Sunreef's 88 Ultima Reaches Cannes With Alcaraz Already Aboard

Is the Sunreef 88 Ultima new at Cannes 2026?

No. Sunreef launched the 88 Ultima on 27 April 2026 and had delivered at least one hull, named Sue Rosso, by 25 July. Cannes 2026 is the model's first public boat-show appearance, not its debut.

Sunreef's own newsroom dates the 88 Ultima's launch to 27 April 2026, and records a second hull, Sue Rosso, leaving the builder's UAE shipyard on 25 July. The boat runs 87.9 feet (26.8 metres) overall on a 29.9-foot (9.1-metre) beam, with a fiberglass composite hull built in the sandwich-laminate method Sunreef uses across its catamaran range, and a maximum draft of 3.9 feet (1.2 metres) - shallow enough to reach anchorages a monohull of similar length cannot, which is the standing argument for a power catamaran at this size. Both the length and beam figures are confirmed independently on Sunreef's own NauticExpo manufacturer listing and on the specification sheet attached to the one hull currently listed for sale through Edmiston Monaco.

The 88 Ultima sits at the top of the powered Ultima range below only the 111, and above the 44, 55, 66 and 77 - a separate line from the 100 Eco sailing catamaran this desk covered on 1 September, which carries a mast and a 770kWh battery bank Sunreef has not disclosed for the 88. Where the 100 Eco is built around solar and sail, the 88 Ultima is a flybridge motor catamaran: twin-hull volume and stability sold against the speed and berthing convenience of a monohull, with a folding Ocean Lounge at the stern that opens onto the water at anchor.

Who owns a Sunreef 88 Ultima?

Sunreef named tennis world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz as an 88 Ultima owner in a release published in March 2026, describing a custom four-cabin layout with a forward owner's suite.

Alcaraz's hull is configured with four guest cabins and a full-beam owner's suite forward rather than the aft or midship placement more common on the model, plus a flybridge built for relaxation and dining and the standard Ocean Lounge garage for jet skis and water toys. 'I decided to order the ULTIMA 88 with Sunreef because I feel they are not only experts in luxury catamarans but true trendsetters,' Alcaraz said in the release. Francis Lapp, Sunreef's founder and president, called him 'another remarkable personality joining the House of Sunreef - a community of visionary owners whose achievements inspire the world.'

That account comes entirely from Sunreef's own newsroom, not an independent interview, and reads like the marketing copy it is. What lifts it above a paid endorsement is the photography that accompanies it: Alcaraz at the helm underway, and separately touring the hull mould at the yard in a hard hat alongside a Sunreef build manager - documentary evidence of a real buyer at a real production stage, not a rendering with a celebrity's name attached to it after the fact.

How fast is the Sunreef 88 Ultima?

It depends on the engine package. The hull currently listed for sale, fitted with twin Volvo Penta IPS900 pods, is specified at roughly 20 knots maximum and 15 knots cruising; Sue Rosso, fitted with a heavier twin 1,000hp package, is rated at 26 knots maximum and 16 knots cruising.

The Edmiston-listed hull's own specification sheet gives a cruising speed of 17.3mph and a maximum of 23mph - 15 and 20 knots - behind twin IPS900 pod drives totalling 1,381 horsepower. Sunreef's own release for Sue Rosso instead cites two 1,000hp engines, a 16-knot cruise and a 26-knot top speed. Both figures come from Sunreef's own material or its own broker's listing, not a third party, but they describe two different engine specifications rather than a single boat measured twice - the 88 Ultima is sold with an engine choice, and a buyer should confirm which one is quoted before comparing it against a rival's brochure number.

NauticExpo's manufacturer listing also shows a hydrofoil option for the model, which Sunreef has not attached a performance figure to in any material this desk found. Separately, Sunreef's own marketing for the wider Ultima range claims 'top speeds ranging from 40 to 45 knots' - a figure that belongs to the smaller, lighter 44 and 55-foot hulls in the range, not the 88, and should not be read across to this boat.

What does the 88 Ultima's hybrid system actually do?

Sunreef calls the 88 Ultima's power option a hybrid system combining custom-engineered batteries with what the yard markets as an 'industry-first solar skin' of thin, flexible panels - but it has not published a battery capacity, solar output or electric-only range for this model.

Sunreef's own NauticExpo listing describes 'custom-engineered batteries with hybrid propulsion and an industry-first solar skin system' as an available configuration alongside the conventional IPS or shaft-drive options, and separate Sunreef marketing for the boat describes 'ultralight, thin and flexible solar panels' integrated into the deck and superstructure rather than bolted-on rigid panels. The 88 Ultima's interior finishes lean the same direction: sustainable woods, recycled plastics and reclaimed fabrics, per Sunreef's own description of the model.

What is missing is any number a buyer could use to judge the claim. For the 100 Eco sailing catamaran, Sunreef and three independent outlets converged on a specific 770kWh battery bank and roughly 45kWp of solar; for the 88 Ultima, no comparable battery capacity, solar wattage or electric-only range appears in any Sunreef material, brokerage listing or trade report this desk could find. 'Industry-first' is Sunreef's own phrase, not an independently verified claim, and until the yard publishes the underlying numbers an owner should treat the solar skin as a genuine feature of unproven scale rather than a quantified one.

How much does the Sunreef 88 Ultima cost?

Sunreef's own manufacturer listing prices the 88 Ultima from EUR 7.9m excluding tax; the only hull publicly offered for resale, a heavier-specified 2026 build for December delivery, asks $10,757,640 through Edmiston Monaco.

That NauticExpo factory listing puts the 88 Ultima at EUR 7.9m before tax, positioned between the smaller 77 Ultima (from EUR 6.5m, in a 3-cabin hybrid configuration) and the flagship 111 Ultima, for which Sunreef publishes no price at all. The Edmiston-listed hull is a different, more heavily equipped build: its own data sheet states eight guest cabins in one field and 'five guest cabins' in its own descriptive text - an inconsistency inside the same listing that this desk could not resolve from the material available, and a reminder that a semi-custom catamaran's accommodation plan is not fixed the way a production motor yacht's is. Alcaraz's own hull, for comparison, carries four guest cabins plus his forward owner's suite; Sunreef's base factory specification lists four cabins for ten guests.

None of the three configurations - Alcaraz's, the factory baseline, and the Edmiston hull - match each other on cabin count, which is the honest state of a boat sold this way: the number Sunreef publishes is a starting point, not a promise of what arrives. A buyer pricing an 88 Ultima against the EUR 7.9m factory figure should expect the delivered cost of a specific hull, with a chosen engine package, hydrofoil option and cabin layout, to run higher - as it plainly has on the one hull anyone can currently see the asking price for.