Monaco Yacht Show is under way. Port Hercule reveals where the superyacht market really stands

Port Hercule has been working at full capacity since Wednesday, 23 September. The 35th Monaco Yacht Show runs until Saturday, 26 September, but the most interesting story from the opening days is not the length of the biggest yacht in the harbour. It is whether buyers are ready to make decisions again.

Monaco is the first serious test of the market after the 2026 summer season. Cannes is primarily about series and semi-custom production up to the mid-thirty-metre range. Monaco concentrates the projects that cost the most and take the longest to build. For four days, yachts just delivered by their yards sit alongside owner-listed brokerage vessels and yachts available for charter next season. Nowhere else in the calendar can a buyer compare all three markets within one harbour.

The numbers are large, but their composition matters more

The organiser expected around 120 superyachts and more than 560 exhibitors. Its official material identifies 43 yachts as 2026 deliveries. The distinction matters: a newly delivered yacht is not automatically making its world debut in Monaco.

Independent counts differ slightly, and there is little value in forcing them into one total. YachtBuyer Intelligence recorded 117 yachts on the opening day, with a combined length of 5.58 kilometres. SuperYacht24 counted 113 when it published its analysis two days earlier. Such variation is normal. The fleet changes almost until the gates open, with late arrivals and withdrawals. All three readings nevertheless sit in the same range, and none suggests that the show is shrinking.

Fleet structure is more revealing than the headline count. YachtBuyer reports an average length of 47.66 metres and an average age of 6.47 years, down from 7.28 years in 2025. Monaco’s fleet has become younger. SuperYacht24 gives an average length of 48.4 metres and says average tonnage has risen from 650 GT last year to 685 GT. The organiser’s own list shows that the brokerage and charter contingent averages approximately 49 metres, with an average launch year of 2016.

The methods differ, but the direction is consistent: the order book contains fewer projects while average length and tonnage continue to rise. This is more than a dockside impression. Citing the 2026 Global Order Book, the organiser says the number of superyachts on order or under construction contracted for two years while their average size reached record levels.

YachtBuyer counted only two yachts above 100 metres. The largest is Oceanco’s 111-metre Leviathan, while the largest new delivery presented this year is Lürssen’s 102.4-metre Nixie. Early reports often blur the distinction: Leviathan wins on length; Nixie is the largest debut from the 2026 delivery class.

Launches that reveal something about the market

YachtBuyer classifies 79 yachts as debuts and 46 as 2026 deliveries. A catalogue of names would add little. The projects worth examining are those that reveal a change in what yards are building and buyers are considering.

Nixie represents the very top end. Two yachts above 100 metres in a harbour that has hosted more do not mark the end of the segment. They show that it remains narrow in unit numbers while each contract consumes more capital, expertise and build time.

The Sunreef 100 Eco provides the Polish contribution to this year’s show. The first yacht in the series, Ipharra II, measures approximately 29.3 metres, was launched in Gdansk on 17 June 2026 and is making her first public appearance in Monaco. Sunreef is developing electric propulsion, an extensive solar installation and energy regeneration under sail for the model. Here, the technology is at least as important as the length.

The Sirena 42M marks the Turkish builder’s entry into the market above 40 metres. Baglietto is presenting, among others, the 60-metre T60 and 50-metre Fast50. The GX42 RPH is the first yacht from the new GX Superyachts brand — not another model launch within an established range, but an attempt to build an entire market position from the ground up.

Two broader conclusions follow. First, Turkish shipyards are no longer a curiosity. Alongside Sirena, Port Hercule includes the 87.7-metre Angelique from Turquoise Yachts, the 52.6-metre Gray Wolf from Mengi Yay and the 62-metre Simena from Ares Yachts. SuperYacht24 describes this as the rapid rise of the Turkish shipbuilding industry. Italy still dominates: according to Global Order Book data cited by the organiser, Italian yards account for 52 per cent of global projects on order or under construction. But competitors are closing the distance.

Second, sailing and motor catamarans are entering the superyacht fleet with increasing confidence. The organiser’s official list contains four multihulls, two of them delivered in 2026: Ipharra II and the Lagoon EIGHTY 3. They remain a small part of the fleet, but they are technically significant. Their large surface area, beam and available battery volume allow designers to explore systems that are more difficult to package in a monohull of a similar length.

Seventy yachts for sale: Monaco as a marketplace

This is where the show becomes most relevant to a buyer.

YachtBuyer Intelligence reports that 70 of the 117 yachts it tracked are for sale. Their combined asking value is approximately $2.5 billion, with an average asking price of $35.2 million. SuperYacht24 counted 62 sale listings worth a combined €2.1 billion in its analysis of 21 September. The measurement date and classification method explain the difference. Both numbers are estimates by their respective publishers, not official show data.

At the top of YachtBuyer’s table is the 72-metre Feadship Vanish at €148 million. These are asking prices, not transaction values. It will take months to establish how many yachts actually change hands and at what negotiated level.

The ratio is nevertheless clear: more than half of the monitored fleet is on the market. Monaco Yacht Show is not simply a launch event with brokerage parked politely at the edge. It is a four-day marketplace in which a new project with delivery several years away competes for the same client as a yacht that could change hands after the season.

Sustainability moves from claims towards measurement

The Blue Wake Awards could easily be dismissed as another layer of event marketing. This year’s process gives buyers less reason to do so. The organiser reports 60 validated solutions assessed with the involvement of the Water Revolution Foundation, including work on emissions reduction, material circularity, eco-design and protection of aquatic ecosystems.

The special yacht award went to Simena, a 62-metre hybrid sailing yacht built by Ares Yachts. The organiser specifies two 220 kW electric motors, battery-powered operation and energy regeneration under sail. Under the environmental assessment used for the awards, the yacht performed 11 per cent better than the comparison-fleet average.

The result needs perspective. One award for one sailing yacht does not prove that the entire market has transformed. What is changing is the language of the discussion. A measured result under a defined method is starting to matter more than a yard’s broad claim. For buyers, that suggests energy use and emissions may soon influence used-yacht valuations alongside engine hours, service records and class status.

What this means for a buyer

The organiser highlights the issue that increasingly controls purchase timing: build slots at leading yards extend into 2028 and 2029. That changes the calculation. If the gap between contract and delivery represents three lost seasons, a well-maintained yacht available now stops being a compromise. It becomes a genuine alternative whose value is measured in both money and time on the water.

The younger Monaco fleet strengthens that case. YachtBuyer’s average age of 6.47 years means yachts that would recently have been considered almost new are already reaching the brokerage market. Within one harbour, a buyer can compare three things that are normally separated: a new design from a yard, a specific brokerage yacht with a service history, and a charter vessel that reveals whether the length and deck plan actually suit the intended use.

Access still requires planning. On Wednesday, the Dockside Area was reserved for invited guests and holders of MYS VIP Guest or Prestige VIP Guest passes. From Thursday to Saturday, standard ticket holders can also enter it, although boarding an individual yacht remains at the discretion of the yard or brokerage house and usually requires an appointment.

For clients considering a purchase in this market, W Yachts can turn a show comparison into a shortlist, document review and a realistic acquisition budget. Our earlier analysis, Cannes closed the launch season. Monaco will show where the capital really is, provides the wider context for this week’s show.

RynekJachtow.pl is attending Monaco Yacht Show 2026. Over the coming days, we will publish dockside reports, analysis of the most significant launches and conversations with shipyards and brokerage houses.