What powers Hypersail's 'flight'

The Ferrari Hypersail is getting closer to hitting the ocean waves and proving its mettle as a ‘flying boat’ that will likely smash oceanic racing records. The endurance-like spirit that drives the project is not just about speed; it’s also about transferring technology and scientific knowhow from Ferrari cars to the Hypersail and vice versa.

One key element that enables Ferrari cars to reach high speeds while remaining glued to the road is aerodynamics – notably the increasingly active aerodynamics found in its latest models and similar to those that allow airplanes to lift off the ground and fly. In this episode, we see how these dynamics – and the innovation that powers them – translate into the hydrodynamics that will lift the full-foiling Hypersail off the surface of the water and let it glide across the ocean.

“This boat is completely innovative in everything. I’d say that it’s almost a development platform,” remarks Hypersail Team Principal Giovanni Soldini, who will helm the boat once it’s completed. “The most fascinating thing is that for the first time a monohull boat will mount a foil on its keel. This will allow the boat to navigate while resting on two points at its centre and on the rudder at the back, which will allow for keeping the boat steady in a longitudinal sense.”

Of course, the magic will be in seeing Hypersail rise out of the water, lifting above the surface like a paper airplane catching a sudden updraft. And this is where hydrodynamics come into play. “The foil is one of the parts that lifts this boat out of the water and the foil is big, bigger than anything that’s been done before,” observes Panayiotis “Ben” Agathangelou, Fluid Dynamics Manager of Ferrari Hypsersail.

Watch to learn all about the hydrodynamics technology that will lift Hypersail above the waves 

“An airplane is taking off because the air is the medium that is acting on the wings, creating pressure fields; given lots of area of a wing, an aircraft of 300 tons is able to lift into the sky. Water has similar properties,” explains Agathangelou, who started at Ferrari 12 years ago working in Formula One. “So, if you run aircraft style wings under the water you can generate a pressure field which means that that wings will lift. If those wings under water are connected to the craft, the craft will lift out of the water.”

To succeed, the project relies on its most precious resource: its people. Having assembled the best team for the project was crucial. One key team member is Guillaume Verdier, Naval Architect of Ferrari Hypersail, whose vision has enabled the project. “The main challenge we are going to face is to push the boat up, out of the water, with a keel made out of lead,” explains Verdier. Lead on a boat that’s supposed to fly? Sometimes strange-sounding ideas are those that work best. A boat that is supposed to lift out of the water that features a lead keel may seem counterintuitive, Verdier explains. But there is a sound logic here: it is what will help keep the boat stable when it is coming to rest after foiling above the water, ensuring it won’t capsize.

“Guillaume is really a genius, one who always has ideas that are ‘out of the box’,” says Soldini. “Indeed, one of his gifts is that he is always open to any solution,” the Team Principal says.

Overall, Hypserail is living up to its name. As Verdier says: “This level of technology has never been attempted before in an off-shore racing machine, so it will be quite a new thing.”