No other boat has pushed the boundaries of green yachting as far as the MODX 70, winner of the 2025 Multihull of the Year award for its advanced, intelligent vision of zero-carbon sailing, announced at the Cannes Yachting Festival.

The concept was introduced in 2008 and finally brought to life in 2025 through the combined efforts of Ocean Development, VPLP Design, Aeroforce, MG Energy, Madden Tech, and many other visionary partners.

The project has earned recognition from the French government under the France 2030 Plan, receiving support through the i-Nov competition for sustainable and intelligent mobility in 2021, which helped fund the ambitious and costly development.

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At Cannes, the final product was unveiled: a 21.33-meter, fully electric, high-performance trimaran offering 200 m² of living space.

Ocean Development, led by passionate sustainability and yachting advocates Marco Simeoni, Franck David, and Jean Guyon, developed the concept and oversaw construction of the vessel in Lorient, France. The design phase, managed by VPLP Design, took four years, while building the first unit required 18 months.

The MODX 70 is equipped with two retractable wings inspired by aeronautics and developed by Aeroforce. These inflatable wings rise 23 meters high, can be adjusted from 25% to 100% efficiency, and operate fully automatically. With no need for traditional rigging, navigation is simplified and comfortable.

Propulsion is powered by a 250 kWh MG Energy Systems LiFePo4 battery storage system, divided into two banks. These feed two ENGIRO electric motors of 40 kW each, supported by 70 m² of NME3 Next Generation solar panels and a hydrogeneration system.

An AI-driven autopilot system developed by Madden Tech oversees vessel operations, seamlessly integrating propulsion and wing management.

The first MODX 70 has already been acquired by Mr. Stan Shih, co-owner of Acer Group Taiwan, who will use it to champion clean, quiet, and intelligent yachting.  PSR

Natasa Mulahalilovic is Marine Pleasure Boat Analyst-Europe for Power Systems Research

For more information on the marine market, visit MarineLink, the Power Systems Research proprietary marine products database.

More than 600 exhibitors from the marine pleasure industry showed off their latest models of boats, yachts, marine equipment and other products and services at the 47^th annual Cannes Yachting Festival, Europe’s biggest in-water event, just closed its doors. The event ran Sept. 10-15.

An estimated 50,000 visitors attended the festival and got an excellent note for organization from all participants and visitors. The next year’s edition will be held Sept. 9-14, 2025.

The electric marine market has been very dynamic in the last 10 years and electric products and accessories were very popular at the show. Investments in research and development of new technologies and their implementation into boats have been extremely high.

Electric boats and yachts are, as expected, more expensive than traditionally powered boats but in the long term they produce savings on fuel and maintenance. The electric boats boating benefits are still unknown to the large public and need promotion.

Many electric and hybrid boat and equipment manufacturers that we talked with at the show confirm that the market is growing but slower than they had been hoping. The EU regulations for CO2 emission reduction in inland and open water, development of infrastructure in marinas, better technologies, safety and capacity of batteries, are still challenging battle fields.

We estimate that the electrification of the marine pleasure industry will have a positive trend in coming years. This year growth is estimated to 15% compared to 2023. The years approaching 2030 will bring more opportunities in pleasure segments as popularization of the new style and sustainable boating is seriously taking place in Europe and abroad. The expected growth of the market is up to 20% year by year. The acceleration of the electrification will be probably possible from 2030 when Green Fuels and technologies will be available to replace fossil fuel engines in boats of all types and sizes.

Well-known boat builders mainly coming from Poland and Turkey displayed 170 boats and yacht in size from 8 to 30 meters.  Eco-innovations and advanced propulsion systems were present more than ever. Traditionally powered boats and yachts dominated the show, but the electric and hybrid boats and yachts are gaining visibility and attracted extensive interest.

As usual, the biggest and the most impressive displays were those from the luxury motor yachts and super yachts manufacturers as of Azimut-Benetti, Sunseeker, San Lorenzo, Ferretti, Princess or Fairline.  Galeon, Cranchi, Sirena and other motor yachts builders continuously working on new boat models take up more space at the festival every year.

