Hypersail, the Ferrari monohull aiming to break the round-the-world record

After almost a year since the first rumours, the big project uniting the intentions of John Elkann and Giovanni Soldini under the flag of Ferrari's prancing horse has finally been presented. Obviously in Maranello with a conference/event in grand style. The new 100-footer will be a full foiling boat, able to 'sustain' itself in flight in any conditions. The tastiest goal is to beat the record for the round-the-world race in less than 40 days with a 'monohull'. Until now, these records were the prerogative of multihulls, the only ones capable of maintaining frightening daily averages, with over 900 miles covered in 24 hours. From this monster, it has to be said, one expects more. One really has to write "will our heroes succeed?".

The boat looks a lot like those that have competed in the America's Cup, with those arms supporting the foils and moving around. But it is one thing to do this on a narrow race course, quite another to do it in the middle of the ocean, among killer whales and shreds of ice: the scenario is totally different. Nobody, or almost nobody, comes to take you home.

The new project is called Ferrari Hypersail, The name Hypersail is a tribute to the racing world of Ferrari and its Hypercars, the ultimate expression of performance in the endurance world. The team principal will be Giovanni Soldini. There is not only the goal of records but also of extensive research in various fields of innovation in the nautical and other fields.

The boat is designed by Frenchman Guillaume Verdier, who has been following Giovanni Soldini since his first Class 40. So far, a few large boats with foils have been launched, such as Raven, designed by Marcelino Botin, which, however, is only 'foil assisted' like a giant sloop by German 'Mani' Frers built in Holland.

The absolute novelty conceived by Verdier is that one of the foils will be supported by the canting keel, and the other foils will be a foil on the rudder and, in turn, the two side foils. The 100-footer is also the first in the world of this size to be completely energy self-sufficient. Currently under construction in Italy, the boat will be launched during 2026 and will begin the testing phase with the first in-water tests. The achievement of self-sufficiency is actually quite close with sailboats also working towards this goal in the field of cruising, in the hunt for 'total sustainability'. There are already boats sailing that self-produce energy that is stored in batteries. The use of generators, with energy production through a methanol/hydrogen system is, however, carbon free.