Construction milestone reached on Ferrari's 30m Hypersail racing yacht

Luxury automobile manufacturer Ferrari has shared an update on its breakthrough foiling yacht, Ferrari Hypersail, as the 30-metre project enters the final stages of construction. 

The hull of the ocean-racing monohull, which is currently in build in Pisa, Italy, is now fully painted and the livery is complete, with the complex technical outfitting now underway. Technical partner Boero Yachting Coatings was behind the paintwork of the vessel, with the colours chosen by the Ferrari Design Studio to bridge Hypersail’s "vanguard" design with the brand’s aesthetic heritage.

Boero's Nuovo Giallo Fly shade of yellow adorns the yacht's profile; the colour is steeped in narrative legacy, which Ferrari notes historically represents 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 now decorates the yacht's cabin 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 colour is paired with 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.

Construction on some of the yacht's mammoth appendages, including the innovative canting keel, the foils and the rudder, has also been completed - their sheer size unveiled for the first time as the technology that will enable Ferrari Hypersail to "fly". Once fitted, all three appendages will be integrated with an automated flight management system called the Flight Control, which is described as the yacht's central nervous system. 

Work also continues on the yacht's rig in Colorado, America, the sails in Gosport, UK, and the mast in New Zealand. Ferrari Hypersail is scheduled to hit the water in March 2027, after being transported to the brand's Livorno sheds this December.

Speaking to BOAT International at the milestone in Italy, technical team leader Marco Guglielmo Ribigini commented: "It's a good step. The team has completed the printing and the exterior - it's a very important moment for everyone; after four years, you can see what we dreamed of coming true. Though it's like being at the base camp of Everest: now the real work starts."

Once delivered next year, Ferrari Hypersail will be the first of its size to be entirely self-sufficient, operating on renewable solar and wind sources, as well as crew-generated energy. Earlier this year, the manufacturer shed light on its first-of-a-kind energy concept – developed by the Hypersail Tech Team in Maranello – which has been conceived to ensure maximum efficiency for self-sufficiency during long-distance sailing.

How will Ferrari Hypersail "fly"?

Above deck:

Central to Ferrari Hypersail's energy concept is a new Winch by Wire system, which "reimagines" traditional winch systems by directly transforming human-generated power into above-deck movements. The system converts the power generated by the crew's muscular strength into electrical power, which is then redistributed to the various functions of the yacht's sail plan. 

The core advantage for grinders [the operators of the yacht's winches] is the ability to maintain a constant and efficient cadence, with the system reducing any effort escalation as found with conventional systems. The Winch by Wire is designed to ensure a consistent power output from both the system's efficiency and human performance, allowing a single crew member to manage loads of up to nine tonnes. 

Electricity generated by the pedestals – using the same electric motors from Ferrari's Purosangue and F80 suspension systems – is fed into the onboard grid to power sail winches and hydraulic pumps in real time. The same approach has been used on the newly unveiled Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale, where the mechanical action of gear-shifting is converted into an electronic signal.

Below deck:

Below-deck movements, including the operations for flight control, are powered exclusively by renewable energy sources, with two identical 800V high-voltage batteries distributing the energy flow accordingly. The installed systems oversee the electronics, control stability, and foil ride height, with reliability ensured by applying testing processes borrowed from the automotive sector. 

To govern and adjust the appendages, Hypersail engineers developed an active Flight Control system that manages hydraulic flow across two surface operating modes: slow movements (including the adjustments of the foil arms and canting keel) and fast movements (such as the rapid and continuous movements of the flaps).

The yacht features 100 square metres of 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. At the stern, wind turbines can be removed and configured according to sailing needs. 

“Hypersail is the first foiling monohull for ocean racing to achieve complete energy autonomy,” explained Ribigini. “Thanks to an electrical system that ensures the ideal balance between efficiency and performance, alongside innovative solutions such as Winch by Wire, all onboard adjustments are powered entirely by energy generated while underway.”

The project

French naval architect Guillaume Verdier is at the helm of the Hypersail design, alongside Ferrari's Tech Team, guided by chief technology officer Matteo Lanzavecchia, Ribigini, and the Ferrari Design Studio, led by Flavio Manzoni. 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 is characterised by 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.

Away from design, the approach of Hypersail has resulted in more than 20 patents, including the Winch by Wire, extended-range wind turbines, and an MV/HV system for renewable energy integration. These are further complemented by solutions including a rotating mast fitted with winglets [small, wing-like surfaces] and a double-skin mainsail, designed to improve sail control and handling.

The manufacturer noted the direct similarities between the project and sports cars: both requiring maximum aerodynamic efficiency and electronic systems capable of detecting and correcting the responses of the vehicle or boat. As such, computer simulations, airflow analysis and the same software that controls the stability of Ferrari cars have been key to ensuring the yacht will "fly". 

Speaking to BOAT International, Lanzavecchia explained: "At Ferrari we're always innovating internally, but we're also looking at different worlds, like sailing. This project is a very big challenge. It's about performance, efficiency and endurance, and many of those things are part of Ferrari's DNA, but in a completely different world. The people working on it come from the car world, so they can bring innovation to sailing, but at the same time, by looking at a different world, we're learning, and we have a lot of ideas we can reuse in automotive. Looking at this different world is, for us, a way to innovate even more."

BOAT sat down with the Hypersail team to learn more about the why behind the project last year.