Motor yachts and superyachts adopt new designs offering a maximal open view to sea, more space and as much as possible sustainable yachting. Alternative fuel propulsion systems are not in application yet but some efforts supporting less polluting navigation in marina are made. Tenders for superyachts are regularly equipped with an electric solution.

Motor yachts in size from to 20 to 24 meters are mainly equipped with diesel MAN or Volvo Penta inboard engines, superyachts require the MTU or Caterpillar powerful propulsion. Manufacturers of luxury sports cruisers from Europe and overseas countries have been present in a large number. Boats in size up to 20 meters are mainly equipped with Volvo Penta IPS or Mercury outboard engines. 

Sailing boats and yachts manufacturers like Beneteau, Hanse Yachts, Dufour, Bavaria Yachts, X-Yachts, Nautor Swan, Gunboat, Outremer, Solaris, CNB, Grand Soleil, Fountaine Pajot, and others are looking for innovations in design and material to gain in space and light and to get closer to eco responsible yachting.

French Fountaine Pajot is developing an electric/hybrid option for existing models (odsea LAB project). Sailing catamarans Lagoon and Bali, remain the bestselling yachts at the show. Charter companies’ purchase catamarans massively produced globally to satisfy a growing demand. Australian Seawind catamaran is entering European market with the new model fully manufactured in recently launched shipyard in Turkey. Sailing yachts and catamarans are powered by Yanmar sail drive engines.

Electric and hybrid boats and yacht manufacturers including Candela, Wider, Whisper, Silent Yachts, Greenline, Sunreef, Frauscher, Elan, Vaan, Windelo, HH Catamarans, X-Yachts, Axopar, Lumen Yachts, de Antonio Yachts, and others, created lots of interest at the festival. They are using safe and reliable propulsion systems built in partnership with the most advanced electric and hybrid propulsion systems and components manufacturers such as Evoy, Huracan, Torqeedo, OceanVolt, MG energy, BMW, Polestar, ePropulsion, e-Motion, Danfoss, etc. They are promoting slow, silent and eco-responsible boating.

Fossil fuel engine manufacturers such as of Rolls-Royce/MTU, MAN, Cummins, Yanmar International, Volvo Penta, FPT Industry, Moteurs Boudouin presented their improved engines and propulsion systems for yachts. They are working on upgrading the existing engines to respond to the latest emission standards requirements worldwide. New fuel technologies development is in progress, but it is not expected to be implemented in yachts before 2035.

Yanmar launched a new sail drive electric engine in collaboration with the battery manufacturer MG Energy. Three models SDe7, SDe10 and SDe15- give an output of up to 15 kW for 100% emission free sailing.  Mercury launched the electric outboard motor line Avator with power from 7.5 to 110 kW. Torqeedo presented the latest inboard electric motor Deep Blue 100i with a power of 100 kW (135 hp) and the new XP Travel outboard electric motor with the power of 5 hp for inland boating. The high-performant Deep Blue Battery 80 based on BMW technology is launched at the festival. BlueNav invented a retractable electric motor for cleaner navigation for new or existing boats having a diesel engine(s).

Among large motor yachts, luxury superyachts, motor and sailing catamarans, outboard boats, RIB’s and other types of boats equipped with one or more fossil fuel engines, the fully electric boats, motor and battery manufacturers drew plenty of attention from attendees.

The Power Systems Research team spoke with exhibitors about their latest creations, and current market trends. Here are some experiences and thoughts from the field.

The Swedish builder Candela is a pioneer in a hydrofoiling electric boat production. After many years of research and development, the first model C-7 was launched in 2019. The latest model C-8 designed in partnership with Polstar was launched in 2023. 25 units of the C-8 design have been delivered. This year’s plan is to double production. The leisure market shows a positive trend. Candela heavily invested in the creation of the ferry C-12 having a capacity of 31 persons as the commercial segment has shown great interest in CO2 free boating.  Six units of ferries are sold and are in production. They will be used for urban transportation on the lakes.

Whisper Yachts fully designs and manufactures solar powered electric boats in Italy. The first Whisper 50, the 15 meters in lengths boat was presented at the show. It is equipped with two Torqeedo engines of 100 kW and three BMW batteries totaling 240 kWh. The boat is designed for slow, silent and clean long-distance boating. The company is launching a new Whisper 40 model in 2025. The model Whisper 60 is also coming soon.

