I am just back from Cannes and realize with horror that my last article is almost two weeks old! As I normally try to publish every third day, this is quite a long time with no news from your favorite sailing blog. I´m terribly sorry about that, but in fact, the past ten days had been extraordinarily busy in Cannes. After eight hours working during the opening time of the boat show – and we have been pretty busy in our booth and boat – I just couldn´t motivate myself to write in the afternoons. Eat. Take a shower. Sleep. Repeat. That said, being this kind of occupied means that Cannes 2025 was a success? I´d say so. Here´s my personal account of the show and my sailboat-highlights.
First of all, unlike any other boat show I know, Cannes is the one that is putting the two very antipodes of sailing with the sharpest contrast next to each other. Just as this prophetic picture which I have taken early in the morning on day one above shows: There´s the ordinary people stuffed into a huge cruise liner and then there´s the very few ultra rich who enjoy a luxury apartment aboard BLACK PEARL. Cannes boat show features boats from the series production companies as well as extraordinarily expensive superyachts built by the most renowned shipyards. It´s always a very special occasion to come to the Cote d´Azur. Besides this, Cannes marks the start of the new sales-season and boat show marathon, finding its climax with Boot Duesseldorf in January. As one colleague once told me: “Cannes is like first day in school. You are very excited to see your class mates and even the teachers again after a long time …”
(Almost) every sailboat brand was there
A first glance it was a Cannes Yachting Festival like any other. Almost all brands and boat makers you know had again booked their berths and booths. Some we´ve enjoyed last year were missing, like Neo Yachts, some others previously unseen joined the display, like Pegasus Yachts. As far as I could see, the big players and many – if not most – of the smaller brands were there. What I found especially interesting was a kind of “recovery” for the big production brands. You should maybe read my Cannes review from last year (click here) to better comprehend.
Last year, in 2024, I observed a very interesting trend or movement: It seemed that the big players like Dufour, Jeanneau, Hanse and most of all, Bavaria, had significantly reduced their display in Cannes. Well, there´s a crisis going on, sure they do – you might say now. Well, not so fast. At the same time, smaller brands which had previously been there with only one or two boats, suddenly appeared with an oversized display of five or more boats. Grand Soleil for example, Nautor´s Swan – so many different boats. It almost felt like a topsy-turvy world. But it was the logical consequence of an industry in a crisis: With a middle class being reduced and plagued by inflation, ridiculously high prices and a variety of fears, it´s of course the bet on the millionaires that seems like a legit way out. In a crisis it´s always the niche that wins. As for 2025, this trend seemed almost reversed again: Beneteau and all the other big production names showed quite a nice range of their products again. So, I´d say, that´s a good sign to start with.
A very personal revelation
But before we get deeper into which boats I found particularly noteworthy and interesting in Cannes this year, let me delve a bit into some very personal thoughts and, maybe, into some kind of revelation that occurred to me during this year´s edition of Europe´s most beautiful boat show. It was my second boat show as a professional without actually being a dealer anymore. Since I´ve quit actively selling yachts, offering my competence and insights to serious and trustworthy dealerships I know personally and which do a good job, my whole perspective on the boating industry had got a makeover. What had started early this year in Duesseldorf, became manifest here in Cannes.
This year I wore the shirt of Blue Yachting. This Bremen-based company has a spotless reputation among many serious blue water sailors and represents Garcia, Allures, RM Yachts and HH Catamarans for Germany and German-speaking countries. I´ve always had a good relationship with them. Since I left active selling, their boss, Nils Schuerg, has become a dear friend. Working for him and some other reputable and trustworthy dealers has re-shaped my view of the industry. In fact, they helped me to better understand the inner workings. And distinguish the sincere partners from the blatant criminals and swindlers I sadly had to come across in my almost 10 years in the industry.
