Maccaferri Futura - Science Project

Maccaferri Futura is committed though its science project to collecting essential oceanic data aboard the new Class40 racing boat, using innovative environmental monitoring sensors and citizen science initiatives. The goal is to validate participatory tools to better understand and protect the ocean.

Onboard, sensors and devices coming from different innovative start-ups around Europe will be tested, in collaboration with active EU projects and tenders inside the Mission Charter including the newly funded CS-MACH1 Horizon project. Physical data such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and navigation data including wind speed and direction are being installed onboard and shared in real time with the scientific community via the European EMODnet Physics platform to help understand ocean health, identify patterns, and improve climate crisis models and forecasts.
The skipper Luca Rosetti will also contribute to marine research by reporting marine animals and floating debris encountered along his route and by sampling air and seawater while sailing to developed standardised citizen science protocols assess ocean health by also analyzing its "breath." Maccaferri Futura race boat will, between Spring 2025 and December 2026 race across the Mediterranean sea and the whole Atlantic, participating in offshore regattas and bringing the innovative low-tech sensors and related citizen science narrative in every harbour. We expect to cover over 50.000 miles during the length of the project, contributing to the collection of essential Ocean data, promoting citizen participation in marine science and spreading awareness on the role of the sailing community in Ocean conservation.

The more ocean data we gather, the more effective our efforts can be in mitigating climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. Maccaferri, as a private business focused on solutions for tackling climate-related issues such as coastal erosion, is proud to plays a key role in this research. To help protect the ocean and our coasts, one doesn’t have to be a scientist—sometimes, a passionate sailor like Luca is enough.