids in the second quarter of next year, insisted that the yacht also accommodate his S-Type Jaguar--fitting, since two members of Design Q were creative forces behind that car.

When it comes to the appearance of the superstructure, though, there's nothing car-like about it. Rather, much like a child who carefully balances smaller blocks on top of larger ones, the designers placed the three levels of the superstructure squarely in the center of the long hull. Three huge, vertical oval windows in the middle of the superstructure will treat the owner and his guests to fabulous vistas. Adding to the brightness is another light source overhead, in the form of a 15-foot "leisure pool." To be fabricated of extra-tough glass, the bottom will filter day- or moonlight down to the dance floor immediately below.

While the regulars on the car-show circuit in Detroit scratched their heads in bewilderment last January upon seeing the Explorer Sportsman, a concept car from Ford that came complete with fly-fishing rods, deployable workbenches for fly tying, and a 30-gallon fishtank, Popular Mechanics saw it differently. The magazine took the opportunity to speculate tongue-in-cheek about suburban fish-pond owners using the vehicle to take their prize koi on vacation with them. We'll leave any sardonic comments about the motoryachts outlined above to the purists--although that leisure pool envisioned by Design Q might make a terrific koi pond of its own...

Luiz de Basto Designs Phone: (305) 373-1500. Fax: (305) 377-0900. www.luizdebasto.com.
Design Q Phone: (44) 1527 501499. Fax: (44) 1527 515314. www.designq.co.uk.
Mulder Design Phone: (31) 183 692001. Fax: (31) 183 692002.
Wally Yachts Phone: (37) 7 93 10 00 93. Fax: (37) 7 93 10 00 94. www.wallyyachts.com.

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