The Aquila 45 Sail catamaran has been nominated for the 2027 European Yacht of the Year award, ahead of the model's world debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival September 8 - 13.
The Aquila 45 Sail is one of 21 boats shortlisted for the 2027 award. First presented in 2004, the European Yacht of the Year is decided by the editors of twelve European sailing magazines, who sail the nominees over several days of trials each fall before voting. Winners are announced at boot Düsseldorf in January 2027.
The all-new Aquila 45 Sail catamaran features an impressive 25'5" beam and an innovative fixed bow cockpit that creates exceptional space for entertaining, sunbathing, and relaxing underway. Signature bridge-to-bow steps connect the helm directly to the bow cockpit, with separate steps down to the aft cockpit. With both ends of the boat a few steps from the helm, the Aquila 45 Sail is remarkably easy to sail shorthanded. You can choose from 3 or 4 cabin configurations, each with a private companionway and ensuite head with walk-in shower, delivering the space and quality Aquila is renowned for.
Here is what the judges will find aboard.
Approximately 143 sq m (1,544 sq ft) of living space on a 7.77 m (25'7") beam, spread across four connected social zones. Forward, the fixed bow cockpit is a genuine living space rather than a trampoline, with seating and a sun pad for coffee at anchor or an afternoon in the sun. The open flybridge lounge is where everyone ends up after dark. Aft, the cockpit seats eight for dinner and opens straight into the galley through the signature Aquila bar — a sliding window that keeps whoever is cooking or pouring part of the gathering. Inside, panoramic windows fill the salon, and the galley is built for real cooking rather than reheating.
Three- and four-cabin layouts sleep up to twelve. Every cabin has its own companionway instead of a door off a corridor, and its own ensuite head with walk-in shower. With no shared hallways, the space most builders lose to circulation goes into the cabins — and everyone aboard has somewhere of their own to disappear to. It suits an owner's boat and a charter program equally well.
A two-spreader mast carries 126 sq m (1,352 sq ft) of upwind sail area, where much of the class runs a single spreader — more scope to tune the rig, and more strength through it. Halyards, sheets and reef lines lead back to the helm. The partially raised helm stays open to the flybridge lounge, so steering never means sitting apart from everyone else, and bridge-to-bow stairs run from the helm straight down to the bow cockpit, with separate steps aft. Twin diesel saildrives make docking confident. It adds up to a boat easily sailed shorthanded.
The Aquila sail range was developed in collaboration with J&J Design, founded in 1983, named Designer of the Year at METS 2024 and involved in ten previous Aquila models. Every Aquila catamaran is built as a single-mold, vinylester-infused composite structure with no wood in any structural part and none below the waterline, over a closed-cell PVC foam core, with watertight bulkheads fore and aft and sacrificial keels that protect the drivetrain in a grounding.
The Aquila 45 Sail makes its world debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2026, followed by its Americas debut at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, October 15-18, 2026.