Organizers of last weekend’s Palm Beach International Boat Show knocked one out of the park. There were big crowds, soaring sales and hundreds of boats to see. After four days of pounding the docks and kicking fenders, we chose the seven showstoppers we really wanted to take home.
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‘Quantum of Solace’
Image Credit: Courtesy Worth Avenue Yachts Stretching 238 feet bow to stern, this floating palace comes with its own nightclub, DJ booth and disco ball. For us, it was without doubt the star of the show. And at a jaw-dropping $66.7 million, it boasted the biggest price tag. It has big power too: Twin 2,447 hp Caterpillars would take us to the islands at 20 mph—light speed for a yacht its size. The yacht was launched in 2012 John Staluppi, who has named all his boats after Bond movies. This Turquoise-built superyacht is fresh out of a top-dollar 2020 refit.
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Sirena 88 Explorer
Image Credit: Courtesy Sirena Yachts We like flagships. And this jaw-dropping 88-footer, from the drawing board of legendary sailboat designer Germán Frers, is the new flagship of the young Turkish builder, Sirena Marine. What sets this tri-deck explorer yacht apart is its remarkable interior volume. It comes with not one but two master staterooms, three additional spacious cabins and a flybridge big enough to host a dance party. Two 1,550 hp MAN V-12s can punch the 88 to a 25-knot top speed. A Turkish delight indeed.
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Formula 500 SSC
Image Credit: Courtesy Formula Boats Think of it as the Range Rover of the seas. It’s got the go-anywhere versatility, the flexibility, the style and the luxury. It also has the power, courtesy of four just-launched 600 hp Mercury Verado V-12s. Collectively, they can whisk this sleek, all-new 53-foot, needle-nosed bowrider to a top speed of nearly 70 mph. We love the 71-square-foot swim platform, the air-conditioned helm area, with its pop-up 65-inch TV, and the huge sun-lounging areas.
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Sanlorenzo SX112
Image Credit: Courtesy Sanlorenzo Yachts Not even St. Tropez has a cooler, sexier beach club than this. At the touch of a button, vast side sections of the Sanlorenzo SX112’s hull lower to open up the already expansive back deck for fun in the sun. This ground-breaking 112-footer features exterior design by Zuccon International Project and an interior by Sanlorenzo’s own Piero Lissoni, which gets flooded with light, courtesy of towering walls of glass. Our favorite feature: the skylounge windows that lower at the push of a button.
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X Shore Eelex 8000
Image Credit: Courtesy X Shore If you thought the best thing to come out of Sweden was ABBA, think again. Swedish boat builder X Shore used this show to debut an all-electric 27-foot center console called the Eelex 8000. Using a 225kW electric motor juiced by dual 60kWh lithium-ion battery packs, it can run for 40 miles at 25 mph, or over 100 miles at 5 mph. And it has some cool sustainability features, like “flax-fiber” epoxy construction and cork in place of teak.
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Valhalla Boatworks V-46
Image Credit: Courtesy Valhalla Boatworks Any boat built by Viking Yachts has us at “hello.” But the Valhalla brand is something different: 46 feet of lean, mean fishing machine that can slice the waves at an insane 70-plus mph. Featuring a Michael Peters-designed double-stepped hull and four Mercury V12 600s hanging off the transom—that’s 2,400 horsepower if you’re counting—the V-46 is built for action.
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Aquila 70 Catamaran
Image Credit: Courtesy Aquila Boats A large, luxurious power catamaran with twin 1,000 hp diesels will always get our attention. But it was more than raw power and a 31-mph top speed that made us want to do an extended cruise on this brand-new 70-footer from Florida-based Aquila Power Catamarans. Making its global debut at the boat show, the stylish 70-footer boasts a huge, 27-foot-wide master suite, a hull with a high percentage of carbon fiber, touch-control Gaggenau appliances in the professional chef’s galley and sexy Natuzzi Italia furnishings in the 90-square foot salon.
