From the $148-million Feadship Arrow, to a stylish, fish-fighting 37-foot center console from Turkey’s Vicem, the 2023 Palm Beach International Boat Show promises be a boat-lover’s nirvana. The focus this year will be on superyachts for sale, with more than 50 expected. We highlight five of the biggest and best as well as seven global and US premieres of smaller boats for the rest of us.
The action on the West Palm Beach waterfront kicks off Thursday, running through Sunday. Here are 12 newcomers you don’t want to miss.
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Feadship ‘Arrow’
Image Credit: Courtesy Fraser Yachts Rumor has it that mega-successful British hedge-fund manager Michael Platt is looking to trade-in his 245-foot Feadship Arrow. The founder of BlueCrest Capital, Europe’s third-biggest fund, took delivery of the yacht in 2020 and now it will make its show debut at PBIBS in search of a buyer. It comes with a jaw-dropping $148 million asking price. Designed by London-based H2 Yacht Design, the Feadship has cabins for 12 guests and a main-deck owner’s suite to die for. Other standout features include a state-of-the-art gym, massive beach club with drop-down side terraces, a stunning top-deck bar and lounge area, massage room, and enough water toys to equip a cruise ship. She’s fast, with twin MTUs delivering a 17.5-knot top speed.
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Benetti ‘Alfa’
Image Credit: Courtesy Benetti Yachts With its plumb bow and curving superstructure, the 229-foot Benetti Alfa looks like many contemporary designs these days. But the brokerage yacht’s real innovation lies at the stern, with a split-level beach club that includes an infinity pool (that transforms to a dance floor with a cover) on the deck above, and a full-beam lounge under the pool, with drop-down balconies on each side to increase openness and width. The owner also specified his own deck, with a bedroom, office, gym, massage room, television room, bar and breakfast area—not to mention an 860-sq.-foot sunken forward sundeck.
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Benetti ‘Calex’
Image Credit: Courtesy Benetti Yachts Delivered just a year ago to its California owner, the stunning 219-foot Benetti superyacht Calex is making a surprise appearance at the Palm Beach show—to showcase the boatbuilding skills of the Italian shipyard. Built with a steel hull and aluminum superstructure, Calex‘s sleek, low-slung lines are from the drawing board of designer Giorgio Cassetta. Belowdecks is a seven-cabin layout that can accommodate 14 guests, with the highlight being the massive 1,770-sq-ft owner’s deck. Here, in addition to the master suite, is the owner’s lounge, bar and office, plus a private sundeck with gym, spa and gas fireplace. Word has it that Calex‘s owner is billionaire Southern California auto dealer David Wilson, whose Wilson Automotive Group boasts 17 dealerships and annual sales of around $2 billion.
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Palmer Johnson ‘DB9’
Image Credit: Courtesy Palmer Johnson Named after the classic V12 Aston Martin model, the 9,200-hp, 171-foot DB9 is a speed demon that can blast across the water at 37 mph—or about three times the speed of most yachts its size. The iconic Palmer Johnson, the only one built in England, was first launched back 2010. Its lines from Venice design firm Nuvolari/Lenard make it look fast, even at the dock. In 2019, the new owner upgraded its systems while having its exterior repainted in a metallic Champagne color, with the signature red boot stripe. The boat has three pools, including a 26-foot-long saltwater pool on the foredeck that doubles as the boat’s tender storage when it’s empty. DB9 promises to be one of Palm Beach’s brokerage stars.
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Amels ‘Come Together’
Image Credit: Courtesy Amels Yachts Named after the Beatles song, Come Together is the first Amels Limited Edition 60 that was launched last year. It is distinguished by a geometrically shaped exterior with a metallic hull. The owner of the 197-footer used the yacht for exploring the world, but his plans changed and it’s now on the brokerage market. The yacht has a touch-and-go helipad on the foredeck, a DJ booth, and a large beach club for water sports. On the sundeck is a teppanyaki grill, bar, hot tub and drop-down cinema screen. The interior by Winch Design has a beachy theme, with refined details like leather handrails, brass inlays and appliqué walls. The design firm focused on stones and wood to create beautiful but highly tactile finishes. A patterned, stylized stairwell is Come Together’s centerpiece.
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Princess S72
Image Credit: Courtesy Princess Yachts Fresh from its January debut at the Düsseldorf Boot indoor boat show, the super-stylish S72 from Britain’s Princess Yachts, is making its splashy, in-water debut and key North American premiere at Palm Beach. Designed by the Princess studio, with Pininfarina adding Italian flair, the S72 joins the Princess S Class line-up of S62, S66 and S78 coupe-style fast cruisers. With twin MAN V12 diesels—choose between 1,650-hp or 1,800-hp—this big-windowed cruiser has a top speed of up to 36 knots. Unusual design features include a huge tender garage, expansive power sunroof above the helm, and a spacious flybridge. Princess is also showing the all-new F65, while giving the X80 its first US airing.
