Ferrari has unveiled its Hypersail project, a 100-foot, fully-foiling monohull aiming to set new ocean-racing records, including becoming the first monohull to complete a round-the-world race in under 40 days. This ambitious project, led by Team Principal Giovanni Soldini and designed by Guillaume Verdier, is under construction in Italy and is scheduled for launch in 2026, with potential record attempts starting around late 2027. The boat is designed to be entirely energy self-sufficient, relying on solar panels (generating up to 20kW), custom wind turbines, kinetic energy harvesters from the boat's pitching, and hydro-generation, with no combustion engine on board. This energy is managed across four voltage levels and stored in two 800V battery packs (50 kWh and 150 kWh) to power all onboard systems, including the crucial flight control system and a winch-by-wire system capable of managing up to 9 tonnes of load per crew member.
The Hypersail is more than just a racing vessel; it serves as a high-tech research and development platform for Ferrari. The project leverages expertise from Ferrari's automotive division, particularly in areas like aerodynamics, energy efficiency, power management, kinetic energy, and flight control systems. The goal is to innovate in offshore sailing and then transfer these technological advancements back to Ferrari's road cars, echoing Ferrari Chairman John Elkann's statement that the project expands their technological horizons and aligns with Ferrari's tradition of endurance and performance. The boat's unique design features a canting keel as support for one of the foils, with two other contact points being a rudder foil and alternating lateral foils, allowing it to "fly" across oceans for extended periods at speeds up to 50 knots.
Key personnel involved include John Elkann, Enrico Voltolini (new team leader), Matteo Lanzavecchia and Marco Guglielmo Ribigini (leading technical development), and naval designer Guillaume Verdier. The project's emphasis on open innovation encourages collaboration with external experts and suppliers to develop its advanced systems. While the immediate goal is to break records currently held by multihulls, the long-term vision is to use the boat as a laboratory for innovation, with insights gained directly impacting future automotive designs and technologies. The crew will be protected inside the boat, indicating a focus on performance and safety during record attempts, where reliability and redundancy (such as dual battery packs) are paramount to ensure continuous operation without external support.
