Pushing beyond even its numerous racetrack & road going automotive triumphs, Ferrari has unveiled the new Hypersail project that blends racing tradition with technological advancement in an unprecedented thrust into the realm of sport sailing. Its designation pays homage to Ferrari’s rich Hypercar racing heritage, which has become a real force to be reckoned with in the World Endurance Championship.
With Team Principal Giovanni Soldini in the lead, Hypersail will also set up an outstanding offshore sailing focused platform for R&D. This will bring the Ferrari team’s renowned racing expertise into the nautical field, directly collaborating with specialized experts across the entire conception, engineering, and testing cycle.
French naval architect Guillaume Verdier is responsible for the yacht’s design, taking the form of a revolutionary 100-foot flying ocean racing monohull prototype with three contact points stabilizing its flight. His notable innovation here is the application of a canting keel to support one of the foils, with a rudder foil and two alternating lateral foils forming the remaining contact points.
Ferrari Chairman John Elkann said, “Hypersail is a new challenge that pushes us to go beyond our boundaries and expand our technological horizons. At the same time, it perfectly aligns with Ferrari’s tradition, drawing inspiration from our Hypercar, three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Designing a yacht for offshore racing is perhaps the ultimate expression of endurance. Giovanni Soldini is a key pillar of this project, not only because of his achievements as a sailor but also his unmatched experience in yacht development and construction. The excellent teamwork between Ferrari and Guillaume Verdier is bringing into existence a unique boat that will fly across the oceans, representing a real opportunity for innovation in both the nautical and automotive worlds.”
Hypersail’s Team Principal Giovanni Soldini added “I’m happy and honoured to be part of this adventure. An exciting challenge, backed by a truly unique team that brings together Ferrari’s excellence and the expertise of specialists in ocean sailing design. The meeting of different cultures and advanced technologies is enabling us to build a yacht that is revolutionary in many respects. From a nautical perspective, it’s innovative in both its structure and how it will fly; on the systems front, Ferrari’s contribution is driving the development of on-board control technology that has never been seen before. To prepare as well as we can for the variability and force of the phenomena and conditions encountered at sea, our top priority is to strike the right balance between the pursuit of extreme performance and maximum reliability.”
Open innovation will be a key characteristic of the Hypersail project, targeting close collaboration and expertise transfer between Ferrari, its partners, and suppliers to drive innovation and value creation. Its aerodynamics, energy efficiency, power management, and kinetic energy systems will be developed utilizing this methodology.
Hypersail’s link with Ferrari’s sports cars will be more than just a symbolic or skin-deep one: it sails with a flight control system developed from the team’s expertise acquired from Maranello’s wide performance automotive experience. Using complex aerodynamic & structural calculation processes, this will ensure the monohull’s performance and safety while soaring across the ocean at speed for extended periods – without any stopovers, or external support.
In pursuing the highest echelons of maximum sea performance, Hypersail’s 2-way technology transfer will make an equally impactful contribution to the evolution of sports cars bearing the Prancing Horse badge.
Designed to operate exclusively on renewable energy sources including wind, solar & kinetic energy, the 100-foot monohull will also be the first of its size in the world to be completely energy autonomous and self-sufficient. It has been ambitiously optimized to require no onboard combustion engine, and must autonomously generate all the power needed to run its foils, keel and rudder motion control systems, along with the full on-board computer and instrumentation suite while under sail.
Careful energy balancing & rigorous resource management will be key to balance the Hypersail’s complete energy autonomy target with the high race performance expectations for a yacht of its size, across highly variable and often extreme sea conditions. Thus, each of its individual components & energy generation systems will be meticulously optimized for efficiency.
The yacht is presently being constructed in Italy, with its launch scheduled for 2026 ahead of initial sea trials.
