Interview: Aquila talks tariffs and European strategy at Cannes
Frank Xiong, chief executive of Sino Eagle Yacht
Aquila Power Catamarans has unveiled four debuts at the 2025 Cannes Yachting Festival. Aboard the new Aquila 46 Yacht, Frank Xiong, CEO of Sino Eagle Yacht — which makes Aquila boats in China — talks to MIN about the brand’s European strategy.
Aquila’s been coming to Cannes for ten years — but now it’s pushing hard at the European market. There are no surprises why.
Xiong says the company refocused about 12 months ago, as soon as it was known that the political situation in the USA was shifting.
“Our products are made in China, and now they’re getting about 55 per cent tariffs [to the USA], so it’s a big hit,” he says.
He adds: “Production is coming down quite a bit because of the tariff situation. Aquila heavily relies on the USA market, 90 per cent.”
Xiong notes that in the Aquila size, power-cat range, about 200 boats are sold a year, with about 170 of those being sold in the USA. Thus, there are around 30 boat sales left in the rest of the world, between Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
“So you can see, Europe’s never been a real key market to Aquila until recently.”
He admits that the brand is not very well known in Europe. “A lot of people think Aquila sounds like a new brand name. But when you go to the USA, everyone knows about Aquila. It’s a very well-established brand in the power catamaran segment.” Which means there will be a large marketing push over the coming year.
One of the factors that Xiong will be emphasising is the brand’s DNA. He cites Aquila’s foil systems as part of the helix, after many years of development.
“The USA market really accepted the foils very well. Fifty per cent of the orders for the US market were ordered with foils. That’s very high. But that’s all about the saving of the oil consumption. It’s like 35 per cent saving with the foil.”
Xiong, who cut his teeth running a company which produces rowing boats, says that when Aquila started, he was a little bit conservative about expanding the business.
“We believed in power catamarans,” he says, “At that time, no one [else] believed.
“It was even very hard for us to start the business to break into the market in the USA, because we were talking about power catamarans.
“But now, look at the market.”
The 46 Yacht has an impressive 23’3″ beam, which brings surprising interior volume. The open-concept interior features panoramic windows, with the rear salon window and sliding main entrance door opening to create a seamless space.
The 46 Yacht is available in three, four or five-cabin configurations (delivering maximum guest capacity for charters). More details about this explorer-type vessel can be found on Aquila’s website.
It’s also the European debut of the Aquila 50 Yacht, the European debut of the Aquila 42 and 46 Coupes with inboard engine packages.
