My favorite time to visit a new yacht is not when she’s just launched, but in the shipyard months earlier, while she’s still in build. I enjoy meeting the workers I encounter on her unfinished decks, their faces reflecting their pride in helping to bring her to life. I like to see what’s beneath her skin; the bones of her floors and bulkheads, the veins of her electrical and plumbing systems, the heart of her engine room. I believe it’s in this stage, before final fitting-out, that her character truly begins to emerge and her quality can first be detected.

In this issue, we announce the finalists and the winners of the 15th Annual ShowBoats Awards, representing the finest large luxury yachts delivered in 2004. We prepare for this much-anticipated issue all year by sending our experts to visit the yachts in shipyards, at boat shows and in ports around the world. We evaluate each of the candidates from the inside out, pouring over the plans and specifications, analyzing the interior design and technical highlights.

This is by no means an easy process, considering the large number of luxury yachts launched each year – a number that is happily on the rise, according to our Global Order Book (SBI, January 2005). In the past five years, the number of orders for yachts 80 feet and over has more than doubled. The size of the biggest yachts being built is increasing as well (witness extreme projects such as the 247-foot sloop Mirabella V, the 295-foot schooner Athena and the 454-foot motor yacht Rising Sun). Advances in technology, design and construction have kept pace with the market, ensuring that the yachts just keep on getting better. The Class of 2004, in particular, represents a very high standard of achievement. Trying to choose among its members was a difficult task indeed.

In the end, our finalists comprise 59 yachts. From these, winners in 14 different categories representing the length and breadth of the luxury yacht universe have been selected. Their images and descriptions can be found starting on page 101. On June 23, we will celebrate these yachts, along with the owners who conceived them, the designers who articulated them and the shipyards that built them, at the ShowBoats Awards ceremony in Monaco.

The real winners, of course, are the owners, who now get to enjoy them. I know we will see many of them plying the popular waters of the Mediterranean this summer. Others will venture farther afield, using their yachts as magic carpets to transport them to exotic ports of call.

Inspired by owners who have written to us of their adventures in faraway lands, we are launching a new department in this issue. Called "Landfall," it presents a yacht owner’s chronicle of a peak experience that took place in a distant port. I know you’ll enjoy Alfred Balm’s tale of the hidden Polynesian paradise he discovered with his wife, Phyllis, aboard their 155-foot yacht Silver Lining, starting on page 71. If you should voyage off the beaten path in future, and you’d like to share a favorite anchorage or a hidden harbor with your peers, please let us know.

We are planning more editorial surprises for the future. This year, you’ll receive seven issues of ShowBoats rather than the usual six, giving us additional pages to fill with reviews of new luxury yachts and scenes of the yachting lifestyle. Our next issue, dated August/September, will be ShowBoats’ 100th. In it, we’ll take a look back at the industry milestones we’ve witnessed over the past 16 years; designs and innovations that paved the way for the outstanding yachts of today.

Meanwhile, it’s time for me and the ShowBoats team to set off on another round of shipyard visits. There’s a whole new group of yachts out there waiting to be seen – the Class of 2005.