In 2009, l’Hydroptère broke the symbolic barrier of 50 knots and became the world fastest sailing boat over both 500 meters and 1 nautical mile. This major achievement relied on the high skills of the sailing team but also on technical advances of the boat, resulting from long years of studies and development. This achievement is also an open window to a new goal: flying around the world. In the present article, we present this long and incredible story, highlighting the different steps, the technology involved, and the background of that project..