International Multihull Show 2026 Sets Record With 80 Boats on Display

La Grande-Motte is about to host the most ambitious edition of the International Multihull Show yet. Eighty multihulls will fill the marina from April 22 to 26, a record fleet for the French show that has become the industry's annual reckoning for the cruising cat and trimaran market.

Show commissioner Anaïs David described the edition as reflecting "the extraordinary momentum of the multihull market," a phrase that lands with real weight when you look at the confirmed exhibitor list. Simbad Yachts, Aventura, Adventure Yachts, Trimarine Composite, Grand Large Yachting, McConaghy, and Rapido are all on the water, with world premieres spanning both sailing and power multihull segments.

Roughly 30% of exhibitors are coming from outside France, a figure that signals the IMS has well outgrown its domestic trade-show origins. To absorb that expanded fleet, organisers have added a third marina basin, giving visitors better physical access rather than the dock-side congestion that can plague large shows. A new harbour-office entrance and electric shuttle buses round out the infrastructure changes, the kind of operational upgrades that only make sense when you're expecting serious attendance from brokers, yard executives, and charter fleet managers.

The electric and hybrid angle is worth paying close attention to. Organisers flagged an increased presence of electric-ready designs and hybrid power systems in the exhibitor mix, and that is not window dressing. Multihull architecture is genuinely well-suited to electrification: the wide beam gives designers room to fit battery banks without sacrificing accommodation volume, and the platform stability that makes cats attractive for cruising also simplifies integrating heavier drivetrain components. For builders, debuting an electric or hybrid model at La Grande-Motte puts it in front of exactly the buyers and charter operators now being pushed toward lower-emission fleets by Mediterranean port regulations and a shifting customer base.

For anyone looking to lock in an early order or negotiate a fleet renewal ahead of the season, the four days in La Grande-Motte are the most efficient window on the calendar. Show debuts regularly carry early-order pricing that disappears once a model enters full production, and with 80 boats on the water across sailing, power, and trimaran categories, the 2026 edition gives the market a broader canvas than it has ever had to work from.