Azimut and Ferrari Hypersail: When Maritime Engineering Meets Hydrofoil Innovation

There are moments when two worlds collide and create something neither could achieve alone. The partnership between Azimut Yachts and Ferrari Hypersail represents precisely such a collision—one born not of convenience, but of shared conviction in engineering as art and impossibility as invitation.

At its heart lies a deceptively simple premise: a prototype that flies on water requires a platform capable of supporting, safeguarding and advancing its ambitions. Azimut, the Livorno-based shipbuilder with seven decades of marine expertise, has answered that call with characteristic precision.

The Support Vessel: Purpose-Built for Discovery

Central to the collaboration is the Azimut Fly 72 x Ferrari Hypersail—a custom tow boat engineered by Azimut's Technical Department specifically to shepherd the hydrofoil prototype through its initial foil flight testing programme. This is not a repurposed cruiser or an adapted platform; it is purpose-born, its specifications and capabilities shaped entirely around the demands of supporting a machine that operates at the frontier of marine innovation.

The designation carries intentional weight. The Fly 72 moniker references Azimut's celebrated trideck platform, stretched and refined here into a vessel whose role transcends conventional leisure yachting. It becomes, in essence, a floating laboratory and guardian—equipped, instrumented and positioned to enable moments that have rarely, if ever, occurred before.

Livorno as Innovation Headquarters

The partnership extends beyond a single vessel. Azimut's Livorno shipyard—a facility steeped in the company's heritage and capability—now houses the Ferrari Hypersail Operational Base. This is where the prototype will be prepared, refined, monitored and launched; where the intersection of nautical engineering and automotive ambition becomes tangible.

The choice of location is instructive. Livorno, on Italy's Tyrrhenian coast, carries centuries of maritime significance. Positioning the operational headquarters here signals seriousness, stability and access to the technical infrastructure and expertise that only an established, world-class shipyard can provide.

Alignment of Values

Beneath the technical specifications and operational logistics lies a convergence of philosophy. Both Azimut and Ferrari Hypersail are organisations animated by relentless innovation, engineering excellence and an appetite for redefining what's possible. Neither accepts the constraints of convention; both view complexity not as barrier but as opportunity.

This is the language of true partnership—one forged not from marketing alignment but from a shared worldview about what engineering, ambition and precision can accomplish when combined with genuine will and resource.

The foil flight tests represent a threshold moment in marine innovation. That Azimut has chosen to stand at that threshold—not as spectator but as enabling force—speaks to both organisations' conviction that the future of what moves across water remains unwritten, and that the most audacious ideas deserve the most rigorous, capable support.

Key Facts

• Custom Vessel: Azimut Fly 72 x Ferrari Hypersail tow boat
• Technical Role: Support platform for foil flight prototype testing
• Operational Base Location: Azimut Livorno shipyard, Italy
• Partnership Type: Technical Partner and Official Yachting Partner

The Simply Luxury View

This partnership reflects a broader maturation within luxury maritime circles: the understanding that true prestige lies not merely in what a yacht is, but in what it enables. Azimut's decision to invest technical resource and operational infrastructure into the Ferrari Hypersail programme positions the shipbuilder as custodian of innovation rather than merely producer of vessels. For collectors and enthusiasts, it signals that the boundaries between automotive engineering and marine design are increasingly porous—and that the most interesting challenges now live at their intersection.

Historically, Azimut has built its reputation on blending Italian design sensibility with rigorous engineering and commercial acumen. The Livorno shipyard itself—operational for generations—remains at the core of that identity. The Ferrari Hypersail collaboration modernises that legacy without abandoning it: it is Azimut doing what Azimut has always done—solving complex problems at scale, with precision and without compromise.

Official brand website: azimut.it

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Imagery courtesy of Azimut Yachts (@azimut_yachts).