Informa
Elevated interest rates, economic uncertainty, and a cooling boating market don’t appear to be lessening the appeal of the Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show, which kicks-off its five-day run on Wednesday.
With six venues spread across downtown Miami and Miami Beach and an expected crowd of over 100,000 forecasted to attend through the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend, the first major U.S. show this year could be a banner event. “It’s the world’s largest boat and yacht show, offering everything from kayaks to superyachts, plus the latest equipment,” says Andrew Doole, president of Informa’s U.S. Boat Shows division. The stats back him up: There will be more than 1,000 boats from kayaks to superyachts on display, with more than 1,000 exhibitors.
The show will have a VIP program called Windward that provides access to lounges and transportation between the event’s six locations. The exclusive offering will also give access to Superyacht Miami and Art Wynwood.
Here are 10 boats, from global debuts to recently launched brokerage superyachts, that will define this year’s event.
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AK Yachts ‘Victorious’
Image Credit: AK Yachts The star of this year’s Miami show? That title will likely go to the 278-foot globe-trotting explorer Victorious from the Turkish yard, AKYacht. Taking up much of the dock space at the Yacht Haven Grande superyacht display, Victorious is coming to MIBS looking for a buyer. Asking price? A cool $129 million. This recipient of a 2022 Robb Report “Best of the Best” award is owned by Turkish entrepreneur Vural Ak, who bought the half-completed superyacht in 2016 from New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hunt and had it towed back to Turkey for completion. With an interior design by Britain’s H2 Yacht Design, Victorious offers sumptuous accommodation for 24 guests across 12 staterooms. It also comes with such luxuries as a massive wellness center with a beauty salon and steam room, a wine cellar, a cinema, two wood-burning fireplaces, and a well-designed playroom for kids. The range of 14,000 nautical miles at 13 knots shows that this vessel can go the distance.
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Azimut Magellano 30M
Image Credit: Azimut Yachts Azimut’s new Magellano 30 Metri splashed way back in January 2022. The flagship of its popular explorer series was originally scheduled to debut at last September’s Cannes boat show, which never happened. It’s finally making its “world premiere” at Miami. This new 98-foot 30M looks fresh, with a striking exterior by naval architect Ken Freivokh and glass-rich interior by Vincenzo De Cotiis. With its trademark wood slats by the stern cockpit and towering hull sides, the yacht is instantly recognizable as being from the Magellano series. The Miami showboat is the first in the U.S. and is currently listed for sale at $12.75 million. It’s said to have over $3 million in options, including upgraded MAN 1900 diesels.
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Benetti ‘Grateful’
Image Credit: Fraser Yachts Less than a year old, the 112-foot Benetti Grateful will offer some lucky buyer the opportunity to skip the waiting list and take delivery of what is essentially a brand-new boat, in time for summer cruising in the Hamptons. Another bonus: the asking price of $15.9 million is reckoned to be well below the replacement cost. With an exterior design by Britain’s RWD studios, this Benetti 34M Oasis boasts one of the best beach clubs of any sub-120-foot superyacht, courtesy of fold-down terraces on each side, a glass-sided plunge pool overlooking the hydraulic swim platform, and even a cocktail bar. Add to this a contemporary interior in 50 shades of gray and beige by New York architectural firm Bonetti/Kozerki. Grateful‘s twin 1,380 hp MTU diesels give her a 16-knot top speed and, at 10 knots, the range is 2,700 nautical miles.
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Itama 62 RS
Image Credit: Itama Yachts If ever a boat was designed for the fast-living, look-at-me Miami boating lifestyle, it’s the Italian-built Itama 62RS. Launched back in 2011 with a wave-cleaving, deep-vee hull that dates back to Itama’s classic FiftyFive model from the mid-2000s, this classically styled 62-footer got a full makeover back two years ago. Now it’s being displayed for the first time in the U.S. at Miami. Looking like some classic 80s rocketship from Miami’s fabled Thunderboat Row, it has an impressively long foredeck, a wraparound windshield, and impressive power and performance. How impressive? With twin MAN V12 turbo diesels cranking out 1,400 hp each, the yacht has a top speed well over 40 knots. The cockpit can hold a crowd of up to 14, with three en suite cabins below deck accommodating up to six.