Stopping the active sales also showed me again, what a hard business this really is. And what kind of robbery I´d been undertaken for my own life when I was on the hunt for a new contract to be signed. This business eats people. Dealers are the first victims, clients follow suit. Experiencing the sales-perspective now during Cannes on the HH 44 catamaran showed me again what kind of stress, pressure and literal waste I had been subjected myself to in the past years. Now that I am back to marketing and storytelling, sporting a normal 40 working hours-week, this was quite an insight! On trhe other hand, working on the HH Catamarans booth, with the shipyard, Blue Yachting and the other colleagues, reassured me that my decision was a good one. Now, I can choose with whom I work. I am at the helm again.
And honestly, it´s the best! HH Catamarans is such an incredibly vivid, fresh and refreshing client to work for. For once, their product is spotless, top-notch and seriously upper shelf. I´ve seldom seen a yacht made as high quality and no-corners cut as the HH cats. Honestly, I am not really into multihulls as I am a straight monohull-guy, but man – these boats are a different breed! What´s even more interesting is the reversal and complete removal of bias. China equals cheap stuff, right? Wrong! These guys can easily take on any high-class luxury brand of Europe with ease! Asians are funny people? Yes, they are, but their 28 year olds come with two master degrees in engineering. Their design-approach, driven by ancient old feng-shui guidelines combines spotless lines and desirable class. This was my second time working that closely with the people HH shipyard, it profoundly re-shaped and even re-defined my views on China and its people.
Even though the days during the working hours have been quite busy for me, I also found some time to relax and think. As the show opens on 10 o´clock in the morning, I tend to arrive at the venue after 8.30 so that I have time to go and see the boats which are of interest for me. After the closing at 7 p.m. we usually cleaned the booth and boat and straight headed for dinner, one or two after-work beers and then to the hotels. Working in 27 degrees Celsius under a relentlessly burning summer sun really grinds your gears. But let´s start now and take a look at the boats on display which I found particularly interesting at the Croisette in 2025.
Mega-Yachts and Dinghies: The exciting spectrum of Cannes Yachting Festival
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, Cannes is always a show of the antipodes. Rich and super-rich, big and mega-yacht. The undisputed queen of this year´s edition was undoubtedly the 33 meters long WALLYWIND 110 which was moored at the end of the sailboat concourse. I don´t know if her placement was a deliberate decision to achieve this certain visual impact or if it was just a pure consequence of her sheer size. But this superyacht “presided” over the rest of the fleet, which, in her face, appeared as if this carbon fiber work of art had summoned them all to worship her.
And it really worked. Almost every single visitor coming to Port Canto to see the sailboats at least mentioned this yacht. Of course I tried to get aboard. But it was futile. That´s for the reality check, ladies and gentlemen. Upon revealing myself being a yachting journalist, the – not overly sympathetic – front desk hostess showed a bit of a cold shoulder and suggested to me that I might first take a shuttle to the motor yacht harbor Vieux Port, where the Wally headquarter for the show was located. There I might be selected to being allowed aboard, but not before I´d signed a contract and NDA. Well, nope, thanks.
So, I fear, I cannot present a walkthrough of WALLYWIND 110, which clearly would have been a true highlight for my upcoming #cannesyachtingfestival series. Anyways, as I resigned from Wally´s front desk, one of the Swan guys received a similar friendly rebuff, so I think it´s their policy and has nothing to do with me personally. Anyway, this blog is called NO FRILLS SAILING.com, clearly, featuring WALLYWIND 110 would have marked a new highlight of “Yes please, give me all the frills you have!” Whereas on the other side of the spectrum I was happy to identify boats which come in smaller sizes.
Sunbeam brought their new 32.i to the show, apparently one of the smallest sailboats of the show. As was the Dragonfly 36 or the Eagle 38. This is by the way another very interesting effect Cannes has on you. It spoils you. I mean, in between all those 70 and 80-footers, a boat merely measuring 11 meters almost gets lost in your sight. It does! I almost overlooked even 50-footers, because your eye so easily gets used to the prime yachts like Oyster, Mylius or Swan. So, to which boats can you look forward to reading full walkthroughs with loads of detailed pictures in the coming weeks? Here´s my Top 5 boats …
My personal highlights of this year´s Cannes boat show
First of all there´s a model. Allures Yachting revealed their new Horizon 47 in Cannes after some blurry pictures a few months ago had sparked a vivid discussion and some wild theories. Now it´s out: It will be a completely new designed aluminum yacht sporting a rugged hull and composite deck. Designed by Berret-Racoupeau, the new Horizon 47 also sports a new concept for her interior. The model – albeit tiny – was quite revealing.
