Sunreef Yachts unveiled the new 100 Eco Ipharra on the opening day of the Monaco Yacht Show, presenting a 100-foot electric sailing catamaran designed for extended family cruising, watersports and an unusual educational mission.

During a press conference attended by Monaco Life, Sunreef founder and president Francis Lapp joined the yacht’s owner to outline the thinking behind the project and reveal early details of a new sailing system being developed by the shipyard.

The Ipharra is equipped with electric propulsion and integrated solar technology, reflecting the owner’s demand for reduced fuel consumption and more environmentally responsible cruising. The 29.37-metre yacht has a beam of 12.9 metres and is listed by the Monaco Yacht Show at €14.5 million.

The owner is a longstanding Sunreef client who spent 15 years aboard the previous Ipharra. That experience helped shape the new yacht, particularly its larger living areas, improved access to the sea and facilities for diving and sailing dinghies.

“We really enjoyed the yacht, but there were things that could be improved, and we wanted to make full use of the progress Sunreef had made during those 15 years, particularly in terms of fuel consumption and environmental performance,” he said. “Because we use the boat with students, we also wanted a large outdoor area close to the sea that would be easy to use for diving and for the sailing dinghies.”

A superyacht with an educational role

The yacht will continue a programme established aboard the original Ipharra, hosting students from the owner’s family-run boarding school in Switzerland for periods at sea.

The students are introduced to sailing while continuing lessons in subjects including history and philosophy, effectively turning the yacht into a travelling classroom.

“They come away from this experience with unique memories of learning in a very unusual classroom,” the owner said. “For us, the boat is a real platform for giving those young people an opportunity to discover something new, and perhaps to find a passion.”

Demand shifts towards larger catamarans

Lapp said the Ipharra also reflects a wider change in the catamaran market. When Sunreef launched its first 74-foot model in the early 2000s, it was considered exceptionally large. Demand has since moved towards models of around 100 feet and beyond.

“The market has changed, along with the lifestyle of our clients,” he said. “They want to enjoy much more space at water level, as well as the stability on board and the comfort it provides for a family.”

Sunreef has expanded its production infrastructure in response to the growing demand for larger multihulls.

Five-minute sail deployment

The shipyard also used the press conference to preview a new sailing system intended to address a common problem: sailing-yacht owners often use their sails only for long passages because conventional deployment can be time-consuming.

“We noticed that many boats were not using their sails very often,” a Sunreef technical representative said. “In normal day-to-day use, they were often not deployed because the operation took too much time.”

Developed with a partner in Spain, the system is intended to make sails available for use in approximately five minutes. Sunreef said it could be deployed while the yacht is at anchor or potentially in the marina, while its 360-degree rotation is designed to reduce handling difficulties and risk.

“Our objective was to create something quick, easy and reliable, without sacrificing performance,” the representative said. “Safety comes first, followed by efficiency.”

Sunreef did not disclose the system’s full technical specifications in Monaco, saying further details would be released later.

Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, listen to our podcasts on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook,  Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.

Photos source: Sunreef