Editor's Note: A Show-Stopping Week

　　Kicking off the first week of the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, we take a glimpse into the builds and designs dominating the American stage. Not only this, we roll out the red carpet for our showstopping exclusives in the form of stand-out interviews and first-hand insights from the industry...

　　As of yesterday, FLIBS is finally underway. The show is currently teeming with vessels from some the biggest names in boating, and few so big as Dutch shipyard Heesen, who bring with it the 50-metre M/Y Septimus and 55-metre M/Y Abbracci. For this yard, it reflects a more than prosperous order book.

　　That's not all for our FLIBS 2018 insights. We turn our attention to the interior of 58-metre Lady Sheridan; a canvas of dazzling white with splashes of royal red exuding comfort. The added bonus? She is available to charter with Burgess for a stylish voyage at sea.

　　Aside from the Floridian shores commanding the industry's attention, our team was busy at work surfacing stand-out exclusives that don't just look to today's industry landscape, but to the burgeoning landscape of tomorrow.

　　Having travelled to the shores of OneOcean Port Vell in Barcelona this October, we finally got to share the second part of our exclusive interview with Helen Clarke, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and today's Patron of the Emirates Team NZ. We discuss how hosting the America’s Cup in 2021 will transform Auckland into the ultimate superyacht hub, something we look forward to seeing come into fruition.

　　While we cannot wait to see a fleet of superyachts and their owner's take on the New Zealand region in 2021, we heard first hand from the owner of S/Y Aquarius and M/Y Sherakhan on their unique experiences traversing the ocean. The words of advice from the owner of Sherakhan specifically were “The Sea of Cortez, where you can go diving with whale sharks. The wildlife, nature and scenery is mind-blowing.”

　　While remote destinations and tropical cruising grounds dominated this owner's conversation, the dialogue surrounding charter grounds continued. We sought to uncover the ultimate charter vessels cruising winter waters this Christmas. We found that the balmy climes of The Bahamas with M/Y Martha Ann were always a favourite, while pulling crackers across the backdrop of the Red Sea with M/Y O'neiro comes as a close second when closing the book on 2018.

　　Last but not least in a week of privileged insights, we got the inside scoop from Ken Freivokh on the design of his Turquoise concept Quantum. The focus centred around "the enjoyment of the sea", all wrapped up in 77-metres.

　　Simpson Marine’s Thailand division announced the recent arrival of the brand new Monte Carlo Yachts 96 to Pattaya, Thailand this week. Having concluded the sale of the yacht to a Thailand-based client in January 2017, we ended with our eyes on the emerging potential of the Asian market proving there is a lot to look forward to.