2018 Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) Coverage

Center consoles are really the rise of the outboards, both figuratively and literally. You're also seeing the impact in small cruisers with several new lines and in basic runabouts. All are in sizes which previously just couldn't be propelled by outboards. You've now got center consoles up to 65'. You've got traditional builders like Sea Ray with 32' outboard Sundancers and Beneteau with Antares outboard cruisers to 29'. Four Winns with outboards to 35'. I think you'll see OB Sportfish from Mag Bay and/or Cabo.

Stern drives have faded tremendously and in some sizes and boats, outboards have a significant advantage over inboards by bringing far lower purchase prices, better performance, and definitely easier to replace. Of course, that is offset by shorter lives. I had never owned an outboard until we purchase a 39' Contender with triple Yamaha 300's a few years ago, for our crew to use when home. It's impressive when they go zooming by us when we're out in a Riva.

While the Sevens are attention getters, the true rise in the market is the traditional outboard manufacturers now building up to 425 hp.

I saw the new OA90 on the face dock, near the Hall of Fame after hours. That thing is nearly transparent on the beam. Nice to be one with the sea by day, but at night I may not want the sea to see me. I should have taken a picture but I was walking with Billy Smith and we were talking about Metal Shark.

The rise of the OB was also enabled by stricter emission laws on gas inboards including catalytic converters and there subsequent performance drop off.

No, just pointing it out to readers. Aviva has a number of unique design & engineering attributes but the reason for the internal intakes is to avoid an exposed system on the side of the superstructure. Aviva’s profile isn’t conducive to an exterior ventilation location. Check the pics...

https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/news-abeking-rasmussen-launches-98m-aviva.27388/

I realize that a controversial design can create a buzz in the market, but aesthetic exercises often don’t fare well in the future. Case in point, I don’t care for the FD series from Horizon even though it appears to be well received by the market (today). In a few years, these designs could be seen as a dated. Or maybe they will become future classics? My crystal ball has been broken for years, so what do I know!

Paddle boards are actually made by Beau Lake! Met the owner at the show they also have a really cool retro peddle boat!

The OA 112' that was in the show sold as did another. I believe those are the only two completed 112's and that it's a year out for a new build.
A slightly different perspective of the OA 90...

I attended the Galeon event on Friday night. Galeon is the family owned Polish builder that MarineMax is now repping in the states. They're hoping it will help fill the niche abandoned by Sea Ray for their yacht customers. An interested party (so take it for what it's worth) told me that, in their opinion, the build quality and ride of the bigger Galeons exceeds that of Sea Ray's L class. I was very impressed with the interior design and innovation on the 650 Skydeck that I boarded. I have not been on an L-650 since they first debuted but this felt like a much larger 65. The retracting forward center window creates an unobstructed walkthrough from the interior to the foredeck that was simply cool. A bit difficult to capture at night in the photo below...

Pretty pair...


This picture was taken on Friday. On Saturday there was a "sold" sign next to the beach bag ...