Lionel Messi orders a Sunreef catamaran. The Ultima 88 is being built at the Gdańsk firm’s UAE yard

- Leo Messi embodies an extraordinary level of excellence, but what makes this new chapter particularly meaningful to us is what happens beyond the spotlight. At Sunreef Yachts we believe that true luxury is the freedom to choose how you spend your time, with the people who matter most. The sea gives us that freedom in its purest form - said Francis Lapp, founder and chief executive of Sunreef Yachts.

88 feet, twin 1,000 hp engines, a jet ski garage

The Ultima 88 is a power catamaran of 88 feet, just under 27 metres, with twin 1,000 hp engines that, the yard says, combine speed with manoeuvrability. On board are four guest cabins, a full-beam master suite, a jet ski garage and expansive outdoor lounging areas with a large flybridge. Sunreef's signature is the Ocean Lounge, a lowered aft area that brings the deck close to the water for swimming and water sports.

The yacht will not be a private toy in the strict sense. MIM Ocean is part of MIM Hotels, Messi's hotel chain in Spain, and offers charters from the Balearics; the yard speaks of an "exclusive experience at sea" for the fleet's guests, which means the Ultima 88 will earn in season and serve the family outside it. It is a model increasingly common in superyachts: an owner who is also an operator.

- It's a real pleasure to join the Sunreef family. My family and I have always loved spending time at sea whenever we get the chance. Sunreef Yachts have the style and features I really like, and they're a perfect fit for what I'm looking for - said Leo Messi.

Gdańsk, Ras Al Khaimah and the question of where the yacht is built

Sunreef Yachts was founded in Gdańsk in 2002 by Francis Lapp, a Frenchman who on the city's Ostrów Island built one of the world's largest makers of luxury catamarans, today with around a thousand employees in Poland. The company introduced the first luxury catamaran with a flybridge and in recent years has bet on its Eco line with electric propulsion and solar panels integrated into the hull, which brought it clients such as Rosberg, the former Formula 1 champion involved in sustainable technology.

Messi's yacht, however, is being built not in Gdańsk but at Sunreef's second yard, in Ras Al Khaimah in the Emirates, opened in 2023 to serve Gulf clients and shorten the road to Asian markets. For the company it is diversification; for Gdańsk it is the question worth asking with news like this: how much of the order from the most famous client in its history will reach Polish halls, designers and suppliers, and how much will stay in the Middle East. Sunreef does not disclose the split of production between its yards, but design, engineering and the brand remain in Gdańsk, and they are what sold Messi a catamaran.

Sunreef's client list reads like a starting grid: Nadal sails a Sunreef 80 Power, Alonso ordered a Sunreef 60 Power, Rosberg an Eco-line catamaran, Tony Parker is an owner too. The yard speaks of a "distinguished group of owners" united by an appreciation of craftsmanship and the need for a life beyond the demands of their worlds. For the marketing of a company from Gdańsk it is capital that cannot be bought: a photograph of Messi on deck with the Sunreef logo will travel the world faster than any advertisement.

What it means for Polish yachting

Poland is one of Europe's largest yacht producers, but mainly of small and medium motorboats built in series for Western brands. Sunreef is the exception: its own brand, its own design, the top of the market and clients whose names everyone knows. In a week when Gazeta Morska wrote about Polish yards building frigates and about a Szczecin firm designing the world's tallest monument, Messi's order is a third piece of evidence for the same thing: that Polish maritime industry can sell not only hulls but a brand.

The Ultima 88 is due on a date the yard does not give. When she takes to the water off Mallorca, she will be the most photographed catamaran in the world, and on every one of those photographs will be the name of a company from Gdańsk.