The Palm Beach Boat Show throws open its doors this week and we’ve scoured the listings to pick out the most notable attendees…
Even though it’s not quite as big as the Miami and Fort Lauderdale equivalents, the Palm Beach Boat Show is still far too big for anyone to hope to see all the boats in a single day.
With more than 800 boats on display from March 23-26, ranging from center consoles to superyachts, you need to pick and choose which boats you visit.
That’s where we come in – we’ve picked out the best of the best to save you time and help focus in on the truly newsworthy new arrivals.
Read on for our edit of the best new boats at Palm Beach 2023…
Benetti 67m superyacht Calex
Okay, getting on board this 2022 custom superyacht isn’t going to be easy, but if you’ve got the right connections, this is a simply unmissable yacht.
Word has it that Calex‘s owner is Southern California car dealer David Wilson, who founded the Wilson Automotive Group in 1985 and built it into a 17-dealership group with annual sales of around $2 billion. His last yacht, a 163ft Westport, was also named Calex.
Formerly known as Project Fenestra, this Italian superyacht is built of steel and aluminum and features a seven-cabin layout that can accommodate up to 14 guests.
Read more about the 67m Benetti superyacht Calex
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Horizon PC68
There is one word you keep hearing in any conversation with Horizon Power Catamarans when the subject of the brand new $5.4 million Horizon PC68 comes up – expansive…
Which is what you might expect when this new star of the Taiwan-based builder measures 68 feet (20.7m) bow to stern and an impressive 24ft 6ins (7.5m) wide. Step into the salon and there are hotel ballrooms smaller than this. Yep, the Horizon PC68 is expansive, for sure.
Below decks everything is, yes, expansive. Each of the twin hulls features a king-sized bed stateroom along with two additional twin-bunk staterooms with beds that slide together to make another king-bedded suite.
Read more about the Horizon PC68
Intrepid 51 Panacea
Big news from this year’s Palm Beach Boat Show will be the unwrapping of the biggest Intrepid center console to date, the new flagship Intrepid 51 Panacea…
With a quartet of 600hp Mercury Verado V12s outboards hanging off the back, the 51 Panacea is set to be the fastest Intrepid yet.
Big brother to Intrepid’s cruising-focused 475 Panacea, this new 51 is fresh from the keel up, with an all-new stepped, deep-vee hull and top hat that now offers two rows of four-across seating, and a big hardtop with wrap-around windscreen for protection.
With its dual role as part serious offshore fishing battle-wagon and equal-part family dayboat, the Intrepid 51 Panacea is big on deck space.
Read more about the Intrepid 51 Panacea
Numarine 26XP Fast
OK, it’s a bit of a stretch for Turkey’s Numarine to talk about its latest 26XP explorer-style 85-footer being a “world debut” at this year’s Palm Beach Boat Show. But we’ll give it a pass courtesy of the word ‘Fast’ being added to the model name…
Seems that to meet the insatiable demands of American buyers who just like to go flat out, Numarine is offering its strong-selling 26XP with a pair of honking 1,800hp MAN diesels. Coupled with the optional planing-hull version of the 26XP, the ‘Fast’ can hit an impressive top speed of 31 knots.
That’s a big step up from the base, full displacement-hulled Numarine 26XP with twin 435hp MANs that are good for 13.5 knots and a nine-knot cruising speed.
Read more about the Numarine 26XP Fast
Princess S72
This new sportsbridge from British yard Princess Yachts made its global debut in January at the Boot Dusseldorf show, but this fresh design should look even more impressive when bathed in Floridian springtime sunshine.
MBY editor Hugo Andreae was one of the first on board and he was impressed by the restful, understated interior.
Don’t let that fool you, the top-end performance is anything but restful – twin 1,800hp MAN V12s and a variable vee hull provide exhilarating, yet smooth-riding 36-knot performance.
Read more about the Princess S72
Vicem 37 CC
Hear the word Vicem and chances are you’ll conjure-up mental images of lovely cold-molded wooden luxury cruisers hand-crafted by Turkish artisans…
But for the 2023 Palm Beach Boat Show, the builder is dipping a tentative big toe into the crowded US center console fishing/cruising market with the global debut of its brand new Vicem 37 CC. And, wait for it, it’s being molded out of fiberglass.
Vicem teamed-up with Turkish designer and passionate angler Murat Iyriboz and Virginia-based naval architects DLBA to shape this new Vicem 37 CC.
Read more about the Vicem 37 CC
Gorgeous retro styling and signature convex transom ramp up the Zeelander 5’s head-turning credentials
Zeelander 5
The distinctly retro design of this new Zeelander Z5 is similar to the original Z44, but with a longer LOA of 48ft 7in bow to transom and around a foot more in the beam.
As with all Zeelander models, it sports the same signature tumblehome quarters and a sweeping convex transom, which folds down to become an extended bathing platform. With its transom down the LOA extends to 52ft 1in (15.9m).
Like the flagship Zeelander 72, the Zeelander Z5’s wheelhouse will provide sociable booth seating amidships behind twin pilot seats and a centre-line helm to make the most of its performance credentials.