A deeper experience — Inside the Italian shipyard’s new identity, new generation and new vision unveiled at Cannes Yachting Festival 2026
There are moments at a yacht show when the conversation moves beyond boats.
Inside the Absolute Yachts owners’ lounge at the Cannes Yachting Festival, surrounded by sunlight, polished details and the constant movement of the Vieux Port, the conversation was about something larger: what comes next.
Owners, clients, the Absolute team and the people who have shaped the company’s history were discussing a new generation of Absolute.
Not simply a new yacht. A new chapter.
At Cannes 2026, Absolute Yachts unveiled a refreshed identity, a new logo and a new positioning: “A deeper experience.” Behind the visual evolution sits a broader strategy — one that connects the company’s past with a more ambitious future, including larger yachts, a new flagship and a renewed international direction.
And in true Italian fashion, the serious business of transformation eventually gave way to something much more human.
On Friday night, the Absolute team, founders and guests gathered for a celebration. Music rose over Cannes, glasses were lifted, conversations became laughter — and before long, the people behind the brand were dancing together.
For a moment, there was no strategy presentation. Only Cannes. And the pleasure of being there.
FROM PIACENZA TO THE WORLD
The story of Absolute begins in a place that seems almost deliberately unlikely for a yacht company.
Podenzano, near Piacenza, in Northern Italy.
There is no Mediterranean horizon outside the factory gates. No glamorous marina. No salt air.
And yet, in 2002, Sergio Maggi and Marcello Bè founded Absolute there, bringing together expertise in design, engineering and production. Their decision to build yachts inland became part of the company’s identity: the sea was not something taken for granted, but something to be pursued with precision and imagination.
The roots reach further back.
In 1967, Angelo Gobbi founded Cantieri Nautici Gobbi and became one of the Italian pioneers of fiberglass boat production. Years later, after Gobbi’s shipyard changed ownership, two of his former collaborators — Maggi and Bè — created Absolute.
In 2006, Gobbi himself joined them, bringing his experience and industrial heritage into the young company.
It is an unusual kind of Italian business story: not a clean break between generations, but a continuation of ideas.
Experience meets experimentation. Tradition meets reinvention. And the sea remains the common destination.
THE FIRST ABSOLUTE
The first Absolute yachts appeared in 2003 with the Absolute 25 and Absolute 45.
From the beginning, the company was interested in more than styling. Its ambition was to integrate design, engineering and production, developing the yacht around the way people would actually use it.
The company expanded into the Flybridge segment and later introduced the Navetta range, creating a distinctive interpretation of long-distance cruising: generous interior volume, natural light, comfortable circulation and an increasingly direct relationship between the interior and the sea.
That philosophy eventually became one of Absolute’s signatures.
Large windows. Open terraces. Owner-focused layouts.
And a feeling that the yacht is designed around life rather than simply around navigation.
Today, the shipyard’s portfolio includes Navetta, Flybridge and Coupé models, with production remaining centred in Podenzano.
THE NEW ABSOLUTE
At Cannes, however, the language around Absolute had changed.
The new logo is cleaner. The visual identity is more contemporary. And the new mantra — “A deeper experience” — places the emphasis firmly on what happens once the owner steps aboard.
This is more than a cosmetic rebrand.
The new identity is intended to bring the brand’s communication closer to the yachts themselves — to the architecture, the light, the spaces and the experience that Absolute says have been developing for years.
And perhaps this is why the owners’ lounge felt like such an appropriate setting.
The people looking at the new identity were not simply discussing a logo.
They were discussing what they expect from their next yacht.
More privacy. More space. More connection with the water. More freedom.
And, increasingly, a yacht that feels less like an object of display and more like a private world.
A NEW GENERATION UNDER ALESSANDRO TIRELLI
At the centre of this new phase is Alessandro Tirelli, who became CEO of Absolute Yachts at the beginning of 2026.
His arrival follows the 2024 investment by Wise Equity, which acquired a majority stake through its Wisequity VI fund. The new phase is presented by the company as an evolution built on continuity — preserving the industrial knowledge and people behind Absolute while accelerating product development and international growth.
Tirelli brings previous experience from the Ferretti Group, and his arrival comes at a particularly interesting moment for Absolute.
Because the future is getting bigger. Much bigger.
The company has announced the 62 Fly, scheduled for spring 2027, and the Vedetta 84, planned for September 2027.
The latter will become the largest yacht ever built by Absolute.
The name itself is symbolic. Vedetta refers to the lookout — the elevated position from which one watches the horizon.
It is a fitting metaphor for a shipyard looking toward its next horizon.
THE 2026 GENERATION
But before looking toward 2027, Cannes was very much about the present.
Absolute arrived with 11 yachts, including three world premieres from the Navetta family:
Navetta 50 — The Absolute Calypso.
Navetta 58 — The Absolute Andromeda.
Navetta 66 — The Absolute Aurora.
Three different interpretations of the same philosophy: light, space, usability and a closer relationship with the sea.
The Navetta 50 speaks to a more agile kind of ownership, with an emphasis on autonomy and open-air living.
The Navetta 58 develops the idea through generous glazing, flexible outdoor spaces and a seamless connection between interior and exterior.
And the Navetta 66 takes the experience further, creating a yacht around panoramic views, privacy and the freedom to use different spaces according to the rhythm of the day.
Together, they show where Absolute is today.
The future strategy, meanwhile, suggests where it wants to go.
BIGGER DOES NOT HAVE TO MEAN LOUDER
The fascinating part of Absolute’s new direction is that the move toward larger yachts does not necessarily mean moving toward louder luxury.
The language coming from Cannes was remarkably focused on experience.
Not simply size. Not simply horsepower. Not simply status.
The idea is that a larger yacht should offer something more meaningful: more ways to inhabit the sea.
A private breakfast in the owner’s suite. A long afternoon beneath the sun. A quiet swim from the stern.
Dinner with friends while the coastline disappears into the evening.
The yacht becomes architecture for a life lived differently.
And this is where the new Absolute identity begins to make sense.
WHEN BUSINESS BECOMES A CELEBRATION
Then came Friday night. The atmosphere changed completely.
The same people who had spent the day discussing product strategy, new markets, yacht dimensions and the future of the company were suddenly simply enjoying themselves.
The Absolute team gathered with clients and friends. The founders were there. Alessandro Tirelli was there. DJ Music filled the evening.nPeople who normally meet across conference tables were dancing together.
And the distinction between company, client and community seemed to disappear.
There was something particularly Italian about the scene — the understanding that building something ambitious is not only about discipline and numbers.
It is also about enjoying the moment. The people. The place. The achievement.
And Cannes, with its lights reflecting across the water, was perhaps the perfect stage.
THE ABSOLUTE HORIZON
For more than two decades, Absolute has travelled an unusual route: from an inland factory near Piacenza to yacht owners around the world.
The company has changed. Its yachts have changed. Its clients have changed. And now its identity is changing too. But the central idea remains surprisingly consistent.
Build from experience.
Listen to the owner. Push the design forward. Make technology serve life. And never stop looking toward the horizon.
The new logo may be different. The next yachts will be larger. The strategy is more ambitious.
But in Cannes, surrounded by owners, designers, founders and the next generation of the Absolute team, the message felt less like a departure than an evolution.
A deeper experience. A new generation. And another horizon waiting to be discovered.