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Intrepid 51 Panacea
Image Credit: Courtesy Intrepid Powerboats Florida-based Intrepid Powerboats is unwrapping its biggest, and fastest, center console to date, the new flagship 51 Panacea. Priced at around $2 million, it’s also the most-expensive Intrepid yet. Big brother to the builder’s more cruising-focused 475 Panacea, the new 51-footer is fresh from the keel up, with an all-new, smooth-riding stepped hull, broader beam, and greater deck space. The extra length has also been used to incorporate a second row of four-across seating behind the helm, a big hardtop with wraparound windshield, and an outdoor galley in the cockpit. To escape the sun, there’s also a roomy cabin with side access, a forward V-berth and head with shower. While the base engine package is a quintet of Mercury 450 Racing outboards, the 51 Panacea is also being offered with four Verado 600 V12s.
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Horizon PC68
Image Credit: Courtesy Horizon Yachts Power cat specialist Horizon definitely has the power part covered with its brand-new PC68, making its global debut in Palm Beach. With a pair of 850-hp MAN turbo-diesels, Horizon talks about a “cruising” speed, rather than top speed, of 20 knots for the 68 footer. Its fuel capacity of 1,500 gallons, the PC68’s range should be extensive—though Horizon has yet to release that data. Equally impressive is the amount of deck and interior space provided by the 24-foot beam. In each of the hulls is an equal-sized master suite with king-sized bed, along with separate VIP guest cabins with twin beds that slide together to form a king. The upper flybridge deck is also generous with its space, featuring a walkthrough windshield to a Portuguese bridge and open deck area with exceptional views.
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Zeelander 5
Image Credit: Courtesy Zeelander Yachts After a year-long tease, Dutch builder Zeelander’s Z5 is making global debut at Palm Beach. The still-unapologetically-retro 50-footer carries on where the Z44 left off. Besides an extra four feet of hull, the all-new Z5 features bigger windows in the wheelhouse with new, pencil-thin windshield frames, and an even more voluptuous rear end with a swim platform almost twice the size of the Z44’s. Powered by three Volvo IPS-650s, this new Z5 can hit a top speed of over 40 knots, yet the builder’s focus on noise reduction makes this Zeelander’s quietest boat yet. The longer hull has helped increase the size of the amidships owner’s cabin which now benefits from bigger hull windows.
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Vicem 37 CC
Image Credit: Courtesy Vicem Yachts Turkish wooden boat master Vicem is dipping a toe into the fiberglass center-console market with the Vicem 37 CC, making its world debut at the Palm Beach show. So new is the first hull that it won’t actually arrive at the show until the second day, and with no time to officially photograph the finished boat, there are only renderings available. Vicem teamed-up with Turkish designer and passionate angler Murat Iyriboz and Virginia-based DLBA Naval Architects to shape the new 37 CC. In addition to a center console, the 37 will also be offered as an express cruiser. In true Vicem style, the boat will combine elements that are modern and traditional—like teak coaming around the bow and quilted, hand-stitched upholstery. Buyers can choose from dual or triple outboards, with total possible horsepower of 1,000 hp, with the largest motors projected to give a 45-knot top speed.
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Numarine 26XP Fast
Image Credit: Courtesy Numarine Seems American boat owners love to go fast. Which is why Turkish builder Numarine is debuting a U.S.-focused version of its beefy 26XP explorer-style 85-footer at the Palm Beach show, appropriately titled the 26XP Fast. And fast it is, courtesy of a pair of honking 1,800-hp MAN diesels powering the planing hull version of the 26XP. Flat out, the 85-footer does an impressive 31 knots. According to Numarine, the boat is the fastest in its class. That’s a big step up from the standard, full-displacement-hulled 26XP with twin 435-horse MANs. It has a leisurely 13.5-knot top speed but will be drinking a lot less fuel. What hasn’t changed is the 26XP’s headturning Can Yalman exterior design, with that high, vertical bow, quirky-shaped bulwarks, reverse-angle pilothouse windows and stubby foredeck. Plus, its massive 700-square-foot flybridge.
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Arksen Adventure 30
Image Credit: Courtesy Arksen Dubbed the Land Rover of the seas, this new, tough-as-nails Adventure 30 from Britain’s explorer-yacht builder Arksen, is making its U.S. debut. Best known for its world-girding 65- to 85-foot Explorer series, Arksen partnered with Finland’s XO Boats to build this new 30 and its smaller Adventure 28 sibling. While not exactly a Palm Beach-style cruiser, with its exposed, military-grade aluminum hull, enclosed pilothouse, and distinct lack of sun loungers, the boat is a natural for the rugged Pacific Northwest. But it’s not all basics. Teak covers the decks. There is leather on the steering wheel and a comfortable V-berth in the cabin. Offered with either a single 350-hp outboard, or twin 250s, top speed is more than 45 knots, and with fuel in the tanks the range is 230 miles at 25 knots.
