Pirelli Speedboats, Ducati and SACS Marine have shown the PIRELLI 44 | Ducati Edition at Cannes. It is a limited version of the new maxi-RIB, capped at 26 boats as a reference to 1926, the year Ducati was founded. The boat was unveiled on 10 September during the Cannes Yachting Festival, with Ducati’s official announcement published the following day.
The red livery and motorcycle language do most of the visual work, but a buyer should start with the harder numbers: 42.98 ft overall length, 8,500 kg with engines and a 3 x 500 hp Mercury Racing installation. That power package is reserved for this edition, which immediately raises ownership questions around service access, parts availability and real fuel burn in fast use.
Limited Does Not Mean Proven
Pirelli lists a double-stepped hull by Mannerfelt Design Team, a carbon-fibre hard top, black stainless-steel detailing, Marine Alcantara trim and tubes with a hand-carved pattern inspired by Pirelli DIABLO Supercorsa SP tyres. Those details are strong branding, but a maxi-RIB of this type still needs practical testing: wet-deck behaviour, noise at high rpm, ride in beam seas and access to systems below deck.
CE category B and capacity for 18 people position the model as a high-end dayboat more than a small cruiser for slow family use. A fuel tank of about 950 litres with three powerful outboards calls for an honest route discussion: Saint-Tropez, Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearics or tender duty alongside a larger yacht.
Buyer Takeaway
Ducati Edition makes sense if the buyer wants emotion and can define that emotion operationally. A 26-unit run may help the resale story, but it does not answer the basic ownership question: whether local Mercury Racing and SACS support will be as quick as the boat itself.
The launch pairs well with our recent note on Pardo GT65 at Cannes, where dayboat value came down to real use rather than the dockside photograph. For a boat like this, W Yachts should set up a comparable trial: same route, similar passenger load, recorded speed, noise, fuel burn and low-speed handling in port.
