Hypersail takes WEC-tech to the high seas

The Ferrari Hypersail is about many things – speed, performance, technology transfer, pushing the limits – that are all key characteristics of what makes the Prancing Horse great. “Hypersail embodies the Ferrari DNA,” remarks Team Chief Technology Officer Matteo Lanzavecchia. “First of all because we are talking about a racing challenge. Indeed, we called it Hypersail because of the strong synergy the project shares with the world of our Hypercar.”

Technology transfer, in other words. While this has been mentioned before as a key component of the project, in this video Lanzavecchia details some of the elements of cross-pollination between the Hypersail project and the sports cars world. “At first glance, one asks what do a car and a sailboat have in common?” Lanzavecchia asks. The answers include aerodynamics and – crucially for the world of Ferrari – control systems, which in Maranello’s sports cars enable pulse-accelerating performance while ensuring total control and safety, and which in the boat they will enable its ‘flying’ and autopilot.

Francesco Pretagostini, Tech Team, takes this reasoning one step further – while also pointing out the real challenge of the project: while for every new generation of Ferrari cars there is a previous benchmark to build upon, with Hypersail that is not the case. . “It’s the first vessel that Ferrari makes, so while with sports cars we already have previous models upon which to develop, here everything is brand new,” Francesco says.

Watch the video to learn more about Hypersail's innovation – and its technology transfer from the Ferrari 499P Hypercar

Describing in detail the approach taken to develop the boat, he adds detail to the technological exchange: “Our navigation will last for days and even weeks, for this reason we borrowed from our car vehicle control capabilities.” The technology will be crucial for ensuring safe navigation in the ocean environment, as it will be the ‘brain’ of the boat’s autopilot function. 

“The autopilot itself is a key component of how fast the boat will actually go,” says Glenn Ashby, Rig Design Responsible, Ferrari Hypersail, who oversees sail, rig, and rigging design and who will sail on the boat, as well. The vessel  will face serious challenges as it flies across the waves, including what Glenn calls “boat breaking” waves – walls of moving water, at times coming from different directions, that can reach 12 meters in height. Tuning this autopilot “will be really key … to flying the boat accurately above the surface,” Glenn continues, adding with a smile: “Once the boat takes off, everyone will be having to hang on.”

Lanzavecchia concludes, pointing out how Ferrari has already registered several patents developed for the project. “Some of these ideas can be used in the automotive world. In cars which we’ll see in a few years, a little bit of Hypersail will be present.”