HMS conducts an exclusive interview with Sylvie Ernoult, Director of Europe’s premier on-water boat show, the Cannes Yachting Festival, and gets the inside story on its staging and this year’s new features.
How long have you had the considerable and no doubt daunting responsibility of being the Director of Europe’s premier on-water boat show?
I’ve been the Director of this magnificent boat show for more than 10 years now. My main mission is to manage the show’s organisation, including the security, which is a very demanding task. I’m also lucky enough to be responsible for the Festival’s medium- and long-term development strategy, and I’ve been doing that since 2013. My aim has been to consolidate the Cannes Yachting Festival in its position as the leading boat show among those in Europe. This includes developing its international influence. I’ve also worked on preserving the show’s DNA by accommodating a wide range of boats in terms of their size and hull type, whether motor or sail boats, new or previously owned. We are one of the few boat shows in the world to present such a wide range of boats and products. Every year, it’s also necessary to find the right balance between loyal exhibitors, who often want to expand their exhibition spaces, and keeping room set aside for new brands. This is important for ensuring the show remains balanced and current. Ten years on, the gamble has paid off: 47 years after it was first launched, the Yachting Festival continues to attract prestigious exhibitors and visitors from all over the world. I work with a team of experts, and together we are constantly seeking to innovate, build and promote this exceptional event.
For you personally, what makes this event so special?
Being by the water among the boats, at the heart of the French Riviera, under the sun, is an environment that’s really different to that of most of the shows my colleagues at RX organise, as they mainly work in exhibition halls. But while exhibiting 700 boats over two ports is an intense undertaking, the end result when one walks the Festival’s pontoons and various concourses come show time represents a unique and inspiring experience. In addition, with the boating industry constantly evolving, each year is different, sees adaptions being made and poses its own distinct challenges. So as you can imagine, my team and I never get bored!
Can you give us some insight into just how much organisation and work goes into the staging of the Cannes Yachting Festival?
Preparing a new edition of the Cannes Yachting Festival takes a whole year for most of the team, and at least 18 months for me. To prepare the edition for 2024, I actually started working on the event with members of my technical/logistical team in January 2023. But a committed sales team is also needed – a team that not only knows its customers well but also the developments within the industry. This team then travels to major international boat shows to meet and talk to customers both old and new. In parallel, the communication and marketing teams keep up to date with market developments and ensure a high degree of communication with our exhibitors and journalists. This in-depth work enables us to keep abreast of trends in the boating industry as well as the trade and visitors’ expectations.
What are some of the biggest challenges involved when it comes to putting together a show of this kind?
Once we start receiving registrations 10 months ahead of the show, we learn more about what exhibitors need and have to face. It’s then we begin dealing with a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle! Adjusting for requirements and finding the right place for each exhibitor and boat is often tricky to say the least. Other pieces of the puzzle, not least of which are the event logistics, include coordination with exhibitors, managing the port infrastructures, installing all the facilities needed and, above all, respecting the security and safety of all in attendance.
We also work hard on recruiting visitors and preparing for their visit to the boat show. Whether they’re just curious and visiting the show for the first time or whether they’re boating experts who have come to buy their next boat, either arriving incognito or as VIPs, the show must ensure their visit is exceptional. Everyone deserves a great welcome and to be able to really enjoy themselves and easily find what they’re looking for too.
In summary, organising the Cannes Yachting Festival represents important challenges, and each of them has to be carefully planned and executed by a team of experts who work closely together to ensure the event’s success.
How hands on do you get when it comes to the actual building and set-up of the show?
I’m heavily involved in the Cannes Yachting Festival build and set-up. I have to be versatile to do this, as my role is to closely supervise every stage, from the initial design to the final set-up. Working closely with the sales and technical teams is vital too to ensure that every aspect of the event runs smoothly. This hands-on approach ensures that all technical and logistical requirements are met, and that quality and safety standards are maintained. You cannot, of course, follow everything personally, but the more you are involved with your team and elements of their job, the more you understand how it’s working, and the more reassured you feel that you can delegate to your team.
