Cannes puts on the glitz for yachting festival

The superyachts are being polished ahead of the jewel in the crown of the yacht show calendar, the Monaco Yacht Show which takes place later this month. Before that though is another big show a little further along the French Riviera, the Cannes Yachting Festival.

This week yacht builders, naval architects, charter operators and clients, have been gathering in the French coastal town to see some of the best new vessels being launched and hear about some of the new solutions for technology and sustainability being planned.

Press conferences were all about reducing environmental impact, cutting emissions and using more sustainable materials. These are key topics across the industry from big cruise ships all the way down to small day boats. That’s not to say there wasn’t a glamorous side to it though, after all, we are talking about yachts and Cannes.

Azimut was one of the yacht companies talking a great deal about reducing environmental impact and it claims its new Seadeck 9 and Grande 30M vessels, revealed at the show, emit up to 40% less CO2. Sanlorenzo revealed its new 49.99m 50Steel yacht which uses a new methanol fuel-cell system to provide zero emissions power when in hotel mode in port or at anchor.

Unlike the superyacht shows though, Cannes also features a number of smaller vessels, everything from water toys to sports boats.

Sea Ray showed its new SPX210 OB motorboat and Cormate had its new day cruiser the T-28. Fountaine Pajot premiered its new sailing multihull vessel, there were some intriguing new designs from Wally including its Wallywhy150, a sub-24m yacht that aims to change perceptions of design, interior space and compact luxury. There were plenty of semi-rigid day boats too by builders like the Italian shipyard Lomac and the Pirelli TecnoRib.

There was no shortage of electric boats either with new models from Silent Yachts and Vita, but Cannes is also about the toys and there were plenty of them. U-Boat Worx showed its new Super Yacht Sub 3 submersible, there were electric aerofoil boards and more inflatable water slides than at a kid’s party.

Finally to the star of the show and it’s rather an unusual one. Amphibious cars have always been rare and hardly something you will see at a luxury yacht show. However, Italian shipyard Trimarchi presented its 500 Offshore, a small craft that copies the design of the modern Fiat 500. What a thing to get you across Table Bay in the morning, when it’s not too choppy of course.