Ferrari Hypersail takes a new step toward the sea. The ambitious 100-foot flying monohull project will have its operational hub in Livorno, built within the Azimut Yachts facility. A true home for Maranello’s nautical program, from which the next development phases and especially the water testing campaign will be coordinated. The collaboration with Azimut will also include a custom Fly 72 destined to become the official tow boat of the project.

Ferrari Hypersail, the New Home Is in Livorno

Following design and technological development, the infrastructure intended to accompany the monohull through its upcoming challenges is also taking shape for Ferrari Hypersail. Ferrari has announced the creation of the new operational hub in Livorno, within the Azimut Yachts spaces, which will allow the team to have a permanent point of reference for all onshore and offshore activities.

The facility will not be a simple hangar for the vessel, but rather Hypersail’s true home, as it will concentrate in a single location all functions necessary for team preparation, maintenance, technical development, and test management. Inside, there will be offices for engineers, shore team, and project personnel, as well as gyms and areas dedicated to athletic preparation. Added to these will be specialized laboratories to work on hydraulic, electrical, and mechanical systems, along with dedicated equipment for 3D printing. The hub will also become the meeting place for partners, stakeholders, and guests involved in the program.

From the Tyrrhenian to Maranello, a Strategic Location

The choice of Livorno responds primarily to the technical needs of a project required to face a long experimentation phase. Direct access to the Tyrrhenian Sea will allow the team to encounter varied marine conditions and organize a continuous testing campaign, indispensable for developing a technologically complex boat like Hypersail.

At the same time, Livorno maintains relative proximity to Maranello. This is a far from secondary aspect, considering the involvement of various Ferrari engineering and design departments and the need to maintain a constant exchange of expertise between the automotive and nautical worlds.

“We are proud to announce the creation of our operational hub in Livorno, a fundamental step that represents much more than a simple workspace for the vessel: this headquarters is born to be the true home of the Ferrari Hypersail project, a place designed for the daily work of the Team and to welcome all entities revolving around the project, sharing every phase of this challenge with them,” comments Enrico Voltolini, Project Leader of Ferrari Hypersail. “Being able to rely on such a strategic space on the Tyrrhenian Sea, useful both for technical and athletic preparation and for sea trials, and at the same time close to Maranello, offers us the ideal conditions to further accelerate the innovation process.“

The Base Speaks the Language of Ferrari Hypersail Too

The connection to the nautical project also emerges in the architecture of the building. The spaces were designed to bring together the program’s different activities in a functional manner, but the design of the base directly incorporates several aesthetic elements of the vessel. Indeed, the color combination utilizes Hypersail Gray and Fly Yellow, the same colors featured in the monohull’s livery.

The exterior surfaces integrate two different types of window systems. The glass windows identify the offices, while polycarbonate panels characterize the areas dedicated to the boat. Even more evident is the reference on the entrance portal: here appears a reproduction of the technical front view of the bow, which also anticipates the orientation assumed by the monohull inside the hangar. On the roof, instead, the technical floor plan of the entire vessel will be represented, with the bow facing toward the exit.

Flavio Manzoni: Design as a Tool for Innovation

The design of the new headquarters directly involved the Ferrari Design Studio led by Flavio Manzoni, Chief Design Officer at Ferrari. “My team and I enthusiastically welcomed our involvement in the Hypersail project, guiding its evolution up to the design of its operational base,” states Manzoni. “This journey of research and experimentation, carried beyond the customary boundaries of our design scope, has reinforced our awareness that design is not just formal expression, but a tool capable of creating innovation in a process of virtuous cross-pollination among various disciplines.“

The Livorno headquarters thus becomes another manifestation of the cross-pollination of expertise that characterizes the entire Hypersail program, in which knowledge originating from high-performance automotive is transferred and reinterpreted to meet the demands of ocean sailing.

