Sailing with Environmental Conscience at Cannes Yachting Festival 2021

Yachting is not immune to awareness of the environmental crisis. Reconciling nautical activities with respecting the environment is tomorrow’s challenge, and the nautical sector has become more aware of the true consequences of their activities on the environment for several years.

Despite restrictive international rules aiming to protect natural environments (hybrid propulsion, reduction of noise pollution, more regulations for mooring zones to preserve sea beds etc.), and the obligation for marinas with more than 100 places to reserve 1% of their spaces for electric boats from 2022, the transition is slow.

On 28 July, Annick Girardin, French Minister of the Sea, launched a mission dedicated to the sailing sector. The aim? To identify solutions to develop the sector while finding the balance between sailing freely and an environmental conscience that is indispensable today. The challenge is to undertake a green transition in nautical activities that is similar to that which the car industry is experiencing. These new sustainable development themes are an incredible opportunity to reinvent nautical activities to imagine the world of tomorrow.

To firmly accompany this green transition, the Yachting Festival had already started making an environmental shift in 2019 with the ‘Energy Observer’ educational exhibition, presenting work on hydrogen and renewable energy undertaken by the boat of that name.

Taking it one step further, this year the Festival has organised a full ‘Green’ route for visitors highlighting exhibitors developing or presenting an environmentally-friendly concept. More than 50 exhibitors are taking part in this route, which will showcase 80 boats or pieces of equipment that are innovative from an environmentally friendly viewpoint. All exhibitors taking part in this route show the logo.

In addition, for the first time since the Yachting Festival was created, this year the Vieux Port will accommodate a nautical zone exclusively dedicated to fully electric and hybrid boats which will present a dozen 8- to 12-metre boats.

Finally, from the Vieux Port to Port Canto, several eco-friendly boats can be seen. Some examples are listed below:

1. Silent Yachts is a solar pioneer in the world of yachting and will be showcasing the Silent 60, its latest electric solar energy catamaran. It’s a true environmentally friendly yacht able to sail up to 100 miles per day without fuel, emissions or noise, that can be seen on quai Max Laubeuf.

2. On the Jetée, Hynova Yacht will be presenting its 1st tender yacht accredited as an electro-hydrogen-powered boat, Hynova 40. It is the first model in the world destined for serial production using hydrogen stored on board to sail without emitting CO2, NOX gas, creating sound pollution nor risking hydrocarbon leaks.

3. The sailing of tomorrow? Neocean has been working on the subject for three years and offers new ways of sailing without polluting or disturbing marine life. Its Overboat foiler is among them. It is a boat that’s both clean and silent, and thanks to its four electronically-regulated foils, the boat’s energy requirement is reduced by 60%. A license is not required to use the boat, which will be exhibited in the Toys Area.

4. At Port Canto, new brand on the market Windelo will present its first environmentally friendly catamaran, the Windelo 50 Adventure, a simple, comfortable, high-performance and, above all, innovative sailing boat. With this new catamaran, Windelo is taking part in the transformation of the high-performance cruise boat market by combining ecology, performance, safety and comfort on board.

5. In the Pantiero zone at the Vieux Port, Pinball Boat, a start-up created in 2016 that focusses on new uses of boating, will present its E-hybrid catamaran, a silent, easily-manoeuvrable and environmentally friendly boat. It has autonomy of 1 hour at 6 knots.

All these ‘flagship’ models and many more are waiting to be discovered from 7 to 12 September in the exceptional setting of the city of Cannes during the Yachting Festival, the inaugural event of the sailing season and the largest in-water boat show in Europe.

In parallel, the Yachting Festival is improving its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by implementing new actions to reduce its environmental impact, guided by an approach of the RX group at international level.

Among these measures, we can highlight:

• Reducing printed documents by making the Festival’s tickets paperless, making the magazine digital, eliminating the visitors’ map which will be included in the Festival catalogue, eliminating the Sailing Guide and eliminating the VIP Guide. Only the catalogue/map printed on Ecofolio-certified paper will be distributed at the Festival.

• The use of recycled and/or recyclable materials including the press villages’ furniture in recycled and recyclable cardboard, recyclable stand and aisle carpet and the majority of festival signage.

• Festival caterers will also offer at least one vegetarian choice of all catering options and give preference to seasonal, local and/or organic products as far as possible.