Cannes Yachting Festival to showcase sustainable innovation

The Cannes Yachting Festival will return from 8 to 13 September 2026, bringing back its Innovation Route and launching the second edition of the Innovation Route Awards.

For its 49th edition, the event will use a dedicated route through the Vieux Port and Port Canto to identify and highlight innovative and sustainable solutions presented by exhibitors. According to the organisers, the initiative is open to all exhibitors and is intended to give greater visibility to projects that support the development of the marine industry.

The Cannes Yachting Festival says the boating sector is undergoing significant change, shaped by electrification, emissions reduction and changing patterns of boat use. The organisers state that nearly 90,000 licences are issued each year in France, while new forms of boating, including boat clubs, are continuing to grow.

The release also states that electric motor boats currently account for less than 8% of the global market, but remain one of the key areas of growth and innovation for the sector.

Against this background, the festival says it is strengthening its focus on more innovative, sustainable and accessible boating through the Innovation Route and its awards programme.

The Cannes Yachting Festival describes itself as the inaugural event of the global yachting season and Europe’s leading in-water boat show. According to the organisers, the show brings together more than 680 exhibitors each year, including boat builders, equipment manufacturers, engine manufacturers, brokers, marinas, service companies and fit-out specialists.

The event also states that it features around 700 boats, from 5 to 50 metres, including sailing yachts, motor boats, monohulls, multihulls, rigid and semi-rigid hull craft, new and pre-owned yachts, dayboats and other vessels. Nearly 150 world premieres are expected to be shown afloat and ashore.

Selected Innovation Route exhibitors will receive additional visibility before, during and after the festival through digital communication and on-site signage in both Cannes ports. The organisers say this will help the show’s 56,000 visitors identify and compare innovations during their visit.

The Innovation Route Awards will recognise entries in four categories:

• The best navigation-improving equipment
• The best sustainable product
• The best innovative boat
• The best CSR initiative

A special jury’s choice prize may also be awarded.

The winners will be chosen by a jury of professionals and international journalists and announced on Tuesday 8 September 2026 at the Exhibitors Cocktail Reception.

The 2026 jury is:

• Guillaume Arnaud des Lyons – Deputy General Delegate of the FIN
• Thierry Berest – Maritime expert, Boat & Sea Consulting
• Rachel Goult – Managing Director of Yacht Carbon Offset
• Jean-Christophe Guillaumin – Journalist, Figaro Nautisme
• Geoffroy Langlade – Journalist and entrepreneur
• Elena Patriarca – Director of Adzurra S.r.l.

The organisers say the creation of the Innovation Route Awards in 2025 marked an important stage in the development of the programme, with 40 innovations selected.

The 2025 awards recognised projects including SEA.AI’s WATCHKEEPER smart system, the MODX 70 electric catamaran, Millikan’s autonomous solar-electric catamaran and the recyclable VAAN R5 sailboat. The Special Jury Prize was awarded to Benetti’s B.YOND 37M hybrid superyacht, which the organisers say can reduce NOx emissions by 85%.