What can we expect from the 40th Cannes Yachting Festival?

With blue skies, peaceful tides and 600 yachts lining the Vieux and Pierre Canto ports, Cannes Yachting Festival kicked off its 40th anniversary in true Riviera style. From 12 to 17 September, the most famous international manufacturers from around the world are exhibiting luxury vessels from 2.80 to 50 metres in-water in Cannes, starting the boating calendar complete with a live performance by Duran Duran last night.

Beginning with the Ferretti Group’s private preview on Monday evening, venue Yacht Club de Monaco was host to a select group of 500 VIPS and buyers. Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon, who is himself a keen yachtsman, explored a fleet of 25 vessels which included a record six international premieres.

“Duran Duran agreed to put on this one-time, one-of-a-kind concert for our yacht owners and for the members of the Yacht Club de Monaco,” said Ferretti CEO Alberto Galassi. “They are an extraordinary band, which, like our yachts, has style, personality, and that ability to innovate and experiment which always puts you a step above the rest, in music as in shipbuilding.”

Among the 214 new boats and yachts being showcased at this year’s festival were the flybridge boats Ferretti Yachts 780 and Ferretti Yachts 920, the Pershing 9X, the new Riva 100’ Corsaro and 56’ Rivale, and the semi-displacement ship Navetta 33. "For the nautical world Cannes is like the Oscar night,” Galassi said.

Other famous brands debuting new models include the Sanlorenzo SX88 (a 27-metre crossover yacht with an estimated top speed of 23 knots), The Abalone 28 by Dutch builder Aluqa, CNN’s first performance superyacht Elsea, and Monte Carlo Yachts’s MCY 96, which is the seventh model by the brand designed by Nuyolari-Lenard, Venice, and is a symbol of the company’s vision for the future, according to Carlo Nuyolari.

“Through the MCY 96, we sought to identify a common thread that links all of our Monte Carlo Yachts models, so they would be identifiable as a family, regardless of the overt style and technicalities,” he said. “That common thread was beauty, and the sensation felt by those who see the yachts and cannot forget them. Beauty is found in balanced design and harmony in proportions, not aggressive lines or those that merely suggest speed. Beauty is never restricted by the narrow rules of architecture and design, but it is found in the feelings of those who experience something that we have designed.”

Elsewhere in the festival, the skills and craftsmanship of shipbuilding will be displayed at the Place Vendôme, where guests can explore the mechanics of their favourite yachts, while high end brands from the worlds of luxury homes, crafts and lifestyle – including festival partners Maerati, Fred, Louis Roederer and Azur Helicopteres – have gathered together in the Palais des Festivals’ Luxury Gallery. There, guests can also see boat builders, architects, broker & charter areas, boating service companies and interior décor specialists.

Back on dry land, Maserati is the official car of the festival, and will be hosting test drives of the new Ghibli GranLusso and Gransport, Levante S (featuring Ermenegildo Zegna silk upholstery), Quattroporte Diesel and GranTurismo Sport throughout the historic marina. The brand will also host events with Giovanni Soldini, who recently sailed the Maserati Multi70 trimaran in the Transpac race, as well as providing VIP hospitality in their 230-square-metre Maserati Lounge.