10 of the best new boats at the 2022 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show

The world’s biggest boat show is almost upon us! We pick out the best boats to track down at the 2022 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show.

The Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is big. Really big. To give you some idea of how big – last year’s show had 1,300 boats from 1,000 exhibitors, representing 52 countries.

That’s before you even think about how you’re going to navigate the 90 acres of exhibition space or the 100,000 attendees milling around.

But fear not, MBY is here to help you pick through the humdrum and find the best of the best. These are the boats that are worth tracking down at the 2022 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show.

The best new boats at the 2021 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show

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Astondoa 677 Coupe

With its impudent axe-bow, its swept superstructure and its breathtaking aft end, the Astondoa 677 Coupé has the look and feel of an automotive art installation.

On the inside, too, it is littered with sculptural fixtures and fittings that, from the cleats and the air vents to the gates and even the loo roll holders, feel more like thought-provoking mantelpiece curios than functional yacht accessories.

It’s still a practical cruiser though, with big fore and aft lounging zones, plus lavish six-berth accommodation and a choice between IPS drives and MAN V12s on straight shafts for easy 34-knot performance.

Whether through the vast hull windows or the extravagant cutaway bulwarks, there are big views everywhere you look. And with a choice of three or four cabins and a galley-up or down arrangement, it’s very easy to tailor it to your needs.

While the dramatic, wave-textured orange leather wall trim is likely to divide opinion, this spectacular new limited edition cruiser is not a boat you can ignore.

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Photo: Lightspeed Studios

CL Yachts CLX96

Here is what’s claimed to be the world’s first SAV, short for Sea Activity Vehicle, a rugged 96-footer that its builder, Hong Kong-based CL Yachts, describes as being “not just another pretty boat”.

Making its international debut at the 2022 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, this Rambo-esque CLX96 is the new flagship of Cheoy Lee-owned CL, and comes from the drawing board of Milan-based industrial designer Jozeph Forakis, who did both the exterior and interior.

Love it, or hate it, it certainly has presence. With that polarizing plumb bow, reverse-angle deckhouse and matching pilothouse-cum-skylounge perched on top, it earns CL’s description of the yacht being “workboat chic”.

Read more about the CL Yachts CLX96

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Cruisers 50 GLS

Wisconsin-based Cruisers Yachts knows that when you build a roomy 52-foot weekender-on-steriods, you’re going to have a small army of friends and family pleading to come aboard.

Which is why the outdoor galley in this impressive new Cruisers 50 GLS – the new flagship in the yard’s rapidly-expanding GLS series – features not one, but two electric grilles, two fridges – three if you add the one belowdecks – and ice maker and two sinks.

Completed just in time for its FLIBS 2022 debut, the 50 GLS joins a line-up that includes last year’s new Cruisers 34 GLS, the 38 GLS and 42 GLS.

Read more about the Cruisers 50 GLS

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Galeon 375 GTO

This is one swashbuckling Galeon that’s worth your pieces of eight. The brand new Galeon 375 GTO from Poland’s Galeon Yachts, is the second model in the builder’s emerging GTO line-up following the 2020 debut of its super-successful Galeon 325 GTO.

This feature-laden 37-footer is the latest from the drawing board of British yacht design legend, and Galeon go-to for the past 20 years, Tony Castro.

In addition to the new Galeon 375 GTO debuting at the 2022 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, he’s also behind the all-new Galeon 800 Fly joining it at FLIBS.

Read more about the Galeon 375 GTO

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Horizon FD110

Call it the light fantastic. The newly-splashed Horizon FD110 – the largest in the Taiwanese yard’s Fast Displacement (FD) series – floods its cabins on all three decks with so much light you’ll probably need sunnies in the bathroom.

From the drawing board of prolific Dutch designer, Cor D. Rover, this head-spinning 110ft superyacht boasts huge floor-to-ceiling windows all along the main deck, hull windows almost down to the waterline, and a pilothouse-cum-skylounge almost completely wrapped in dark-tinted glass.

With a top speed of 21 knots from her twin 1,600-hp Cat C32s, she’s not only fast, but looks fast. Rover has given the Horizon FD110 a bold, axe bow with a knife-like, wave-piercer, towering sides, and a long, low pilothouse with stealthy reverse-angle front glass.

Read more about the Horizon FD110

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Mystic M5200

Miami to funky Nassau in the Bahamas is a straight-shot 180 miles. At the new Mystic M5200 rocketship’s top speed of 80mph – that’s 70 knots – you’d be there in just over a couple of hours. Arrive there for lunch, be home for dinner.

Fuel bill? What fuel bill? The tank holds 650 gallons – over 2,400 litres – though most pilots will likely run more efficiently at the boat’s 40-knot cruise speed.

This is the latest speed demon from Florida’s Mystic Powerboats, a needle-nosed 52-foot center console with a quartet of 600hp Mercury Verado V12s hanging off the transom. Yep, that’s 2,400 horsies in total.

Read more about the Mystic M5200

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Pearl 72

UK boatbuilder Pearl Yachts showed us renderings of its new Pearl 72 back in September last year at the Cannes Yachting Festival. Rumour had it they’d showcase the finished thing in the Vieux Port this year, but alas it wasn’t to be.

Instead Pearl’s MD Ian Smallridge aims to woo a few American buyers, so will pull the silk off the new Pearl 72 at the 2022 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, one-upping their domestic rivals Sunseeker and Princess Yachts.

Filling the gap between its smallest model, the Pearl 62, and her bigger sisters, the Pearl 80 and flagship Pearl 95, the all-new Pearl 72  should do well Stateside, though don’t mention it’s built in China.

Read more about the Pearl 72

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Pursuit OS 445

Call it the Pursuit of happiness. Happiness in owning a boat that is, first and foremost, a lean, mean, capable fishing machine. Then, a close second, a well-equipped and versatile weekend cruiser.

The Pursuit OS 445 comes in as the new flagship of the OS-for-Offshore fleet, and the biggest boat of any kind to date from the prolific Florida-based builder that turned out its first craft back in 1977.

The 445’s fishing boat credentials are impressive. It features a deep, wide cockpit and more rod holders than the Andrea Gail.

Read more about the Pursuit OS 445

Sunseeker 88 Yacht

The Sunseeker 88 Yacht uses the same basic hull mould as the Sunseeker 86 but with a whole new look, both to the exterior and the interior, as well as a very different layout on deck.

The exterior includes brand new hull windows and glass inset into the bulwarks that not only lighten the exterior look, they also let light through into the main deck and improve the views out to sea.

Round at the stern there is an awful lot going on too – a completely new moulding at the aft end of the boat gives the Sunseeker 88 Yacht an almost Transformer-like ability.

Read more about the Sunseeker 88 Yacht

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Vicem 55 Fly

Talk about a Turkish delight! The latest from Istanbul-based Vicem Yachts takes the yard’s lovely, long-running Vicem 55 Classic hardtop and plonks an oh-so elegant flybridge on the top.

The new Vicem 55 Classic Flybridge, making its debut at the 2022 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, looks even more like the traditional, salty Down East Maine lobster boat that inspired it.

In addition to the new lid, the big news here is that unlike other Vicems, it’ll be constructed only in fibreglass and not the cold-moulded mahogany the yard is famous for. Seems plastic construction means faster builds and less maintenance.

Read more about the Vicem 55 Fly

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