Lumen is the Dutch electric day boat brand launched in 2018. The first E32 model has been replaced by the spacious and stylish E10 model. They are built by JR yachts in the Netherlands. The propulsion system is based on the motor built in-house and using MG batteries. Six units have been delivered, primarily to boat clubs. The Lumen team is promoting slow, comfortable and responsible boating in the leisure market. Having a traditional elegant style but being modern and different in propulsion, the E10 attracted a lot of attention at the Cannes Yachting Festival.

Evoy, the Norway manufacturer of electric inboard and outboard motors, batteries and chargers, started collaboration with the Finnish outboard boat manufacturer Axopar two years ago. The fast-growing brand manufactures about 3500 units of outboard boats per year and is now focusing on sustainable boating. The new AX/E line offers two models of electric boats AX/25 and AX/22 equipped by Evoy electric motors Storm 300+ and Outboard Brees 120+, respectively. The Evoy propulsion systems allow charging batteries from 10% to 80% in 45 minutes. Axopar sees double-digit growth of the electric market in the coming years.

Huracan Marine, the Italian manufacturer of inboard, sterndrive, sail drive and outboard electric motors and batteries, produces products primarily for builders of electric yachts and tenders, such as Silent Yachts. However, larger scale sales are expected to come from the commercial segment. The transition of Venetians traditional water traffic canal boats and privately owned boats to non-fossil engines powered boats should be implemented by 2028. This and other environmental projects directed by the state and municipality administration open new opportunities for business development.

MG Energy Systems presented the latest versions of its battery systems developed for boats and yachts of Ferretti Spa, Wajer Yachts, Azimut Benetti, Garcia Yachts, Elan, Dragonfly, Windelo, Vaan and others. PSR

Natasa Mulahalilovic is Product Manager for MarineLink, the proprietary marine product database at Power Systems Research

The 46^th Cannes Yachting Festival was the largest one ever, hosting 610 exhibitors and 705 boats. The Cannes Yachting Festival remains the largest and the most visited European pleasure boat show organized on the water.

The show’s organizers said the event has never hosted that many motor and sailing, mono and multi hulls, outboard boats, ribs and semi-rigid boats, tenders, electric, hydro-foiling, and other types of boats. 

The show ran Sept. 12-17, offering six days of meetings and exchange with boat builders, engine and equipment manufacturers, designers and architects and other professionals from the pleasure marine industry.

The event hosted by a beautiful Mediterranean Cannes attracted 55,000 visitors coming from more than 130 worldwide countries. As usual, it was organized in two locations in the city, Vieux Port and Port Conto des Cannes. Motorboats and yachts in all sizes and with all propulsion types were displayed at the Vieux Port and sailing yachts and catamarans at the Port Canto des Cannes.

The Vieux Port, including Palais des Festival, hosted 540 motor boats and yachts this year. Brands with a long international presence have taken place into the event, as Azimut-Bennetti Group, Ferretti Group, San Lorenzo Group, Princess Yachts, Fairline, Sunseeker, Pershing, Sirena Yachts, Arcadia, Galeon, Cranchi, Marex, Windy, etc. More than 70 yachts over 22 meters have had the highest level of visits.

The “Green Route” grouped all motorboat builders and technologically advanced companies moving to carbon free recreational boating. Representatives of Power Systems Research met with manufacturers such as Candela, Edorado, Elvene, Cosmopolitan Yachts, Sunreef and others to learn more about how the industry is converting  to electrification.

Marine propulsion engine and power generation manufacturers, hybrid, electric/battery, alternative fuel solutions developers, such as MAN, Yanmar, FPT Industries, Rolls-Royce MTU, ZF Aftermarket, e-Motion, CmC Marine, Volvo Penta, Fischer Panda, Bellmarine, EPTechnologies, Vulkan, Integrel presented their latest innovations and shared with us their views on the marine pleasure market trends. 

