VISITING YACHT SHOWS IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE

This year, I had the pleasure of visiting not one, but two yacht shows in the South of France.

The yachting season started off with the CYF – the Cannes Yachting Festival. As a student at the International University of Monaco who chose the yachting specialization, we got the day off, so we could travel to Cannes and experience the event.

Since the festival was held only a few weeks after I started my master’s program, I didn’t know all too much about yachts yet but it was still very impressive and super fun to see all the incredible vessels and experience the industry first hand.

Of course, the “super yachting extension” was particularly impressive, so this was where we started asking to visit some yachts in-between the pre-booked showings for brokers and potential buyers.

We got lucky with two superyachts, when the crew had free slots in between meetings, so we got a spontaneous showing of those beautiful examples. Btw – to be classified as a superyacht, the vessel has to be generally over 100 feet in length and between 300 and 1,500 gross tons. In comparison, megayachts start from 260 feet and have a minimum of 1,500 GT.

After exploring and walking around all day, we eventually got tired and ended the day at a beach club in Cannes before heading back home to Monaco.

Only two weeks later, the yachting season continued, this time with the biggest European event of the industry – the Monaco Yacht Show. A few years ago, students from Monaco that were doing the yachting specialization still got tickets but ever since, the organizers wanted the event to become more exclusive, so they cut the deal with the university.

So now, one-day passes started at 600€… I had already accepted I wasn’t going when my neighbor came up to me and said that she had a spare ticket, asking me if I wanted to go with her. Of course I did!!

While there is a limit for the maximum size of boats being exhibited in Cannes, Monaco works the other way around. Here, yachts that want to be presented have to fulfill strict minimum requirements. Meaning that you really get to see the best of the best here.

In Monaco, getting a private showing of the boats is even harder. You often have to book your slot months in advance and you have to prove you are coming from the industry and want to see the yacht for a specific purpose.

Again, I got super lucky! I had a friend working at the MYS, so when I saw her, she asked the captain if by any chance he had a moment to show me around – and he did! Touring one of those extravagant vessels while having everything explained to you by the captain himself was really an exceptional experience.

After another long day, I decided to walk home and just reflect on the day and on how incredibly grateful I am to be living here and to get to be doing things like this.

After now having visited two different yacht shows in the South of France, of course I compared the two. And I honestly must say, Monaco was crazy with all its professionaal buzz, the speciaalization tents and the mega yachts. But if I had to choose, I would probably prefer going to the CYF rather than the MYS.

So if you ever happen to be in the area in September, you might want to consider going to the Cannes Yachting Festival. Even without any knowledge of yachting, it is a great experience and just like me, you might get lucky with a private tour 😉