Cannes Yachting Festival – Review

The sun was shining bright and the crowds were out in force for the 2016 Cannes Yachting Festival and Grabau International was there to check out all that was hot in the South of France this year.

Contest 67CS

Having seen her in build at the Contest factory earlier this year, it was fantastic to see the yacht in all her splendour on the docks in Cannes. A semi-custom build to the latest Judel/Vrolijk & Co. hull lines makes her no slouch, but it is the attention to detail throughout her build that really stops you in your tracks.

Black Pepper Code 2

The flagship of the Black Pepper range which hails from Brittany. Full carbon construction to designs by M.Lombard and fitted out for ultra-fast offshore cruising and racing. You can see the smaller Code 0 displayed at Southampton Boat Show via our good friends at Fortis Marine.

Nautor Swan 54

Based on the critically-acclaimed German Frers designed Swan 53 (as recently sold by Grabau International), the new Swan 54 benefits from a revised deck and cockpit layout and some stylistic updates internally. Rather like a Porsche 911, the aim here is to refine what was already near perfect to begin with.

X-Yachts X4

The baby of the new ‘X’ range from the Danish yard and fitting somewhere between the Xc range of fast blue water cruisers (see our brokerage Xc 42 and Xc 45) and the ultra-slippery Xp range of performance cruiser racers. With both the X4 and X6 on display at Southampton, these well-engineered yachts are sure to find plenty of favour with those who like fast yet comfortable cruising.

Apreamare 56

Stepping away from the forest of tall masts and heading towards the world of large engines, one boat really stood out to us. The Apreamare 56 just blew us away. Absolutely astounding build quality and timeless lines catapults her above the endless sea of generic white GRP. The smallest in a range of three ‘Maestro’ boats (the others being a 66 and 82), we struggle to think of a more desirable flybridge motor yacht on the market today.

Now back in the UK, we have just a few days to wait until the start of the Southampton Boat Show. Keep posted for the full report.