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Formula 457 Center Console Sport
Image Credit: Formula Boats Formula Boats’s popular 387 Center Console Sport is getting a new big brother. Being unveiled at MIBS is the all-new 457 Center Console Sport, which becomes the second-largest boat in the Formula line-up, behind the 500 Super Sport Crossover flagship. Part dayboat and part fishing machine, this new 45-footer comes with Formula’s proven FAS3TECH deep-vee hull and elongated hardtop with an opening windshield and air-conditioning, plus two rows of bolstered sports seats. Up front there’s plenty of seating, while a port-side door in the console leads down to a comfy cabin with a small galley, a head compartment, and a forward double bed. In keeping with Formula’s go-fast heritage, this new 457 comes with triple Mercury Verado 600 V12s. And next summer Formula is unveiling the 457 Center Console Fish version with an upper helm.
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Riva 82 Diva
Image Credit: Riva Yachts The unveiling of a new Riva makes for a red-letter day at any boat show. And while the Italian yard’s latest 82 Diva flybridge had its premiere at last year’s Cannes show, it’ll be one of the showstoppers at Miami where it will be making its U.S. debut. This sleek, high-sided 82-foot beauty, from the drawing board of Officina Italiana Design, is distinguished by that unmistakable, swept-up hull feature line, a raked-back windshield, and a spacious flybridge. It also features a first for Riva: a beach club with fold-down bulwark terraces on each side. And when you have Piero Ferrari, son of Enzo, overseeing the design and engineering team, you know it will be fast. Powered by twin 1,900 hp MAN V12 turbo diesels, the Diva boasts a top speed of 31 knots.
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Chris-Craft 27 Launch, 150th Anniversary Edition
Image Credit: Chris-Craft Yachts Happy 150th to all Chris-Craft owners. In 1874, Christopher Columbus Smith started building wooden skiffs and inboard boats in Algonac, Michigan. To mark this auspicious milestone, the manufacturer—now based in Sarasota, Fla.—is unveiling a Sesquicentennial version of its iconic Launch 27 sports bowrider. There aren’t too many dramatic changes: The silver-gray hull gets an aquamarine boot stripe that was one of the builder’s signature colors in the early years. The hand-stitched, embossed leather cover on the steering wheel has a special 150th Anniversary cap and a Chris-Craft 150 welcome page on the chart-plotter. There is also an aquamarine-edged 150th burgee on the flagpole. It’s fitting that the classic Launch 27 was chosen to celebrate the 150 years of the brand since it was the first model in the current Chris-Craft’s lineup.
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Boston Whaler 365 Conquest
Image Credit: Boston Whaler More than a few Boston Whaler devotees were upset when the much-loved 345 Conquest fishing machine quietly slipped out of production last year after a long, nine-year run. Thankfully their disappointment should be short-lived because the Miami show sees the unveiling of the 345’s spiritual successor, the all-new 365 Conquest. Loosely based on the larger, flagship 405 Conquest, the newcomer sees the 405’s quartet of Mercury Verado 400s replaced with triple 400 V10s. And while the 365 shares hull and superstructure design cues with the 405, the hardtop gets a new curvier windshield and increased glass in the pilothouse, plus a new upper helm station. The Edgewater, Florida-based division of Brunswick Corporation nicknames its new 365 Conquest the “SUV of the sea” courtesy of its unsinkable hull design, offshore capabilities, and “transformer” cabin, where the dining area transitions to sleeping quarters at the touch of a button.
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Tiara EX 54
Image Credit: Tiara Yachts The slogan for Tiara Yachts’s brand-new EX 54 cruiser, making its Miami debut, could be: “Honey, we shrunk the EX 60.” Looking very much like a scaled-down version of its flagship 60, the 54-footer has inherited nearly all the best features of its larger brother. They include twin fold-down terraces on the cockpit with built-in doors, a side helm door, sliding glass rear windows with a drop-down section, and a large entertaining area in the bow. Of course, with six less feet to work with, the smaller aft cockpit has less lounging space. The Volvo IPS 950s diesels are also a step down in horsepower from the 60’s twin Volvo IPS 1050s or optional 1350s. Below-decks, the master is a tad smaller and bunk beds instead of twins define the guest cabin. Otherwise, the family resemblance remains intact.
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Lazzara Yachts ‘Lanida’
Image Credit: Denison Yachting Just gazing at this 92-foot, Florida-built Lazzara 92 LSX and you can almost hear that iconic Jan Hammer soundtrack to Miami Vice. Built in 2010, it’s fresh out of a major refit managed by Lazzara as well as the original crew that’s still with this go-fast superyacht. Named Lanida, which roughly translates to “free spirit,” the yacht has never been chartered and only lightly used. Now it’s on sale, with a $2.95 million asking price. What sets the yacht apart, in addition to that dramatic styling and silver metallic paint, is its impressive power. Squeezed tight into its engine room are four Volvo IPS 900, packing around 780 hp apiece. The combined 3,120 hp is enough to punch the LSX to a top speed of over 31 knots.
