boat show

The 50 anniversary of Boot Dusseldorf, the mammoth indoor boat and watersports show, ended its first five decades with a bang.

After 30 years on Collins Avenue on Miami Beach, the Miami Yacht Show moved downtown to One Herald Plaza incorporating Sea Isle Marina, both located on Biscayne Bay between the Venetian and MacArthur causeways.

The award-winning MyBoatShow app is free and super useful. Want to find your way easier around the docks at Bahia Mar, Las Olas Marina and Hall of Fame Marina? Go to your favorite app store to install. The boat is available for both iPhone and Android phones.

Last year at the Fort Lauderdale show, Yachts International introduced a companion to its well-known Pavilion—the Captains’ Den. This year, the Captains’ Den returns with a new look, better access and full-on entertainment. The new air-conditioned Den will also host a new exciting competition, dubbed Galley Wars, pitting top-notch teams of yacht chefs in three rounds of grueling competition.

We first saw this refreshingly innovative flybridge yacht in Cannes in 2010, where Monte Carlo Yachts made its world debut with the first MCY 76, Georgia. Built in Italy, this brand belongs to Groupe Beneteau, a French company with deep roots in the US market.

Looking for a deal on the brokerage market? There will be plenty of attractive superyachts for sale at FLIBS this year, but don’t expect a steal. Contrary to persisting rumors, brokers tell us that, while prices dipped drastically in 2009 (up to 40 percent), they have recovered and have been holding pretty steady ever since.

The Percheron is a beautiful and muscular horse, bred for its intelligence and willingness to work. The same goes for Cantiere delle Marche’s Darwin series, a range of sturdy explorer-style vessels “bred”—or rather, developed—for their long-range and seakeeping abilities.

With yachts carrying so many toys aboard these days, a compact but powerful and reliable tender is a must. If you’re looking for something matching this description, you might want to consider Rendova’s line of boats.

Low-profiled and sleek, the Catalina 29 Sun Tender is a speedy center console from Florida-based Chris-Craft. With U-shaped bench seats both in the bow and stern plus two seats forward and aft of the center console, this compact tender is more than capable of ferrying a group of friends and family.

This UK-based boatbuilder, founded in 1995 in a backyard shed, has quickly expanded to serve the global tender market. In Fort Lauderdale this year Williams Performance Tenders will show off the Dieseljet series including the 565.

While on the small end of the Riva line, the Iseo isn’t short on credentials. Officina Italiana Design and Ferretti’s AYT engineering group worked together to devise a practical and beautiful boat.

The Pursuit 36 Sport Yacht is the newest boat from the Florida-based company, a division of S2 Yachts in Holland, Mich., which also manufactures Tiara Yachts. Pursuit Boats has teamed with Yamaha to offer its powerful outboards as its standard engine package.

Since 1928 Hinckley’s day cruisers and picnic boats have attracted attention, but the company’s new T34 may bring in new fan base. The company listened to its clients and responded to their desires with a simple design that focused on great looks, ease of use and versatility.

A new addition to Deep Impact’s line of tenders and powerboats, the first 330LS will be finished just in time to make her Fort Lauderdale debut. For this line, LS stands for Luxury Seating, and when you look at the plans you can see why.

Austin Parker’s recognizable style is obvious in the AP42 Open, a compact hull that can easily serve as a tender to a large yacht or a cabin cruiser in its own right. The main deck has a spacious open-air aft deck leading into the salon/dining area with full galley and helm station.

Rhode Island-based Hunt Yachts will display one of its new 44s. Launched earlier this year, the first hull is highly personalized to her owners’ tastes, something Hunt offers on all of its boats.

For the first time at the Fort Lauderdale show, Cigarette will offer a boat that balances the roaring power of Cigarette boats with the comfort of a fully equipped cabin. Powered by five Mercury 300 Verados or Mercury Racing 350 Verados engines, this powerful entry in the luxury tender market rockets up to an amazing 76 mph.

Sleek and stylish, the Concept 4400 SY is sure to grab attention wherever she goes. This center console comes with all the amenities including plenty of storage both on deck and belowdecks. Seating for 10 plus a sun pad on the foredeck means there will be room for friends and family.

UK-based builder Sealine has new owners, a new CEO and an exciting new line of boats. We had the luck of testing a couple of the new models and fell head over heels for this 42-footer, an absolute gem for fun in the sun. Docked for a few days at the Marriott Marina in Fort Lauderdale earlier this year, the boat became party central and it is no wonder.

Part of French boating group Beneteau, Prestige showcases this attractive 50-footer that combines harmonious design, power and safety. Wide side decks, a sun pad forward, a spacious aft deck sheltered by the nicely appointed flybridge, a swim platform and a hydraulic gangway facilitate life outdoors.

The first hull of the 46-foot flybridge model debuted in Cannes last year and was shown at the Yacht & Brokerage Show in Miami in 2012 when we had an opportunity to get aboard. Equipped with a hydraulic swim platform, this compact flybridge yacht boasts a particularly large flybridge, which was extended aft and is capable of hosting 10 guests.

The Riva Virtus is a superb dayboat loaded with amenities. With an LOA of just 64 feet, the boat features amazing spaces inside and out. The main deck has two sun pads—one fore, one aft—and plenty of seating surrounding the helm controls but, in case of bad weather, an electro-hydraulically operated bimini top provides shelter.

Lazzara Yachts introduces the newest model in its express-style yacht series, currently ranging in size from 64 to 92 feet. Following in the footsteps of its first yacht in the series, the LSX 76 (now LSX 78), the 64 features great styling, bright decks and IPS Volvo propulsion.

A US debut from this Taiwanese builder, the E56 is an attractive and compact yacht that boasts great use of interior space. The generous aft deck leads into a salon, dining area and open galley. A large windshield and side windows allow lots of natural light to pour inside and keep the boat open to the sea.