Sunreef 88 Ultima Covers 4800NM from Dubai to Cannes

Sunreef 88 Ultima Covers 4800NM from Dubai to Cannes

2026-09-07

From the offices of Sunreef Yachts in Dubai to the picturesque setting of Cannes, the Sunreef 88 ULTIMA has just covered a whopping 4,800 Nautical Mile Voyage to debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival.

When a 27-metre catamaran power yacht arrives at a European boat show, few visitors stop to consider how it got there. For many yachts of this size, the answer is relatively straightforward: they are transported. The Sunreef ULTIMA 88 arriving at Cannes in September 2026, however, tells a very different story.

Built at Sunreef Yachts' facility in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, the new flagship power catamaran made the remarkable journey from the UAE to the French Riviera under her own power, covering approximately 4,800 nautical miles before arriving in Cannes for her European debut. That makes the journey almost as interesting as the yacht itself.

The first ULTIMA 88 was built at Sunreef's growing Ras Al Khaimah shipyard, the UAE facility that the Polish yacht builder established as part of its international manufacturing expansion. Sunreef says its UAE facility is intended to support production of larger yachts, with the ULTIMA range among the key models being produced there.

The ULTIMA 88 is a substantial yacht. Measuring 26.8 metres, with a beam of approximately 9.1 metres, the catamaran yacht combines the stability and volume of a multihull with a markedly more performance-oriented profile. Sunreef says the model can reach speeds of up to 26 knots, depending on configuration. But getting a yacht of this size from the Gulf to the Mediterranean is no small delivery. Rather than being loaded onto a heavy-lift vessel or transported by ship, this ULTIMA 88 took to the water and began the long journey west. The route meant thousands of nautical miles of open-water navigation, including a passage across the Arabian Sea during the monsoon season. By the time the yacht reaches Cannes, she will have effectively completed an ocean delivery before taking her place among the most anticipated new launches at the show.

For yachts in this size category, transporting a vessel from one region to another can often be the preferred solution. A yacht carrier can move a new vessel across oceans without subjecting the yacht, crew and systems to thousands of miles of continuous operation. The circumstances surrounding this delivery made that option less straightforward. The geopolitical situation in the Middle East and disruption affecting regional shipping routes have complicated logistics in and around the region. In this case, taking the yacht under her own power offered an alternative — albeit one that demanded considerably more from the yacht and her crew. The result is a delivery that is more than a positioning voyage. It is also a real-world demonstration of the yacht's ability to undertake extended passages.

4,800 nautical miles is difficult to visualise. At 20 knots, covering that distance continuously would represent approximately 240 hours — or 10 days — of running time, before allowing for weather, routing, stops, fuel management and operational considerations. And this isn't a purpose-built ocean-going displacement yacht. The ULTIMA 88 was conceived as a performance-focused luxury power catamaran, with Sunreef aiming to combine the handling characteristics of a monohull with the stability, space and shallow draft of a multihull. The yacht's published specifications make that philosophy clear. The ULTIMA 88 can accommodate up to 10 guests, while its design includes a large aft garage and Sunreef's signature Ocean Lounge, created by opening the aft sections of the yacht to the sea. The first yacht also features a full-beam master suite, generous interior living areas and extensive outdoor spaces across the yacht's decks. Those features make the ULTIMA 88 a luxury yacht. But the journey to Cannes adds another dimension to the story.

Crossing the Arabian Sea during monsoon season is perhaps another remarkable aspect of the delivery, not simply the distance. It is when and where that distance was covered. The Arabian Sea is heavily influenced by the seasonal monsoon, creating challenging conditions that can include strong winds, significant swell and rapidly changing sea states. Taking a yacht across the Arabian Sea during the monsoon requires careful planning, weather routing and experienced seamanship. For the ULTIMA 88 crew, the delivery therefore represented a very different experience from a typical yacht transfer between Mediterranean marinas. The yacht had to operate for days at sea, manage fuel and provisions, monitor weather systems and navigate a passage spanning thousands of nautical miles. The fact that she was making the journey specifically to reach Cannes adds another layer to the story.

There is also a certain symbolism in the voyage. The ULTIMA 88 is one of the most important yachts to emerge from Sunreef's Ras Al Khaimah operation. Sunreef established its UAE manufacturing presence as part of the company's expansion, with the facility intended to build larger yachts and with ULTIMA catamarans identified as an important part of its production programme. Now, the yacht built there is crossing the water under her own power and arriving in one of Europe's most prestigious yacht-show destinations. At Cannes, the ULTIMA 88 will make its official world debut, where Sunreef is presenting the model as a new generation of high-performance luxury catamaran. It is an appropriate setting. Cannes is where new yachts are introduced to the European market, but in this case the yacht will already have a substantial voyage behind her.

The 4,800-nautical-mile passage gives prospective owners something that a specification sheet cannot. Real-world experience. A yacht can look impressive on paper. It can have a 26-knot top speed, expansive living areas, sophisticated systems and a striking exterior profile. But an extended delivery under its own power provides an opportunity to see how the yacht performs when it is no longer simply being demonstrated for an hour at a boat show. The ULTIMA 88 has been designed to sit somewhere between the worlds of the motor yacht and the power catamaran — offering the efficiency, stability and space of a multihull while adopting a more dynamic, performance-driven design language. A 4,800-nautical-mile delivery puts that philosophy to a rather more demanding test.

When visitors see the ULTIMA 88 at the Cannes Yachting Festival this September, they will see a brand-new yacht with an unusually long first chapter. She will not simply have been transported to the show. She will have sailed there under her own power from Ras Al Khaimah, crossing thousands of miles of open water on the way. And that makes the ULTIMA 88's Cannes debut particularly compelling. The yacht represents Sunreef's ambitions for a new generation of high-performance luxury catamarans. But before stepping onto the dock at Cannes, this particular ULTIMA 88 will have already completed a journey that most yachts of her size would never undertake under their own power. 4,800 nautical miles from Dubai to Cannes.

For a yacht making her debut, that's one hell of an arrival.

Visit the Sunreef 88 ULTIMA at Cannes Yachting Festival from Sept. 8-13, 2026 at Vieux Port stand PAN 089.