FLIBS, now in its 47th year, is the queen of boat shows. The show’s new owner even claims this year’s edition will be bigger than ever. With exhibits encompassing three million square feet of space and valued at $1.6 billion, it certainly will be no slouch. FLIBS is a destination boat show where serious buyers fly in to shop and play. Builders and brokers know this and generally bring the "best of their best" to show off. If you want to deal directly with the president of a boat company on your next custom build, or meet with the top designers in the business face to face, you can bet he or she will be in Fort Lauderdale. The atmosphere at the show is a bit hectic but positively electric.

In this issue, you’ll find a sampling of the hottest yachts on display, new and pre-owned, plus an insider’s guide to navigating the six venues that comprise this largest in-water boat show on the planet.

MIBS and DIBS are the equivalents of FLIBS in their respective countries. Like FLIBS, MIBS is the biggest show in Russia. One might suggest that this isn’t saying much given Russia’s relatively recent conversion to the economic system we know and love in the United States, but it still harbors the same impression. It allows those with a curiosity about boats and boating a means to touch and feel the objects of their desire and imagine all the possibilities those objects represent. It also gives the businesses that service the market—many of which will be exhibiting at FLIBS—direct access to an eager, enthusiastic universe of new customers. The show is tiny compared to the dreadnaught that is FLIBS, but attendance and exhibitor space has grown steadily in the years the show has been in business, and we could eventually see a renaissance of yachting on the Black Sea. Read Brian Courtney’s experience at MIBS in SBI (yes, we too have an acronym) this month and get a sense of how the better-heeled citizens of the former USSR are changing the yachtbuilding and charter markets worldwide.

DIBS is another story still. Capitalism is no stranger to Dubai. There are few places in the world where our native economic system is more in evidence than in this tiny Arab emirate. Massive buildings are rising from the desert—and literally from the ocean—at a breakneck pace. Many of the waterfront developments in Dubai have marina components, and some of the most exceptional ones are catering to superyachts. I spent time at DIBS earlier this year and witnessed a scene reminiscent of FLIBS, with many of the world’s most prestigious yachtbuilders and service companies on hand chasing the beneficiaries of Dubai’s economic boom. Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is a yachtsman on a scale in keeping with his country’s taste for superlatives. In fact, he owns the largest yacht in the world.

The emerging boat markets in Russia and Dubai are well served by their respective national shows, but it’s likely we’ll see our share of Russians and Dubaians roaming the docks at FLIBS.

If you are at the show, stop by our stand. We’ll be there!

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