Images of the Week: Miami (Boat Show) State of Mind

ByMatt Trulio

When it comes to off-the-water events in the high-performance powerboating world, nothing can touch the Miami International Boat Show. Even when you know what’s coming, the displays of hardware inside and outside the Miami Beach Convention Center—soon to begin a much-needed renovation—and in the water across Biscayne Bay are unmatched. Plus, the show always offers a few surprises every year.

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Can’t wait for the Miami International Boat Show? Same here. All photos courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

The upcoming Miami Boat Show next month will be my twentieth, and even though I know what’s coming—including some of the “surprises”—I am looking forward to it as much as I ever have. Back when I worked for Powerboat magazine, the show was an exercise in walking the floor in our suits and ties (our publisher insisted on it) shaking hands and taking people to dinner. Sure, we’d come back to our offices in Ventura, Calif., with a story or two but mostly it was a meet, greet and find yourself eating Reuben sandwiches in Jerry’s Deli at 4 a.m. at least once during the week affair. There was no urgency to get those stories done because, as a monthly magazine, we simply didn’t have the platform to present them in anything close to real time.

Thanks to the immediacy and reach of speedonthwater.com, times have changed—radically. By the time the opening day of the Miami Boat Show is complete, Jason Johnson and I will have reported, if the past two years are anything to go by, more than a dozen stories. And that’s not counting all the quick-hit stuff that isn’t quite enough for news pieces but is perfect for the site’s Facebook page.

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For a look at some of the highlights from last year’s Miami International Boat Show, check out the slideshow above.

Yes, it’s more work than socializing all day with our friends and then deciding where to spend ungodly amounts of money on dinner. But guess what? It’s also a whole lot more productive and rewarding. Hard as it may be to believe, it’s also more fun.

We hope to be standing next to you during all of Thursday’s unveilings such as the next-generation Skater 388 “Pure Platinum” series catamaran and the Mystic Powerboats new C4400 catamaran and M3900 luxury performance center console. But if you can’t be there, rest assured we will bring you all the news as it happens. Like you, we can’t wait.

Related Story: Countdown to Miami—Inside the 2015 Boat Show