I found the concept so compelling an interesting, that I sat down with Allures´ Jerome Guillou and interviewed him about this yacht. You may look really forward to more detailed pictures of the model and some exclusive renderings soon. Yes, and then there is my old (and beloved!) home Beneteau. You know that I´ve sold many of those and still have a great relation with the guys in the Vendée.
In Cannes they´ve launched their seventh generation of Oceanis with the then brand-new Oceanis 51.1 and it was like the start of active boat dealing for me. Now, shortly after I stopped, they launch the eighth generation with the new Oceanis 52 and her smaller sister, the Oceanis 47. Both boats are very important as the 45-feet-size is a huge market and the 50-footers are equally important for charter fleets and for owner-sailors as well. Spoiler: The 52 is absolutely gorgeous, the 47 a more than worth successor!
The Pegasus 50 is on my list since her inception a few years ago. This Slovenian blue water cruiser comes with so many great details and interesting features that it is truly worth a more detailed look. Finally I managed to board one of these and I promise you a great insight into a boat that may become your favorite long haul cruising yacht. Speaking of blue water and cruising yachts, this one must not be skipped: The Bluewater 56. She really catched my imagination …
Her appearance is spotless. There´s so many details, like classy dorade ventilators, so much chrome and stainless steel. Rugged, stiff and made to bridge the vastness of the seas. Below decks you´ll find yourself in a true ship: No plastic, instead gorgeous woodworks and top shelf craftsmanship. I spoke to both the owners and the CEO of the shipyard. She might have been the most exciting yacht I came across in Cannes this year and I really look forward to presenting this highlight to you.
The picture above shows the very unusual perspective of the engine room of a boat I have ignored for such a long time. Neel trimarans have never really flashed me, I must admit. The concept of combining the high performance of a trimaran (think of Donald Crowhurst´s TEIGNMOUTH ELECTRON, the Ultim or 50-feet racing trimarans or even Dragonfly) with the volume of a cruising cat felt off, if I´m honest. Some of my bias I finally had to flush down the drain. It was very, very interesting aboard the Neel 43. Apart from these yachts, there will also be a walkthrough of Jeanneau´s latest Sun Odyssey 415. So, it´s not a Top 5, but a very nice and varied Top 6. I wanted to feature Hanse´s Moody 45 as well, but couldn´t make it due to the high work load. But maybe I can deliver this interesting brand later as the shipyard is not all too far away from where I live.
Are boat shows still valid?
That´s the question, right? You remember when I mentioned that Cannes almost feels like first day in school? Well, Cannes is also always the best chatting and rumor-platform. Who is going to display in Duesseldorf, who is not? How many boats are coming and is it even worth to pay the high prices? The outcome of Cannes Yachting festival in terms of leads collected and contracts signed has definitely a saying in the decision of whether or not a shipyard is giving a go-ahead to Boot at the Rhine. From what I have heard, 2025 was a pretty successful show with more boats sold, definitely more leads collected. A good sign.
For me, it was a perfect show. It seems as is I have managed to cherry pick what´s good about the boating industry and leave out, what´s enervating. I deliver my several dozen leads to my customer and I´m out. I´ve had nine wonderful days with great colleagues aboard a wonderful yacht. I met two hundred interesting people and showed them high-end carbon boatbuilding, I chatted with sailors, pro-skippers and landlubbers alike. What could I wish for better than that? Working where others go on vacation, enjoying the crisp sun and the refreshing scent of the ocean. Cannes, you have been a wonderful boat show – and I am happy that it seems that the industry is at least for now on a good path. Quieter, but as splendid as ever.
You might as well check out these related articles:
“Creating memories” – talking to Beneteau-boss Jean-Francois Lair
Chinese Gybe: That occasion when Cannes split up into two venues