Ferrari Hypersail and Azimut Yachts: An Italian Collaboration Is Born

The choice of the Livorno spaces falls within a broader agreement between Ferrari Hypersail and Azimut Yachts, based on sharing technological expertise and the pursuit of performance. Azimut enters the program as Technical Partner, with a role going well beyond making the new base available. Indeed, the shipyard will develop a custom Azimut Fly 72 specifically configured to accompany Ferrari Hypersail during sea activities.

“We are the only brand in the sector with an independent R&D department entirely dedicated to developing solutions that do not yet exist on the market,” highlights Andrea Antichi, General Manager of Azimut Yachts. “A choice driven by an insatiable hunger for progress, the same that united us with the visionary Ferrari Hypersail project. We are proud to take part in an enterprise that moves from a challenge to generate new knowledge and inspiration for the yachting world.“

The Fly 72 will have a particularly important task during the initial phases of experimentation: it will be used as a tow boat during the monohull’s first flight tests and, subsequently, will accompany sailing trials by performing assistance and monitoring functions. Added to the strictly technical component will be that of hospitality: the custom Fly 72 will also be used as a hospitality boat, thus becoming a stable presence during Hypersail’s operational activities.

“Hypersail, like Ferrari, is a symbol and expression of Made in Italy: a project born in the heart of Maranello, designed by the team of Ferrari engineers, built in Italy, and starting today with its own base that we are proud to announce,” comments Angelo Pesci, Chief Purchasing & Quality Officer at Ferrari. “The custom Azimut Fly 72 tow boat, which will be developed together with our new partner Azimut Yachts, represents a first and concrete example of collaboration and operational synergy between the two companies.”

Azimut’s R&D Department and Technical Office were called upon for a highly complex technical challenge: designing a high-performance vessel to bring the Ferrari Hypersail prototype to approximately 30 knots of speed during initial trials without rig and sails, supporting takeoff dynamics and flight on foils. The developed solution provides for custom tailoring the platform of the Azimut Fly 72 through a targeted intervention on the power-to-weight ratio. On one side, a drastic weight reduction plan based on the extensive use of carbon fiber subtracted 6 tons from the total weight. On the other, integrating 4,000 horsepower into the structural and systems architecture—doubling the model’s power with a configuration developed exclusively for Ferrari Hypersail—infused the yacht with a racing spirit. The installation required dedicated engineering, made possible by the team’s expertise and Azimut’s pioneering use of carbon fiber in the yachting world.

To secure the Fly 72 to the prototype, the hull was additionally equipped with a specific tow post, sized through rigorous strength analyses to withstand extreme static and dynamic loads. An intervention of great engineering rigor that comprehensively involved Azimut’s naval, structural, systems design, and outfitting expertise. Finally, the entire onboard configuration was customized to accommodate the team led by Enrico Voltolini and facilitate their work during trials. In subsequent phases, as mentioned, the Azimut Fly 72 can also be used for the crew and as VIP Hospitality. The vessel will thus support Ferrari Hypersail from the first key test moments through to major global events.

A New Step Toward Sea Trials

The creation of the Livorno hub takes on special significance precisely in view of the upcoming phases of the program. Hypersail is not merely a design exercise or a technological laboratory: the project will have to transfer the solutions developed so far into the water and concretely verify their performance and reliability. Having laboratories, technical staff, crew preparation areas, and immediate access to the sea will allow shortening the distance between development, interventions on the boat, and new test sessions. The base therefore represents one of the infrastructure elements necessary to progressively transform Ferrari Hypersail from an experimental project into an operational ocean machine.

Conclusions

With the Livorno hub, Ferrari Hypersail enters an increasingly concrete phase of its development. The new headquarters will gather engineers, shore team, laboratories, and athletic preparation facilities under one roof, with the decisive advantage of direct access to the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Equally significant is the partnership with Azimut Yachts. The custom Fly 72 destined to follow the monohull during tests represents the first tangible expression of a collaboration bringing together two major Italian entities around a distinctly unconventional project. Now attention inevitably shifts to the water, where the solutions developed in Maranello and in the new Livorno base will be called to their most important test.

Sources and References

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