To what extent do you feel the show contributes to the health of the European boating industry in general?
In terms of impact on the health of the European boating industry in general, the Cannes Yachting Festival plays a crucial role. It serves as a showcase for the industry’s latest innovations and trends, attracting an international audience of both enthusiasts and professionals. The event stimulates yacht and marine accessory sales, strengthens business networks and fosters international partnerships. It also gives our exhibitors broad visibility, with 600 journalists from all over the world attending – including PBR, of course.
What exciting features are you looking forward to introducing at this year’s event?
This year will see the launch of a new Powerboat Marina at Port Canto entirely dedicated to new powerboats up to 12 to 13 metres long. The show’s DNA is to offer boats of all sizes and types. But this year’s marina will cover more than 2,000m² and provide more than around 300m of linear quay. A hundred and seventy boats, with rigid or semi-rigid hulls, are expected. Thirty boats under 8m ashore and 140 boats more than 8m in waterline length will be displayed. It’s a major first for the Cannes Yachting Festival to present craft from 8m and up actually on the water. In addition to the boats, a world-class line-up of outboard engines and power systems will of course be showcased too – and available for trial.
Port Canto
The brand new on-water exhibition area will be located between the Sailing and Brokerage & Toys zones that have been accommodated in Port Canto for several years now. An important new feature is that this year, for the first time, visitors will be able to take a full tour of Port Canto (i.e. a loop of +/- 2.5km) to discover almost 340 boats (120 new sail boats, 170 powerboats and around 50 second-hand large yachts) and many equipment manufacturers and service companies. Several ‘traversantes’ [pontoons with a motorised central section] will allow visitors to go from one quay to another and small motorboats to go out for sea trials.
Many new services will also be implemented, with an additional restaurant, named Restaurant Croisette, of more than 450m² with capacity for 130 place settings, an entrance reserved for exhibitors and a redesigned VIP Club located on the terrace of the harbour master’s office and furnished by French manufacturer Roche Bobois.
In the heart of the city, the Vieux Port remains the port for new motorboats and all the equipment manufacturers and service companies related to this industry. For 2024, the large motor yachts will remain afloat in their usual location on the Jetée and the Super Yachts Extension. Note that for RIB lovers, the Vieux Port will present a selection of the largest models (from 13m) in the heart of the show, in the Pantiero – the same place as usual, in other words. But their presence will make an incredible display for anyone favouring these offshore craft.
Vieux Port
The Vieux Port is also undergoing changes and improvements. These include the main entrance, which will be moved to the bottom of the famous steps the movie stars walk up during the Cannes Film Festival. It will therefore be closer to the Croisette. The Tender Area will be moved forward with a new layout to feel more like a ‘village’. The engine manufacturers will be found along the beach in new marquees, near the Palais. A second entrance will be available for visitors, exhibitors and journalists to use right in the heart of the show, in the Pantiero. (The QML entrance will be only for exhibitors.) This new configuration will accentuate the show’s key sectors and enable us as show organisers to create an even clearer and more simplified visitor circuit. It also allows us to present a show that’s more balanced between the two essential ports, with +/- 350 boats each side of the Croisette. In fact, Port Canto will equal the Vieux Port in terms of boats this year.
Why would you say readers of PBR should be booking their flights to visit the Cannes Yachting Festival this year?
There are almost 300 good reasons why PBR readers should book a flight and their ticket to the show as soon as possible. I’m joking a little bit by saying 300, although 300 is the number of boats up to 15 metres in length, with a good number being world previews. To make your readers feel even happier, about two-thirds of these boats are hard-hulled performance craft, with the other third being RIBs! These boats will be exhibited in both ports of Cannes, but most will be displayed in the new Powerboat Marina in Port Canto.
9th – 14th September 2025
www.cannesyachtingfestival.com
Check out PBR’s dedicated page for Cannes Yachting Festival 2024 – with video and news content.
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