There's a new Aquila that makes bigger monohulls nervous.
The all-new Aquila 35 Sport, making its world debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival this September, packs the deck space of a 40-to-43-foot monohull into a 35-foot, six-inch platform, a 4.49-metre beam doing the heavy lifting across four separate social zones, bow to hardtop.
It's the newest and smallest entry in a Sport range Aquila has spent this year rebuilding from the top down. The 45 Sport, the flagship that redefined the line when it launched at February's Miami International Boat Show, makes its own European debut at Cannes standing right beside its smaller sibling. Both share a designer, Clearwater, Florida-based Yacht Design Works, and both share a look Aquila describes without much subtlety as drawing on modern luxury SUVs: bold surfacing, a commanding stance, contemporary lines translated from the driveway to the water. It's not a stretch on the 35 Sport either. A low dashboard and four forward-facing helm seats sit behind sharp, faceted glass, and the aft cockpit's power-sliding U-shaped seating reconfigures at the touch of a button, closer to a car's memory settings than anything from a traditional cruising cat.
"Cannes Yachting Festival is the perfect stage to showcase the continued evolution of Aquila," says Alain Raas, the brand's Global Brand Director, in the release confirming the line-up. "The new 45 Sail and 35 Sport reflect our commitment to delivering innovative, versatile and performance-driven catamarans across both our sail and power ranges." It's a tidy summary of a year that's seen Aquila lean harder into range-wide reinvention than any single new hull.
The numbers back the swagger up. Twin Mercury Verado V8 300hp outboards come standard, with twin V10 400hp available for buyers chasing the claimed 45-to-52mph top end. Draft sits at a genuinely shallow 1'8" with the engines down, and the hull, deck and bulkheads are vinylester resin-infused, no wood anywhere in the structure. Below, a lockable cabin sleeps two on a queen berth reached straight off the helm, with its own wet head and shower.
There's a reasonable case that the smaller Sport models carry more weight for Aquila than the flagship gets credit for. The 36 Sport, the model this new 35 Sport effectively succeeds, became the builder's bestseller with more than 300 hulls delivered, according to Yachting Magazine, well before the brand had a flagship 45-footer to point to at all. If that pattern holds, the boat drawing the biggest crowds at Vieux Port this September might not be the one with the biggest number on its transom.
| SPEC | AQUILA 35 SPORT |
| Length overall | 10.81 m / 35'6" |
| Beam overall | 4.49 m / 14'9" |
| Draft, outboards down | 0.79 m / 1'8" |
| Loaded displacement | 9,053 kg / 19,985 lb |
| Engines, standard | 2x Mercury Verado V8 300hp |
| Engines, optional | 2x Mercury Verado V10 400hp |
| Fuel tank | 1,500 L / 396 gal |
| Cabins / heads | 1 / 1 |
| Max passengers | 24 |
| CE certification | B: 8, C: 16, D: 24 |
Source: Aquila Power Catamarans. Performance figures are approximate and provided as a guideline only.
Aquila's presence at Cannes runs to seven boats across both of the festival's venues this year: five power models at Vieux Port, the 35 Sport and 45 Sport alongside the 50 Yacht, 46 Yacht and 46 Coupe, plus a second world debut, the all-new 45 Sail, at the sailing display over at Port Canto. It's the brand's largest showing at the festival to date. For New Zealand buyers, the range sits with Whitehaven Marine, Aquila's official Australia and New Zealand dealer based at Auckland's Westhaven. Deliveries begin early 2027, with a Fort Lauderdale showing in October for anyone who missed the French Riviera.
To schedule a private viewing, visit: https://www.aquilaboats.com/events/boat-shows/cannes-yachting-festival
