Report from Cannes Yachting Festival 2024 - Any megatrends discovered?

The annual Cannes Yachting Festival reveals fantastic boats and new (mega?)trends in the world of yachting.

Sustainable Yachting: Hybrid technology is coming

The 2024 Cannes Yachting Festival has been a showcase for the industry's move towards sustainability, with hybrid technology becoming more and more apparent in the yachting industry. Yet some manufacturers hold desperately on to good old-fashioned combustion engines..

Yacht manufacturers are increasingly integrating electric and hybrid propulsion systems, offering a greener alternative without compromising on performance, but not everyone survives. This area is new and relatively unexplored in yachting, yet well accepted in the automotive industry. For example in Norway every 4th car is electric, and in 2023 as much as 82,4 percent of new cars sold were electric. The trend towards electric or hybrid is inevitable, and will overwhelm the yachting industry in the next decades.

This trend not only reflects a growing environmental consciousness among yacht owners and builders but also aligns with global efforts to reduce carbon footprints. Harbor authorities are now taking actions for this to happen, both for commercial and cruise traffic but also to stimulate infrastructure for private boaters.

Most of us have heard about the hybrid line from Greenline yachts, who have seamlessly built in hybrid technology in their line of boats to start a new era:

On the Cannes show we ran into a very interesting company, with Danish CEO, the Amperetta hybrid drive, focusing on hybrid conversion of boats with traditional fossil driveline with combustion engine. They have asked the same question as we have: 

"What if you could reconfigure your favorite boat to be hybrid?"

This is quite in line with reseach we have been doing in Türkiye the last years, and a cooperation with Zero Emission Institute, now backed up by more vendors seeing the same light:

Expect to see more yachts boasting hybrid engines that combine traditional fuel with electric power, providing a smoother, quieter, and more eco-friendly cruising experience.

One or two? Multihulls are coming

Multihulls are making waves in the yachting world, and the Cannes Yachting Festival 2024 has highlighted their growing popularity. These yachts, characterized by their multiple hulls, offer enhanced stability, more space, and better fuel efficiency compared to traditional monohull designs.

The increased interest in multihulls can be attributed to their suitability for both leisure and long-distance cruising, providing a versatile option that appeals to a wide range of yacht enthusiasts. As more manufacturers invest in multihull technology, expect to see even more innovative designs and features in the coming years, both with and without sails.

Here are some Skippern Yachts brokers on board a Bali 5.8, leaving them speachless.

But we boaters are very traditional. Here we are on board the new Hallberg.Rassy 69. It is modern and traditional at the same time, and most aspects of this boat is actually calculated and estimated in computer models, where previous experience and knowledge is the database for creating new Hallberg-Rassy's. You cannot dislike this boat, but you will probably choose another, for various reasons.

Lots of black windows in the hull. Yay or Nay?

A noticeable design trend at the 2024 Cannes Yachting Festival is the increasing presence of yachts featuring large, black-tinted windows in their hulls. This aesthetic choice offers a sleek, modern look and provides yacht interiors with expansive, unobstructed views of the surrounding seascape.

Makes sense from the inside. But is it beautiful from the outside? We are in doubt. 

While some purists may argue that this trend disrupts the traditional lines of a yacht, many appreciate the contemporary feel and the enhanced natural light these windows offer. The debate continues, but it's clear that black windows are becoming a defining feature of modern yacht design.

Bigger and more expensive boats

Luxury and MIB (men-in-black) with sunglasses and greasy hair, protecting their client's expensive superyachts, were on full display at the Cannes Yachting Festival 2024, with a noticeable trend towards larger and more expensive yachts. These super- and mega-yachts come equipped with the latest in luxury amenities, from helipads and swimming pools to state-of-the-art entertainment systems and lavish interiors.

This trend reflects the growing demand for ultra-luxurious experiences and the willingness of high-net-worth individuals to invest in the ultimate status symbol. As yacht builders continue to push the boundaries of size and luxury, the future of yachting promises to be grander than ever.

Well-known boat manufacturers are now cutting their normal production line to prioritize the more expensive boats, typically 2 million EUR and upwards. Why? Well, it is understandable. Raw material prices have increased tremendously, salaries are up, energy cost is more and more expensive, there is longer delivery time on many of the components.

In a total it makes sense from a financial point of view to make fewer and more expensive boats, more customized boats, and offer and sell to the few, the rich. The smaller boats would be too expensive to sell to those who have budget constraints.

This of course doesn't sound good for the average boater. 

So what do we see in our crystal bowl? Read on..

Summary and reflections ahead 

The Cannes Yachting Festival 2024 has once again set the stage for the latest trends in the yachting industry. Here is our reflections on some of the trends we have seen:

• Hybrid technology: We think hybrid technology will become more and more relevant for boats, basically because it has a superior efficiency over the traditional "fossil fuel only" driveline. We think this is a stronger motivation than the environmental aspect - Though, from the governmental side (central and local) we see more and more actions to ensure zero emission harbors. Hybrid technology is still a bit too expensive for most of the market, so the revolution will start with commercial yachts (it has already started) and more expensive boats. But it will come to all of us, at the end. We have doubts to full electric, the use is sadly quite limited alone.
• Multihulls: The traditional boat is monohull. We boaters love traditional and buy traditional, but we are innovation curious. The future "winner" is the multihull, both for motorboats and for sailboats. But we hesitate. One obstacle is obviously that most catamarans are quite expensive. Another obstacle is space in the harbor. How do we fit it in? Those who manufacture catamarans are not the same people as those who run harbors. What if they start think like Tesla, who established their own infrastructure of chargers for the Tesla cars? What if Lagoon, Bali, Fountain Pajot etc joined forces and started establish catamaran-friendly harbors around the world, then we would see a boost in sales. 
• Black windows might become black widows. As much as more windows in the hull provides better views from inside the boat, and more light, it might also be a design bubble. We see those windows on all types of boats, small and large, and generally it doesn't make the boats prettier. In the long run we fear that many of these early "try and fail" boat models will be ugly ducks that are difficult to sell in the future. Time will show.
• More expensive and bigger new boats is a preferred strategy among high end boat manufacturers, those with high brand value and demanding clientele. Money talks. Will there be a reverse strategy from other manufacturers, doing it "the Bavaria way" instead? We don't know. Prices seem to increase everywhere. There is now an increasing gap between new built prices and used boat prices. Which leads us to the obvious conclusion for those who have their sanity intact: Buy a used boat! (unless you are crazy rich)

As these trends continue to develop, yacht enthusiasts and industry professionals alike can look forward to even more exciting advancements and both luxurious and hopefully also affordable offerings in the world of yachting.

Welcome to a boat discussion with one of us on the Skippern Yachts team!