Innovation Route 2026: a Cannes 47 innovations and 12 finalists

Sustainability and efficiency are two crucial themes for the nautical sector, and the Innovation Route is the project through which the Cannes Yachting Festival selects, starting from 2024, the innovations capable of indicating a change for the industry.

For the 2026 edition, a jury of six experts has chosen 47 innovations from 120 applications. The selection will take shape in an exhibition route between Vieux Port and Port Canto, while 12 finalist projects, divided into four categories, will compete for the Innovation Route Awards.

The four winners will be announced on September 8, during the opening day of the Show, and will receive a trophy made by France Hélice. A special jury prize will also be awarded.

From the exhibition route to the Innovation Route Awards

For the Cannes Yachting Festival, the Innovation Route has carved out a recognizable space in the international panorama of nautical innovation in its first two editions. The evolution of the project has also consolidated its role. Starting in 2025, the Innovation Route Awards will accompany the exhibition route, entrusting a jury of experts with the task of identifying the most relevant projects among those selected.

A function that Constance Brément, director of the Cannes Yachting Festival, links to the same mission of the Show: “The role of the Cannes Yachting Festival is to enhance the attractiveness of yachting and inspire visitors. Promoting the future solutions and initiatives of our exhibitors is therefore a natural priority.”

“The selection – she continues – among 47 projects divided between boats, equipment, and services testifies to the deep commitment of the entire sector towards a more responsible recreational boating, without giving up the pleasure of navigation.”

Consumption, performance, and marine protection

Today, the pleasure of navigation also depends on the ability to reduce consumption and make the energy transition concrete, while simultaneously improving performance, equipment, and safety, without losing sight of marine protection and biodiversity.

These are precisely the directions along which the selected innovations move: propulsion systems and energy management, technologies dedicated to navigation, and initiatives aimed at protecting marine ecosystems.

Among the examples highlighted by the Festival are the Whisper 52, an electric solar catamaran, the foiling sailboat Skaw A, and the customized propulsion system VEEM, which the manufacturer claims reduces consumption by 18%. On the biodiversity front, D-Marin proposes the Biohuts, artificial habitats installed under the docks to promote the restoration of marine fauna in ports.

Innovation Route Awards: the 12 finalist projects

Among the 47 selected innovations, the jury identified 12 finalists, three for each of the four categories of the Innovation Route Awards. Below are the nominations:

Best equipment to improve navigation

Best sustainable product

Best innovative boat

Best CSR initiative

The jury’s verdict expected on September 8

With the three finalists defined for each of the four categories, attention now shifts to September 8, when the four winners will be announced and the special jury prize will be awarded.

A group of six experts will decide, bringing together representatives from the nautical industry, maritime consultants, decarbonization specialists, journalists, and entrepreneurs: Guillaume Arnaud des Lyons, Thierry Berest, Rachel Goult, Jean-Christophe Guillaumin, Geoffroy Langlade, and Elena Patriarca.

More than the outcome, it will be interesting to know the reasons behind the choices and understand which elements allowed to distinguish, among very different solutions, those considered truly capable of impacting the evolution of yachting.