Ferrari Hypersail: When the Prancing Horse Sets Sail Toward a New Era of Ocean Innovation

il y a 2 heures
4 min de lecture

From Maranello to the open seas, Ferrari is extending its legacy of technological excellence beyond the racetrack and into one of the world’s most demanding environments: offshore sailing. With Ferrari Hypersail, the innovative 100-foot flying monohull created to challenge the oceans, the Prancing Horse unveils a revolutionary energy management concept designed to redefine the future of ocean navigation.

At the heart of this extraordinary project lies a fully autonomous energy system, engineered to achieve complete self-sufficiency through renewable sources and crew-generated power. The first fully foiling monohull developed for offshore racing, Ferrari Hypersail embodies a new generation of performance, efficiency and sustainable engineering, transferring Ferrari’s expertise in open innovation from asphalt to the world of competitive sailing.

Developed by the Hypersail Tech Team in Maranello, the Energy Management system was conceived with a dual ambition: to maximise efficiency while seamlessly integrating the vessel’s multiple onboard architectures. The adoption of a fully electric solution responds to a fundamental challenge: ensuring total energy autonomy during the long-distance ocean passages the vessel will undertake.

To achieve this goal, Ferrari engineers created an advanced system capable of harvesting energy from its surrounding environment with exceptional efficiency, combining solar power, wind energy and human-generated force. Above deck, movements such as sail trimming transform crew effort directly into usable electrical energy through the innovative Winch-by-Wire technology. Below deck, the systems responsible for active flight control and foil management operate through renewable energy captured during navigation, supported by high-voltage batteries designed to intelligently regulate energy flows.

“Hypersail is the first foiling monohull for ocean racing to achieve complete energy autonomy,” explains Marco Guglielmo Ribigini, Technical Team Leader of Ferrari Hypersail. “Thanks to an electrical system that ensures the ideal balance between efficiency and performance, alongside innovative solutions such as Winch-by-Wire, all on-board adjustments are powered entirely by energy generated while underway.”

Above Deck: Human Power Transformed Through Winch-by-Wire Technology

Ferrari Hypersail reinvents the traditional winch concept with a groundbreaking technological approach: Winch-by-Wire. Instead of transferring the crew’s muscular effort through conventional mechanical transmissions and hydraulic circuits, the system instantly converts human power into electrical energy, which is centrally managed and dynamically redistributed across the boat’s sail control systems.

For the grinders, this innovation delivers a decisive advantage: maintaining a constant and highly efficient cranking rhythm. In traditional architectures, increasing resistance inevitably results in slower movements and greater physical demand. Ferrari’s technology eliminates this limitation by maintaining power output at the optimum point of both electromechanical efficiency and human metabolic performance.

This breakthrough enables a single crew member to manage exceptional loads of up to 9 tonnes, significantly exceeding the limitations of traditional mechanical and hydraulic systems.

The electricity generated through the “e-pedestals” uses the same electric motor technology found in the active suspension systems of the Ferrari Purosangue and Ferrari F80. This energy is transferred into the onboard electrical network and distributed instantly, powering the “e-winches” responsible for sail tension control or activating the hydraulic pumps required for deck adjustments.

The Winch-by-Wire philosophy reflects the same technological approach introduced with the new Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale, where the Manuale by-wire system transforms the physical action of gear shifting into an electronic signal while preserving the authentic, analogue sensation expected from a Ferrari driving experience.

Below Deck: Precision Engineering for Flight Control and Ocean Performance

Beneath the deck, Ferrari Hypersail’s technological ecosystem becomes the vessel’s central nervous system, managing electronics, stability control and ride height while flying on its foils. Reliability is ensured through automotive-inspired testing processes, using advanced electronic control units (ECUs), sophisticated sensors and four different voltage levels ranging from 12V to 800V.

To control the appendages, Ferrari engineers developed an active Flight Control System capable of managing hydraulic flows through two distinct operating modes: Slow Movements and Fast Movements.

Slow Movements handle major adjustments of the foil arms and canting keel, powered by the 800V rear e-axle from Ferrari Luce. Fast Movements manage the rapid and continuous adjustments of the control surfaces and flaps, operated by two compact pumps driven by 48V electric motors.

This separation guarantees exceptional performance, maximum energy efficiency and the redundancy required for demanding maritime conditions.

The electronic and hydraulic systems rely exclusively on renewable energy through an unprecedented solar and wind harvesting architecture. Rather than being lost, excess energy is captured, stored and managed through two identical 800V batteries, ready to deliver power according to the dynamic needs of the flying monohull.

Integrated into the deck and topsides, the walkable solar panels feature a specialised grip surface and cover an area of 100 square metres. Their placement is the result of advanced simulations mapping solar exposure across different latitudes and possible sailing routes, allowing Ferrari engineers to focus installation only on high-performance areas. This approach reduces unnecessary weight while optimising the vessel’s power-to-weight ratio.

Wind energy is integrated at the stern through removable wind turbines, configurable according to sailing requirements. Ferrari’s engineering teams conducted detailed studies of intake angles to determine the perfect balance between maximum energy generation and minimal aerodynamic drag at high speeds, ensuring outstanding performance across a wide range of ocean environments.

With Ferrari Hypersail, the Prancing Horse once again pushes the boundaries of innovation, merging sustainability, engineering excellence and uncompromising performance. A new chapter begins where Ferrari’s technological DNA leaves the road behind and takes flight across the oceans.