Ferrari aims for ocean-racing records with Hypersail
Company is using technology developed for its cars to build ‘self-sufficient’ 100ft foiling yacht
A year after Ferrari began developing its first electric car in 2021, the carmaker’s executive chair John Elkann floated the question of whether the Italian group could apply its motoring roots and technology to the world of ocean racing.
After months of evaluation, its engineers agreed to venture into new territory with the making of Ferrari Hypersail — a 100ft foiling yacht that is scheduled to launch next year and aims to break records as the fastest to race around the world.
“We realised that Hypersail for us could be a big innovation platform,” says Matteo Lanzavecchia, Hypersail’s chief technology officer who also leads vehicle engineering for Ferrari’s sports cars. “It’s more like a laboratory.”
Hypersail is not a luxury yacht for its ultra-wealthy clients, nor does the company have any current plans to turn yacht-making into a separate business. Instead, Ferrari is building a vessel without a combustion engine that can reach the fastest speed while consuming as little energy as possible.
Designed as a monohull using carbon fibre, the Hypersail is the first yacht of its size to be “completely self-sufficient” using solar panels, wind turbines and crew-generated energy, Ferrari claims.
With its history in Formula 1 racing, the company also has big ambitions in offshore racing. The main goal for the Hypersail is to beat the Jules Verne record for the fastest circumnavigation that the Sodebo Ultim 3 boat achieved in January, having travelled around the Earth in 40 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes. It aims to do this while entirely generating its own electricity during the race.
“Inside the Ferrari DNA is racing . . . and testing new technology in an extreme environment,” says Enrico Voltolini, a professional sailor, naval engineer and Hypersail’s project leader.
Until now, Ferrari — known for the roaring engine noise of its supercars — had never built or designed a yacht in-house but executives say the Hypersail is another chapter of its evolution in energy management technology.
In 2024, Ferrari unveiled its $3.9mn F80, a limited-production hybrid hypercar, after concluding that a fully electric version of the vehicle was not possible with battery technology.
The group then launched the Luce, its first five-seater sports car, in late May, powered by four electric motors, one attached to each wheel. The car was initially criticised on social media for its polarising design. Ferrari’s executive chair Elkann acknowledged at the time that the company’s foray into EVs was “an unnecessary risk” but added: “We have to be able to do something that has never been done.”
While Ferrari has filed for more than 20 patents linked to Hypersail, the yacht is also equipped with many of the technologies that are found in Luce and other Ferrari vehicles. The yacht’s foil and keel are powered by the same rear e-axle — the electric powertrain — used in the Luce. The idea was to use the same technology to make sure it was reliable, chief technology officer Lanzavecchia says, noting the challenge of innovating while ensuring the yacht’s consistent performance in rough seas.
For the winch system — where a rotating drum is used to manually trim sails — Ferrari used technology developed for its 12Cilindri Manuale. The limited edition car with a V12 engine revived the feel of a mechanical gearbox using electronic signals. For the Hypersail’s “winch-by-wire” system, the crew still pulls the lines on the winch, but their muscle power is also converted into electricity to help with sail trimming.
The technology transfer is also not solely from cars to boat. Voltolini says Ferrari is testing materials used for aerospace and military applications that could be used for cars, while power created from solar panels on the yacht could be applied to charging vehicles.
The company developed a simulation tool to evaluate various materials used in the yacht, such as the titanium and carbon fibre in the foils. That same tool is also used to test materials that would, for example, make a car roof strong but light, says Lanzavecchia.
“Innovation is contamination between different worlds,” he says.
The ability to test and apply new technologies is another reason why Ferrari was drawn to offshore racing: rules in boat racing — such as the kind of technology that can be used — are far less stringent than in F1 races.
With construction of the Hypersail expected to finish by the end of this year, a key test is how the yacht performs when it hits the seas in 2027.
Before that, it needs to undergo feasibility tests and training of the crew to ensure they can safely handle the boat.
Despite the cutting-edge technology Ferrari has introduced, there are limitations to how fast the boat can go since the crew needs rest and time to recover while handling the yacht, says Voltolini.
Development of the Hypersail is set to last until 2031 to allow time for testing and refining the design before attempting the Jules Verne record.
“We have four to five years,” says Lanzavecchia, “so we would like to go and try to beat some records and at the same time evolve the boat.”