Miami Boat Show: Three Highs And A Low

Let’s get my one “low” from last week’s Miami International Boat Show out of the way right now. While the final numbers from the National Marine Manufacturers Association aren’t in, from what I could see—and from what most exhibitors told me—traffic was light at this year’s event. That makes sense, given the record number of weather-related flight cancellations so far this winter, which translated to something on the order 14,000 scrubbed flights last week. Obviously, not all of those flights were headed to Miami, but if you were flying from the Northeast or Midwest to the Sunshine State last Wednesday it was, pardon the pun, tough sledding.

“I knew that if I left the airport I’d never get here,” said Joe Nasso, chairman of Shore Dreams for Kids, who comes to the Miami event every year to catch the show and hang out with his fellow New Jersey performance-boat owners. “So I was in the airport for 24 hours before I finally got on a flight, and I was on the stand-by list.”

That’s what I call dedication. Or obsession. But what awaited Nasso and other Miami Boat Show visitors was a stellar array of go-fast boat hardware. And as it happened, the three most spectacular pieces—my top three anyway—were accompanied by cars.

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(Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.)