Inspired by Racing Cars, This Futuristic Sailboat Is Ready to Smash the World Speed Record

We first got a glimpse of this futuristic boat last year, but it’s only now that the Swiss team at SP80 is revealing the concept fully since confidentiality requirements are no longer an issue. It took six months just to refine the design of the boat that is now longer, sleeker, and with a more stable structure.

With a length of ten meters (32 feet) and a width of seven meters (22.9 feet), this unusual sailboat is towed by a kite. The SP80 engineers decided that it should have two pilots on board because one wouldn’t be able to control both the vessel and the kite at such high speeds. You see, unlike other boats where the comparison with Formula 1 cars is purely metaphorical, the SP80 concept truly is the waterborne equivalent of a racing car.

Not only is it specifically meant to reach a stunning speed of 80 knots (92 mph/148 kph), but it is the first boat in the sailing world’s history equipped with bucket seats, helmets, and six-point harnesses for pilots. Also, the hull was reinforced with Kevlar so that in the eventuality of a crash, the pilots would not be injured by carbon shards, and there will be oxygen masks available onboard.

The main hull, recently completed by the prestigious Persico Marine shipyard, is due to arrive this month at SP80’s workshop in Switzerland. Here, the engineers will integrate all the mechanical systems while Persico Marine continues to work on the other elements of the boat. The team hopes to complete the assembly this autumn and to reveal the finished sailboat by the end of this year.

Following several tests, the SP80 will attempt to break the speed record next summer in the south of France.

Founded by three graduates of the EPFL Swiss Engineering School (Ecole Polytechnique Féeerale de Lausanne), the SP80 is acclaimed for its disruptive designs, hoping to write history with this advanced new concept.