We’ve known Ferrari for its screaming cars, its capillotract millionaires and its leather options more expensive than a studio in Paris. Now we discover them designing futuristic sailboats, proof that in Maranello, they seem to know the expression “to have a sea legs”.
Called Hypersail, because “Gondole Turbo” sounded too local, this 30-meter monohull is presented as a concentrate of technology, renewable energy and well-oiled megalomania. The boat is designed to “fly over the waves” thanks to foils. At this stage, it’s hard to tell whether this is a sailboat, a luxury drone or the prototype of an aquatic Pokémon.
Under the hood (well, under the boom), 90% of the parts are derived from road-going Ferraris. The tiller is probably made of Alcantara, the winches are fitted with Brembo brakes, and the GPS has been replaced by a map of the nearest Ferrari dealerships. An engineer, seen chewing parmesan on LSD, sums up the project: “It’s a Formula 1, but it floats, flies and sometimes decides on its own to go to Ibiza.”
Powered by wind and solar energy, the Hypersail categorically refuses to use any fossil fuels, except of course for the private jet that will transport the owners to the port. Ferrari promises zero carbon emissions, if we exclude the ego fumes emanating from the upper decks.
We’ve known Ferrari for its screaming cars, its capillotract millionaires and its leather options more expensive than a studio in Paris. Now we discover them designing futuristic sailboats, proof that in Maranello, they seem to know the expression “to have a sea legs”.
Renowned experts such as Giovanni Soldini and Guillaume Verdier (a naval architect whose models cost the GDP of Liechtenstein) have been brought on board this high-tech galley, surely against their will.
Ferrari at sea: or how to drown your doubts in a sea of ridicule? The first launch is planned as soon as someone manages to explain to a Ferrari engineer that you don’t use a turn signal on a boat. In the meantime, the fish are still laughing and the billionaires aren’t “seichent”.
FM