With Covid-related travel restrictions pretty much lifted, and overseas visitors and exhibitors expected to be back in force, this year’s 63rd Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show—FLIBS for short—is gearing up to be the best yet. An impressive 1,300-plus yachts, sailing vessels and motorboats will be in the show’s seven venues, including the Broward Country Convention Center, ground zero for powerboaters, and the luxury-focused SuperYacht Village, home for the show’s megayachts. The action kicks-off on Wednesday and runs through Sunday.
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Heesen Project Aura
Image Credit: Courtesy Heesen Yachts With a new American owner, it was only fitting that Heesen’s recently delivered 163-foot superyacht should have her coming-out party at FLIBS. The Dutch yard called on the yacht design visionary Clifford Denn to sculpt the lines of this steel-and-aluminum thoroughbred, with British design house Reymond Langton responsible for the Scandinavian-flavored interior. The yacht is designed to go fast and far, with twin MTU 2,040-hp diesels giving a top speed of 15 knots, and 16,000-gallon tanks good for a whopping 3,800 nautical-mile range. Below decks are cabins for 10 guests.
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Benetti’s 37M B.Yond Voyager “Gogo”
Image Credit: Courtesy Benetti Yachts This is b.yond impressive. The first in Benetti’s new B.Yond Voyager series, the steel-hulled Gogo, will be at the FLIBS docks to showcase Benetti’s growing eco capabilities. Working with Siemens Energy, the Italian yard has created an innovative diesel-electric E-Mode Hybrid system. With a massive bank of lithium batteries, the 121-footer can stay on the hook for up to 12 hours without cranking-up the generators. The fully-electric mode also lets it cruise silently into protected areas with zero emissions. Best of all, on one engine, the yacht can cruise for over 8,200 nautical miles at 10-plus mph.
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CL Yachts X96
Image Credit: Courtesy CL Yachts It’s what you call form with a whole lot of function. The new flagship of Cheoy Lee-owned CL Yachts is what the yard is describing as the world’s first SAV, or “Sports Activity Vessel.” From that ice-breaker-like bow, to the reverse-angle main deck forward windows, to the bunker-like pilothouse perched on the top, this new CLX is one tough-looking vessel. Making its global debut at FLIBS, the 96-footer is the brainchild of Milan-based industrial designer Jozeph Forakis, who has incorporated huge amounts of deck space for entertaining and sunning. Galapagos Islands, here we come.
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Mystic M5200
Image Credit: Courtesy Mystic Powerboats Florida-based Mystic Powerboats’ brand-new M5200 rocketship is the builder’s biggest and boldest center console to date. And with a bonkers top speed of over 80 mph, it’s the fastest. Debuting at FLIBS, this needle-nosed 52-footer comes with a quartet of 600-hp Mercury Verado V12s delivering a combined 2,400-hp. Yes, it’s fast and furious, but it’s also has the frills. It has more diamond-quilted, contrast-stitch upholstery than a Bentley. One especially cool design feature is that swoopy-looking carbon-fiber hardtop that looks barely attached to the wraparound windshield. This center console is nothing less than the Corvette of go-really-fast boats.
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Azimut Magellano 66
Image Credit: Courtesy Azimut Yachts Azimut’s catchphrase for the latest version of its Magellano 66 fast cruiser, should be “Go far on less fuel”. The key feature here is a re-worked version of the yacht’s Dual Mode semi-planing hull from Italian naval architect Pierluigi Ausonio. At the Magellano’s velocity sweet spot of between 15 and 22 knots, its twin 850-horse MAN diesels don’t need to work as hard to push the boat. The result, according to Azimut, is 20 percent lower fuel consumption and therefore 20 percent fewer CO2 emissions compared to a typical hard-chine hull. As you’d expect from Azimut, the new 66, which makes its US debut at FLIBS following a more recent European premier at Cannes, is big on head-turning Italian style inside and out.
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Gulf Craft Majesty 120 “Rocket One”
Image Credit: Courtesy Gulf Craft Here’s a staggering factoid. Since its founding in 1982, Emirates-based Gulf Craft has built and delivered more than 10,000 boats. That’s a lot. The latest in the long line is the newest version of its Majesty 120 line-up, the tri-deck, all-composite Rocket One. Gulf Craft is showing-off the new 120-footer at FLIBS—after appearances at Cannes and Monaco—to showcase the yard’s quality and craftsmanship. While Gulf Craft’s in-house studio did the exterior design, the interior is the work of Italian designer Cristiano Gatto, who kept things light and fresh.
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Horizon Tri-Deck FD100
Image Credit: Courtesy Horizon Yachts At 110-feet, this newly launched triple-decker from Taiwan-based Horizon is the new flagship of the yard’s fast-multiplying Fast Displacement FD series. How quick is the concept multiplying? Horizon is also using FLIBS to debut not only the 110, but also the brand new FD100 and FD80 Skyline. Dutch naval architect Cor D Rover has given this FD110 a bold, axe bow with a knife-like wave piercer, glass-enclosed hull sides and a long, low pilothouse with a workboat-like, reverse-angle windshield. Not only does it look speedy, it is. With twin 1,600-hp Caterpillar C32s it’s capable of a 24-mph top speed.
