Captain Miguel Garriga has loved sailing all his life — and he’s got a lot to love at the helm of Galma.
He may now helm the ultra-modern 110-foot wallywind110 Galma, but it was a classic yacht that got Captain Miguel Garriga into sailing. Born in Barcelona, his earliest memory of boating was being aboard his parents’ 31-foot sailboat when he was just a toddler. “But I really discovered sailing when I was 12 and my dad bought a 1943 52-foot wooden ketch designed by Germán Frers Sr, which he still has.”
Captain Miguel helped his dad work on the boat every weekend during the winter so she was ready for the summer season. “We cruised around all the Med every summer and enjoyed it very much,” he says. They also participated in classic yacht regattas, such as Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez and Régates Royales de Cannes.
“In 2001, my dad and I crossed the Atlantic with the excuse of participating in the Antigua Classic Week,” he says. “Before arriving in Antigua, we cruised from Tobago to Antigua for three months. Best time of my life.” There, Captain Miguel was amazed to meet friends who were getting paid to work on big, beautiful sailing yachts. “I couldn’t believe how lucky they were!”
When they got back to Spain, he spent the summer skippering a 47-foot Beneteau, running week-long charters. “There I met a guy who ran some sail racing teams and proposed me to be the captain on one of his boats — I enjoyed it and learned a lot during four years,” he says. He moved on to the TP52 class for another few years, until meeting the owner of Galma in 2008, who had Tiketitoo at the time. “And I’ve been with him since.”
Introduced by a mutual friend, the owner was looking for a young captain for his boat. “I had no experience on such big boats, but he gave me the opportunity to learn,” he says. “I have to say, he was very patient with me in the first seasons. Running the boat, the crew, the racing, it was all new to me. But I was young and willing to learn and do things well.”
It’s not hard to tell Captain Miguel’s itching to get the new Wally yacht out on the racecourse. But, unlike previous fast-flying Wallys belonging to the owner, Galma is intended to be a fast cruiser rather than a flat-out racer. Galma’s owner is a firm Wally fan, first encountering the builder’s creations in Menorca one summer and falling head over heels for the brand’s trademark geometric lines and high performance. The owner chartered Wally B before buying one of Wally’s power offerings, in the form of the wallytender45 before later upsizing to the wallytender48, which currently serves as Galma’s chase boat. Galma is the owner’s third Wally sailing superyacht — after the Wally 88 Tiketitoo and the Wally 94 Galma I — all of which have been helmed by Miguel.
Galma’s owner happened upon the design for the new wallywind110 while sailing with Wally founder and lead designer Luca Bassani one summer. Luca revealed the yet-to-be-announced design for a new hybrid cruise-racer platform from Wally, which appealed to the owner’s desires to have more comfort while not relinquishing too much performance. “I wanted to have a very fast cruising boat, because I’m not racing as much anymore. But I race when I cruise — I like to race myself!” Galma’s owner says.
The boat was halfway through the build, so the owner and Captain Miguel were able to put their stamp on the project, which included upgrading the sail plan. “The concept had a traditional sail plan with a pinhead main and a fixed keel,” says Miguel. “But for me a Wally must have a square-top main and a telescopic keel to give the yacht more performance.”
Inside, lightweight materials were chosen to help keep the yacht fast on her feet. “We got rid of all the optional extras to make the boat as light and high performance as possible, but we still have all the comforts that are needed for a cruiser with a good-sized galley, water maker and washer and dryer,” Captain Miguel says.
Like all Wally yachts, Galma’s design blends form and function. Case in point is the flexible cockpit design, which allows her to morph seamlessly from cruiser to racer with many movable sunpads, tables and even Bimini tops that can stay up while sailing.
One of the captain’s favorite attributes of Galma is her build quality. “She is very well built. All the team involved in the project have a passion for making things the best possible quality,” he says.
The crew quarters are also decently sized, with two double cabins and a captain’s cabin, each with their own bathroom. “The crew mess is good, and we have all we need there,” he says.
But, of course, for Galma’s captain, the pièce de résistance is the yacht’s performance. The captain is excited that the owner plans to take part in the 2025 Cyclades Cup, putting Galma’s racing prowess to the test. “The power she shows under sail is amazing,” he says. “She’s a fully equipped cruising yacht, but once she has the sails up and takes some wind, she turns into something I can’t describe. But it makes you feel good. She is stable, not scary. And, most importantly, she is fun!”