Trident for a horse

A bold announcement from the company in Maranello came shortly after Giovanni Soldini officially concluded his collaboration with Maserati. This unique partnership began in 2012 with a powerful upgrade of the yacht Ericsson 3 (Volvo 70). Setting several ocean records for Italy, in 2016, Soldini's team transitioned to the Maserati Multi70 trimaran, the world's first offshore racing yacht to fully utilise foils. The results were remarkable — in 2018, Maserati Multi70 improved the Hong Kong-London record by five days, completing the route in 36 days, 2 hours, 37 minutes, and 2 seconds. This was followed by the record for the English Channel and the Fastnet route in 2021, along with numerous victories in the RORC Transatlantic Race, RORC Caribbean 600, and Rolex Middle Sea Race.



Last year, Maserati Multi70 completed a circumnavigation in complete energy autonomy thanks to its electric engine and photovoltaic system. It became the first ocean racing yacht capable of independently generating all the energy required for long voyages. Since 2022, the trimaran has been conducting monitoring programmes, collecting data on CO₂ levels, salinity, water temperature, and other parameters valuable for oceanographic research.
Soldini's successes in ocean racing have made him a celebrated figure throughout Italy. He began sailing as a teenager and had already completed a couple of transatlantic crossings by the time he finished school. Today, he boasts over 40 years of competition experience, both solo and with a crew, including two solo circumnavigations, six Quebec-St. Malo races, three Transat Jacques Vabre races, and more than 40 transoceanic regattas.



At the BOC Challenge 1994/95, Soldini finished second on the 50-foot yacht Kodak, sailing solo around the world for 27,000 miles. In 1998-1999, he won Around Alone on the yacht Fila (Open 60). During the third leg of that famous race, Soldini rescued his competitor, French sailor Isabelle Autissier, whose boat capsized halfway between New Zealand and Cape Horn. "Soldini is the only man in the world who can find a woman in the middle of the ocean," joked Fiat's president and major shareholder Gianni Agnelli at the time. Companies within his holding have sponsored Soldini’s sailing projects since the 1990s. Today, the main partner of the project is represented by Agnelli's grandson, John Elkann, chairman of Stellantis (which owns the Maserati brand) and CEO of Exor, which holds a controlling stake in Ferrari. Elkann oversaw Soldini's collaboration with Maserati and is now involved with Ferrari.

What Piero Ferrari's role will be in the new project remains unknown. The son of the legendary Enzo Ferrari owns just over 10% of Ferrari shares and 13% of Ferretti Group, linking his name to the worlds of yachting and racing supercars.



For the iconic automotive brand, sports boats are not a new or unfamiliar venture. In the early 1950s, Achille Castoldi aimed to break the speed record for KD 800 kg class yachts. Already a star in the sport, Castoldi built a hydroplane hull at the Timossi shipyard and painted it Ferrari red, which inspired Enzo Ferrari to help with the powertrain. Enzo didn’t just send someone to apply a few logos; he dispatched the entire technical team from Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 along with a 4.5-liter V12 engine from the 375F1 race car. The engineers determined that 385 hp would be insufficient, so they added two superchargers. They used methanol instead of gasoline as fuel. As a result, the boat achieved 550-600 hp in racing mode. All of this occurred in 1953! At that time, a world speed record of 241.71 km/h was set on Lake Iseo, which remains unbeaten in its class.
Later, in the 1990s, 30 units of the Riva Ferrari 32 speedboat were built, and two Italian companies have since become official partners.

Now Ferrari is returning to the world of boats and, judging by the hints, is aiming for triumph. While details are still scarce, we can make some assumptions. A promotional video suggests that it will be a single-hull ocean yacht on foils, possibly with a complete electric package.

We have no doubt that the project is aimed at new victories. To break the Jules Verne Trophy circumnavigation record, currently held by the IDEC Sport trimaran of Francis Joyon (40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes, and 30 seconds) with an average speed of 26.9 knots and a maximum of about 44 knots, Soldini will need to sail even faster. This means the yacht's maximum speed must be at least 50-55 knots. It must be not only fast, like the America's Cup boats, but also reliable enough for ocean racing. Successfully passing the three great capes (Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn, and Cape Leeuwin) on foils is an ambitious task!



The chief designer of Ferrari's superboat will likely be Guillaume Verdier, who was responsible for the foils on the Maserati Multi70 trimaran. He is also part of the design team for the foiling yacht of the New Zealand America's Cup team. We can expect participation from the best representatives of the Italian yachting industry, such as Cariboni or Persico.
The yacht will likely be around 100 feet in length and is expected to be unveiled no earlier than the end of 2025. We can speculate that it will be Ferrari's signature red color. Its estimated cost is at least €20 million, plus costs for technological partnerships, the scale of which is still unclear.

"Not all Italians support the national football team, but all Italians and half the rest of the world support Ferrari." These words were spoken by Gianni Agnelli about Formula 1 — during his tenure, the legendary brand began to dominate the racetrack once again. Perhaps Ferrari's return to the yachting world will be just as impressive.

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