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Lürssen Coral Ocean
Image Credit: Courtesy Ahoy Club This 38-year-old grand dame of yachting may have been considered ready for the scrap heap were it not for the massive, $36 million bow-to-stern refit she just went through. This week, she will be the largest yacht at FLIBS. The well-healed benefactor was Australian entrepreneur and superyacht collector Ian Malouf, who did a similar big-spend refit with his 177-foot Baglietto, Mischief, in 2016. Launched as Coral Island back in 1994, the Lürssen’s iconic exterior lines were the work of the godfather of modern yacht design, Jon Bannenberg. Malouf’s massive, two-year refit put a major focus on increasing outdoor spaces and giving a fresh, clean, playful makeover to the interior. After her Cannes and Monaco appearances, Coral Ocean is at FLIBS to promote Ian Malouf’s Ahoy Club yacht charter business.
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Galeon 800 FLY
Image Credit: Courtesy Galeon Yachts The hipster definition of “fly” isn’t something with wings, but someone who’s cool, sexy, smart and stylish. Which pretty much describes Polish builder Galeon’s racy-looking new flagship, the 83-foot 800 FLY. Designed by one of yachting’s A-listers, Tony Castro, the yacht’s lines are defined by near bow-to-stern hull windows of structural glass. The superstructure is equally glass-rich, with huge swaths of dark-tinted, floor-to-ceiling windows. On the “fly”, a pair of muscular 1,925-hp MTU diesels can punch this 75-tonner to a top speed of over 36 mph. If you don’t need that speed, smaller 1,800-hp MANs are available. Parked alongside the 800 at FLIBS will be Galeon’s other world debut, the 375 GTO.
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Sanlorenzo SP110
Image Credit: Courtesy Sanlorenzo Yachts It’s almost a flashback to the ’70s when rich, Italian playboys built crazy, super-fast, wildly-designed boats to scream around the Med. This latest from Sanlorenzo—one of the headliners at the recent Cannes boat show—certainly screams. With triple 2,000-horse V-12 MAN diesels mated to jet drives, this low-slung 108-foot projectile tops out at an impressive 46 mph. As the fastest Sanlorenzo to date, it’s no wonder that the SP in SP110 stands for “Smart Performance.” Yes, the two-level design from Bernardo Zuccon looks like it’s missing a flybridge, but somehow it adds to the yacht’s go-fast dynamic. A macchina veloce indeed.
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Vicem 55 Classic Flybridge
Image Credit: Courtesy Vicem Yachts The question to Turkish builder Vicem about its brand new Classic 55 Flybridge, has to be: What took you so long? Only now, after cranking-out its elegant 55 Classic sedan for the past 20 years—150 examples and counting—has it decided to add a flybridge top. Now it looks even more like the salty Maine lobster boat that inspired the design. Climb the teak-treaded steps up to the new flybridge and find space for a crowd and always stunning 360-degree views. The other headline here is that with this new 55 Flybridge, Vicem has decided to only build it in fiberglass, rather than the cold-molded mahogany the yard is famous for. Plastic, it seems, means quicker turnarounds and less maintenance for the owner.
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Cruisers 50 GLS
Image Credit: Courtesy Cruisers Yachts If you thought cheese, beer and polka were the only good things to come out of Wisconsin, think again. MarineMax-owned Cruisers Yachts is adding a flagship 52-footer to its rapidly-expanding GLS weekender line-up. Making its world debut in Lauderdale, the versatile, family-focused 50 GLS comes from the drawing board of Cruisers’ long-time design partner Donald L. Blount and Associates. It’s big, U-shaped bow seating, generous cockpit seating and drop-down hull sides create an exceptional dayboat. Triple Mercury Verado V12 600s give this new 50 a top end of 57 mph.
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Pearl 72
Image Credit: Courtesy Pearl Yachts The brand-new Pearl 72 fast cruiser from Britain’s Pearl Yachts is notable for its use of glass. From its floor-to-ceiling salon windows to the oversized windshield and hull windows, this stylish, 72-footer is all about light. From the drawing board of naval architect Bill Dixon, the hull comes with deep cutouts amidships to add even more light. Belowdecks, celeb interior designer Kelly Hoppen—the so-called “Queen of Beige”—says the vibe is that of a hip, urban Manhattan loft. And instead of multiple small cabins, she’s gone for two, over-sized master staterooms, so VIP guests don’t feel squeezed.
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Fratelli Aprea Sorrento 36 Hardtop
Image Credit: Courtesy Fratelli Aprea Gozzo-style boats have been around in Italy for hundreds of years, and are finally hitting American shores at FLIBS. The boats are distinguished by curves, even at the stern which is rounded. Fratelli Aprea has been building its vessels since 1890 at a family yard south of Naples. The 36 Hardtop will be one of its first US premieres. The mini-ship-like profile has a rising bow that lowers as it moves towards the rounded stern, with a US-style hardtop amidships to protect from sun and rain. The boat will have two staterooms for four guests, a dayboat capacity of carrying 12 people, and a top speed of 30 knots. The fiberglass hull is about as modern as it gets, with high-quality wood detailing showing the yard’s 130 years of craftsmanship. The unique design should quickly attract an American following.