About 115 sailing boats and catamarans built by Oyster, Southern Yachts, Ice Yachts, Elan, Fountaine Pajot, Dufour, Benneteau Group, Swan, Bali, Catana, Bavaria, Hanse Yachts, Lagoon, Sunreef, Windelo and many others were displayed at Port Canto. Thirty yachts had their world premieres. The most interest was shown in boats driven by sun (solar panels), wind (sails, eoliennes), and water (hydrogeneration), supported by an appropriate pure electric or electric/hybrid drive.

The presence of numerus hydro-foiling/electric boats and on-going projects was surprising. In size up to 10 meters and driven by electric engines, hydro-foiling boats are specifically designed to be equally performant and sustainable. They are becoming more popular among the younger generation of boaters since they offer a unique, fast, and clean water experience. PSR

Natasa Mulahalilovic is Marine Pleasure Boat Analyst-Europe for Power Systems Research

The Cannes Yachting Festival is one of the largest in-water shows in the world, and this year it celebrated its 45th birthday. Founded in 1977, the show normally takes place every September. However, it missed out in 2020 because of Covid-19 restrictions, but it was back in 2021, posting the best performance results ever.

This year, the show was held Sept 6-11, and featured a fleet of about 700 boats, ranging in length from 3 to 50 meters. It included motor and sailing vessels, monohulls and multihulls, inboards, sterndrives and outboards, diesel, petrol, waterjet, hybrid and electric, tenders, RIBs and others displayed in the two main city ports of Le Vieux Port and Port Pierre Canto. This year, more than 56,000 visitors attended the show.

The new Polish Sunreef 80 Eco was the star of the festival. The all-electric, fully autonomous luxury catamaran of 23.87 m in length, 164 m2 covered with solar panels, is a unique boat in the industry. This luxury catamaran is equipped with ultra-light batteries with a density of 5.2 kg/kWh. The innovative system is entirely created and produced by the company itself offering the best efficiency in the marine world.

The builder also presented its Sunreef 60 and Sunreef 70 catamarans, standard versions equipped with twin Yanmar 75/110 HP and 180/225 HP respectively. Both models are available in eco versions. Talking with the builder’s representatives we found out that the demand for the whole range of Sunreef motor and sailing catamarans is so high that it is opening shipyards in Turkey and Dubai.

The Motor Segments of motorboats, sports cruisers, luxury yachts and superyachts are doing well, thanks to the pent-up demand for boats and boating in the previous two years. Boat builder’s order books are full, with many stretching out to 2025.

The main issue facing manufacturers, and causing production delays, is a lack of materials and components. Other problems include a lack of production space and a lack of skilled workers. Despite these production issues, most builders of motor yachts and superyachts are happy with the current situation. At the same time, they are less optimistic about their post-2023 order books because of financial and political turbulences. 

Internationally recognized builders as Azimut-Benetti Group, Ferretti Group, San Lorenzo, Sunseeker, Fairlane, Sirena Yachts, Galeon, De Antonio, Windy, Fjord, Sunreef power and many others displayed their selected yachts in the Vieux Port.  Here are some of the most innovative ones that we saw. 

The Benetti 30M B.Yond Explorer made of aluminum for long distance voyages was one of the most impressive superyachts. It is “the greenest boat” in its class, using a unique e-mode hybrid propulsion system created by Siemens Energy.  The auxiliary propulsion system works with electric engines in parallel with two diesel MAN V12-1400 engines.

San Lorenzo’s SP110 is the first cruiser from the builder’s “Smart Performance” portfolio and ranks in the top five boats by speed in the world. The hull of the boat is optimized for the hydro jet propulsion. Studies made by the builder show that this type of propulsion has an advantage over a propeller as it is less sensitive to variations in the boat’s weight and therefore more versatile.  

Arcadia’s Sherpa XL is an open and very innovative yacht of 23.9 meters, promoting slow and greener yachting.  It is equipped with solar panels producing up to 2 kW of energy sufficient to power all on-board energy systems. It is powered by two Volvo Penta IPS 1350 engines. Cranchi launched its 20.8 meters flybridge 67 Sessantasette built from hi-tech materials used for the first time in the pleasure boat industry. The new generation boat is powered with two IPS Volvo Penta of 1000 HP engines.

