With its streets filled with water, the “Floating City” makes a perfect venue for a major boat show. This year’s nine-day event, which runs through Sunday, is without doubt the most relevant yet, focusing on sustainability and zero-emission electric marine power. Held in the city’s historic Arsenale district, Salone Nautico Venezia features more than 300 power boats and sailboats from almost 200 exhibitors. It wraps up with an E-Regatta parade of electric boats along the city’s landmark Grand Canal. Here are nine of the show’s highlight launches.
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wallypower 58
Image Credit: Courtesy Wally Ferretti-owned Wally Yachts picked the Venice show to officially pull the wraps off its latest, go-fast projectile, the head-spinning wallypower 58. Inspired by the folded-paper design of the ground-breaking wallypower 118 from 2003, this sleek 58-footer uses triple Volvo IPS pods to punch the oversized dayboat to a top speed of close to 40 mph. With its trademark, raked-back windshield and head-spinning “shark gill” hull intakes, the new 58 expands its already spacious cockpit with a pair of fold-down hull wings. To avoid design-distracting portholes in the hull, the 58 features exterior cameras to project the view outside on to hi-def screens on each side of the lower salon.
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Candela C-8
Image Credit: Courtesy Candela Those classy Venetian water taxis may look oh-so elegant, but they throw-out huge wakes that can erode the “Floating City’s” fragile walls and pilings. Which is why Swedish electric hydro-foiling builder Candela chose the Venice Boat Show to unveil the production version of its brand-new 28-foot C-8 dayboat. How come? At the C-8’s 34-mph top speed, it creates just a two-inch wake—about the same as an enthusiastically paddled Venetian gondola. Successor to Candela’s original 25-foot C-7, this more chiseled-looking flagship boasts a 58-mile range at its 27-mph cruising speed. The builder also chose Venice to introduce the P-8 limo-version, which it calls the world’s first foiling electric taxi. C-8 pricing starts at around $310,000.
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Sanlorenzo SL106A
Image Credit: Courtesy Sanlorenzo Yachts In addition to unveiling two new models that will preview at the fall shows—the SD90/S and SP100—Italian superyacht builder Sanlorenzo marked its first appearance at the Venice show with its SL106A, with the ‘A’ standing for “Asymmetric.” Using the same space-increasing design as the yard’s SL96A and SL90A models, this 106-footer does away with the port side deck to widen the salon, while adding full-height windows to flood the dining area with light. There’s also a fold-down terrace to starboard to open up the lounge area. Sanlorenzo’s designers have also reconfigured the garage space at the stern to allow for more water toys and a larger tender, while reworking the forward deck to integrate a more spacious dinette and sunpads.
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Racebird E-1 Series Electric Raceboat
Image Credit: Courtesy Lloyd Images To spotlight next year’s high-action E1 electric powerboat race series, organizers used the show to unveil the first all-electric race boat built, the hydrofoiling RaceBird. It coincides with the recent announcement that the first team to sign up for the series will be entrepreneur Francesco Pannoli’s Venice Racing Team. Inspired by the Formula E electric race car series, E1 is looking to race in iconic urban waterways, like Venice’s Grand Canal, Sydney Harbor, and off Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf Mountain. Boats like RaceBird, powered by a new electric Mercury Marine outboard, will be able to hit a top speed of close to 60 mph and run for 40 minutes on a charge.
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Absolute 58 Fly
Image Credit: Courtesy Absolute Yachts When it comes to the new 56 Fly from Absolute Yachts, there’s almost more light-flooding glass than fiberglass. Huge, oversized hull windows are complemented by equally expansive superstructure glass, much of which is opened by a push of a button. This new 56 is the latest addition to the Italian builder’s burgeoning range of flybridge models that ranges from the 47 Fly to the flagship 72 Fly. The 56’s flybridge is one of its standout features, with a large dining area, sunpad, twin helm seats, modular sofas at the rear and outdoor kitchen. And much of the area is covered by a hardtop featuring power-generating solar panels.
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Anvera 58
Image Credit: Courtesy Anvera The latest super-sized RIB from Italian builder LG made its global debut this week at the Venice show. The Anvera 58 focuses on offering fun in the sun with its oversized rear sundeck that can be expanded outwards with fold-down side sections. Forward in the cockpit is a table for six and a large, rear-deck sunpad that raises up to reveal a tender garage. When on the move, there are two rows of racecar-style bucket seats behind the helm, and a huge glass windshield and hardtop for protection. As one would expect, this new carbon-fiber-hulled 58 is blisteringly fast, courtesy of a pair of thundering 650-horsepower Caterpillar diesels with surface drives.
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Monachus 70 FLY
Image Credit: Courtesy Monachus It was a natural for boutique Croatian builder Monachus to add a flybridge top deck to its existing Monachus 70 coupé. Unveiled at the Venice show, this new 70 Fly adds even more outdoor space to this striking express cruiser. While the 70 sedan’s smallish superstructure doesn’t allow for a huge upper deck, the builder put the available space to good use, incorporating a U-shaped dinette, sunpad and two-seat helm. That outdoor helm is perfect for enjoying the 40-mph wind-in-the-face top speed from the twin 1,000-hp Volvo D13 IPS1350 diesels.
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Azimut 66 Magellano
Image Credit: Courtesy Azimut Yachts Unveiled last year, the smallest in Azimut’s retro-themed Magellano fast-trawler line-up made its Venice debut this week, maybe just to remind show-goers of Italy’s design and boat-building skills. This 66 Magellano stands out with its lovely “old-school” touches, like its glowing teak cap-rails and distinctive horizontal teak side-cabin strakes. But there’s nothing old-school about the way this new 66 is built, with its smooth-riding, semi-planing double-chine hull, and expansive carbon-fiber flybridge and hardtop. It also puts the fast in fast-trawler, using a pair of 850-hp MAN six-cylinder diesels to push it to a top speed of 26 mph.
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Sessa C3X
Image Credit: Courtesy Sessa Italian cruiser builder Sessa Marine chose the Venice show to debut the newest addition to its lineup, the 37-foot C3X. Choices range from Open, Hard Top or T-Top versions, plus the builder offers a choice of inboard or outboard power. Built at Sessa’s Bergamo facility, northeast of Milan, the entry-level C3X weekender is big on quality and craftsmanship. Oversized hull windows brighten up the cabins, which include a forward master and large king-bedded VIP beneath the rear cockpit. Twin 250-hp outboards or a pair of 300-hp Volvo diesels both deliver a top speed of over 40 mph.
