Jay McEvoy provides an overview from his recent trip to France to represent Performance Boating at Cannes:
I had the honour and pleasure of attending the 2017 Cannes Yachting Festival on behalf of the Performance Boating team from 12th to the 17th September. The Cannes show is the lead-off event in the annual circuit of European boat shows and celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. Cannes is the largest in-water show in Europe and this year presented 600 boats ranging from 2.1m to 65m.
The Jeanneau group was well represented with a total of 27 vessels on display with quite a number of new launch models debuting – details below;
Jeanneau had an excellent show, breaking an all-time record in sales during the boat show with most of the new models selling out for the 2018 production year including both of the new Sun Odyssey 440 & 490’s. PBS have however managed to reserve a limited number of slots for PBS customers with two slots available on the SO440 for late 2018 and one SO490 available mid-2018. So, call us if you are potentially interested in securing one of these special limited availability slots for 2018.
The launch of the new Sun Odyssey 440 & 490 was one of my key focuses in attending the show to enable PBS to get an early and detailed look over these innovative 8th generation launch models on behalf of our three existing PBS clients. The response and feedback from the crowds was extremely positive with numerous viewer commenting that these were their pick for ‘boat of the show’.
The new full length hard chines present an aggressive but eye-catching line on what is a state of the art stable and powerful twin rudder hull. The new hull also translates to a significant increase in internal volume, which is quite astounding as you enter the saloon and allows for the full size rectangular berths in all cabins. With fantastic natural light and a very high standard of finish throughout the interiors stood out from the competition. Great thought has been given to practicality throughout the design from improved deck circulation with the new side ramp walkways / options for opening cockpit coamings for huge sun lounges / lowered gooseneck for easier sail access / optimised storage capacity throughout and the list goes on…
The Sun Odyssey 440 has already been nominated among the finalists for European Yacht of the Year 2018 and in my personal view will be strong contender to take the title.
Among the Jeanneau powerboat models, the new NC 33 and the Cap Camarat 7.5 Bow Rider will participate in the finals for the European Powerboat of the Year 2018.
Also in Europe, the Merry Fisher 795 Marlin and the Leader 33 have been honoured with nominations for the title of Best of Boats, respectively in the categories, “Best for Fishing” and “Best for Family.”
The European boat shows are a massive logistical task with more than 100 Jeanneau sales staff manning the stands in the most important shows like Cannes, Paris or Dusseldorf with additional factory and admin support staff assisting. Jeanneau also have a dedicated team of a 12 staff traveling ahead of each show to work with local contractors to manage the set up of the stands and logistics for boat relocations to ensure we have a consistent brand presentation across the European show circuit.
The Cannes Yachting Festival was a somewhat overwhelming but memorable experience for me with the size and scale of the event and the range and diversity of boats on display. I however left with a confidence that the Jeanneau product remains well positioned in the market place and is continuing to innovate, ensuring a lead position in product development in the production boat market.
I’ve already offered to endure the pains of this European tour again next year on behalf of the PBS team!!
