Sylvie Ernoult - Director Cannes Yachting Festival - Shares why this area of the boating industry is in fact dominated by women

Welcome to the Cannes Yachting Festival — where the sun hits the water just right, the pontoons are basically catwalks, and you can walk from a 5-metre day boat to a 50-metre statement piece in about three minutes… if you don’t get distracted every six seconds.

Today’s guest is the person who makes this whole floating city run on time: Sylvie Ernoult, Director of the Cannes Yachting Festival — and, frankly, the only person here moving faster than the tenders.

And a quick warning: if you’re listening thinking, “Oh great, an interview at a boat show — relaxed pace, scenic background…” — you’ve never tried to catch Sylvie. Because here’s what happens: you spot her at Vieux Port, you make eye contact, you wave… and by the time you’ve said “Bonjour,” she’s already halfway to Port Canto, apparently teleporting between meetings, pontoons, and VIP drop-ins like she’s running the Monaco Grand Prix — but in flats, with a radio, and 700 boats waiting for her decision.

So we’re thrilled we managed to intercept her and her successor for long enough to put a microphone in front of them – it’s a quick but meaningful chat!

Sylvie has led the festival since 2013 (the show began in 1977 believe it or not), and 2025 marks her final edition as Director before handing over to her successor, Constance Brément . We’re going to talk about what it takes to run Europe’s biggest in-water boat show, why women make such great show organisers and what happens now as she hands over.

Sylvie Ernoult is the longtime director of the Cannes Yachting Festival, appointed show manager in 2013 (then under Reed Exhibitions France, alongside the Fédération des Industries Nautiques). She has described having grown up in Le Havre, with the sea “part of her DNA,” and says she has spent almost her entire career connected to the maritime/yachting world.

Since taking leadership, she has overseen the festival’s growth and the operational reality of running a two-site show across Vieux Port and Port Canto, with the event structured into distinct “worlds”/sectors to manage scale and visitor flow. 2025 is a symbolic “handover” year: Sylvie’s final edition as director before passing leadership to Constance Brément.

 

A few facts about Cannes Yachting Festival

• The Cannes Yachting Festival was founded in 1977 and has grown into a flagship European boating event.
• It’s widely positioned as Europe’s largest in-water boat show, staged across two ports: Vieux Port and Port Canto.
• The show’s modern identity also reflects its increasing international focus; the official site highlights its scale and “world capital of yachting” feel during show week.

2025 show stats

From official festival information and 2025 reporting, the 2025 edition landed around:

• Nearly 56,000 visitors
• About 710–711 boats on display
• Roughly 677–680 exhibitors
• 147 world premieres (reported as a major jump year-on-year)

https://www.cannesyachtingfestival.com/en-gb.html

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