Luxury automobile manufacturer Ferrari has shared a construction update for its breakthrough foiling yacht known as Ferrari Hypersail. The hull of the 30-metre ocean-racing monohull, which is currently under construction in Pisa, Italy, has now been removed from the mould, revealing the project's size, structure and shape for the first time.
The demoulding followed the curing and lamination of the shell, a process which took over a year, which was carried out in tandem with the assembly and installation of the bulkheads and internal structures. The composite layers (a few millimetres in thickness) comprise an outer skin, multiple layers of foam, honeycomb and carbon fibre laminates, all carefully combined to ensure "optimal lightness, stiffness and strength", according to the builder.
With the first phase of construction for Ferrari Hypersail now complete, the yacht will now undergo mechanical, hydraulic and electrical system installations, in preparation for launch and sea trials later this year.
Once delivered, Ferrari Hypersail will be the first of its size to be self-sufficient in terms of energy, operating on renewable sources such as solar, wind and kinetic. The build update comes a month after Ferrari unveiled the yacht's official livery at Milan Design Week in April.
French naval architect Guillaume Verdier is at the helm of the design, alongside Ferrari's Tech Team, guided by Matteo Lanzavecchia and Marco Guglielmo Ribigini, the Ferrari Design Studio, led by Flavio Manzoni, and technical partner Boero Yachting Coatings. According to the manufacturer, the collaborating teams worked closely to translate aerodynamic, hydrodynamic and structural constraints into aesthetic opportunities for the yacht's design.
As such, the foiling yacht features a streamlined silhouette inspired by the proportions of the Ferrari Monza SP1/SP2 and a coachroof designed with similarities to the architecture of the Ferrari 499P Hypercar – all developed directly by the Ferrari Design Studio and designed to ensure maximum technical efficiency.
In terms of the yacht's livery, the Design Studio sought to bridge Hypersail’s "vanguard" design with the brand’s aesthetic heritage, selecting Boero Yacht Coating's Nuovo Giallo Fly shade of yellow to adorn the yacht's profile. The colour is steeped in narrative legacy, which Ferrari notes to historically represent its "second soul", with the original inspiration from Fiamma Breschi - a friend of Enzo Ferrari and widow of racing driver Luigi Musso, who was famed for his yellow helmet.
The bright yellow shade will adorn the yacht's cabin, foils and hull lines, following the stylistic codes of the most celebrated Ferrari cars, strongly expressing the brand’s DNA and echoing the colour separation of the classic 1970s Ferrari 512 BB (Berlinetta Boxer). The pops of yellow stand out against the yacht's grey carbon fibre hull, which is flush in a new colour named Grigio Hypersail - an expression of the material’s lightweight nature and performance.
“Hypersail represented an unexpected opportunity for the Ferrari Design Studio; a challenging objective due to its complexity, which allowed us to extend our creative research into a context different from our usual one," explained Flavio Manzoni, Ferrari chief design officer, at the livery's unveiling. "In reality, the Design Studio is not new to this kind of endeavour. In the past, the experience gained in racing car projects, one of the most technologically advanced sectors, has encouraged exploration into more complex fields, allowing us to test ourselves and expand our expertise."
One example is the yacht's solar panels, which have been integrated into the deck and hull sides - a position that was determined through an advanced study of solar exposure. The panels themselves are walkable and feature a specific grip, technical fastening systems, clips and treatments for easy crew movement.
Matteo Lanzavecchia, head of Vehicle Engineering at Ferrari and chief technology officer of Hypersail, also added: “Hypersail is a vessel unique in scale and technology, engineered to deliver peak performance within an environment as singular and unpredictable as the ocean. This is achieved through its core concept: foiling, made possible by a sophisticated control system, leveraging the expertise gained from our automotive developments and powered by energy recovered from renewable sources such as wind, solar, and motion."
The yacht introduces an "innovative canting keel" to provide support for one of the foils, allowing the Hypersail to stabilise flight on three contact points, with support also offered through a foil on the rudder or two lateral foils. Crucially, there is no combustion engine on board, meaning all the power required to run the control and motion system for the foils, keel and rudder, as well as the full suite of on-board computers and instruments, must be generated autonomously while under sail.
Technology transfer from the realm of Ferrari sports cars is also a given, with the foiling yacht set to sail with a flight control system developed from the expertise acquired in the automotive sector.
BOAT International sat down with the Hypersail team to learn more about the project last year.
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