The Sailing Segments of monohulls, catamarans and superyachts were presented by the main players in the segment such as Beneteau, Jeanneau, Bavaria, Hanse Yachts, Solaris Yachts, Swan, X-Yachts, Fountaine Pajot, Oyster, Lagoon, Bali, Outremer, Neel, Balance, and many others, in the Port Pierre Canto. We saw about 120 sailing yachts, including 20 world premieres.

Sailing monohulls and multihulls are more popular than ever. New boat sales have been growing 5% to 10% annually. Bali, Lagoon and Fountaine Pajot manufacture hundreds of yachts per year. They are available in different sizes and finalization levels. Eco friendly versions are offered as well, and installation of solar panels is a common feature. Suitable for private or chartered use, they are sold all over the world. Sales numbers are excellent, but production struggles to keep up as some components purchased on the international market often are not available. 

The world premieres that we saw included Fountaine Pajot’s Aura 51, eco-friendly 15 meters catamaran equipped with a 2000 W solar panels and an electric engine, using a small generator as a backup. The German Y Yachts displayed for the first time its carbon sailing yachts Y7 and Y9. They are 22-meters and 27.4-meters luxury yachts with hydro drives and solar panels on the sunroof.

Mylius Yachts from Italy presented its 23.39 m yacht entirely made of carbon. It is a beautiful, ultra-light and high performance racing sailing boat. It is powered with Yanmar 220 hp engine. Wave from Poland launched its Wave 50 catamaran. It is a hybrid catamaran equipped with two 60 HP Volvo Penta engines and two electric 18.5 kW engines. The builder does not have any production issues since all parts are produced in-house. Slovenian Elan launched its 47 feet performance sailing boat powered with Yanmar 57/80 hp engine. Yearly production is about 60 units. The builder has some concerns about the coming year’s demand, especially for boats ranging in size from 10 to 20 meters, considering the financial challenges Europeans are facing.  

Windelo is a French family-owned company founded in 2018 with a vision of producing ecologically friendly and fast cruising catamarans. The first boat in the range was the Windelo 50 launched in 2021. This year, the Windelo 54 was launched for the Cannes Yachting Festival. The boat was named European Yacht of the year 2022. The 16.24 meters sailing catamaran is equipped with an electric hybrid drive system having two 20 kW electric engines, a battery bank of 1120 Ah in 48 V and different charging solutions as solar panels up to 4800 W for a complete charge of the batteries, wind turbines of 400 W to charge the battery bank and a hydrogenator that recharges the battery bank in 24 hours when the boat is under sail. Current production capacity is six units per year.

The builder is booked until 2025 completing production of 19 new boats. The goal is to produce 25 units per year. Two new models, Windelo 47 and Windelo 57, are planned to be launched in 2023/2024.

One extraordinary project is a catamaran under construction shown by the French Modx, a brand of OCEAN development. The boat, scheduled to be launched in July 2023, combines features of performance sailing and renewable energy management in a marine environment. The objective is to create a new generation yacht “reaching full autonomy and zero carbon emission.”

The 21.33 meter catamaran combines 250 square meters of inflatable wings propulsion connected to hydrogeneration, 70 square meters of solar panels, a 230 kW.h LFP battery bank, twin electric engines Torqeedo of 40 kW ensuring 2 hours anatomy and two water collectors with 800 L capacity.

This is more than just a highly ecologically performance sailing yacht. It is a modern boat with 185 square meters of space and capacity for eight to 10 passengers. The project won the award from the 2022 competition i-Nov7 for Sustainable and Intelligent mobility.

Today’s yachts offer more open space, closer contact with the sea, and more enjoyable interiors than ever before. Builders use ecofriendly biomaterials and recycled materials for interiors and lighter materials for super structures to decrease fuel consumption.

Builders participate with engine manufacturers in the development of improved performance and sustainable propulsion systems to produce new hybrid and electric propulsion systems. The transition from traditional to  “green boating” has started, but more efforts on a large scale must be made before we see real changes.     PSR

Natasa Mulahalilovic is Marine Analyst – Europe, for Power Systems Research