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Inside the most beautiful superyachts from 2023 Miami Boat Show

With its beautiful coastline, tropical climate and clear blue waters, Florida is the unsurprising yachting capital of North America. It’s also fast becoming a hotbed of yacht design and innovation, as the host of two major yacht shows, Fort Lauderdale in October and Miami in February. The Miami International Boat Show may not be as famous as its older neighbour but in recent years, it’s cemented its place in the annual calendar of the industry’s elite.

Each year, over 100,000 yachting enthusiasts descend on the sun-soaked city for the five-day event which showcases over a thousand exhibitors and hundreds of boats. In 2023, the star of the show was the 377-foot superyacht Lürssen-built Ahpo, one of largest superyachts to ever appear at a boat show in the USA. Starting with Ahpo, we take a look at the most exciting yachts showcased in Miami and dive into the pioneering design that makes them stand out.

Ahpo

Ahpo superyacht at Miami International Boat Show 2023 in Effect Magazine
Ahpo, built by Lurssen and designed by Nuvolari Lenard, was the star of Miami International Boat Show 2023 (Photo: Guillaume Plisson)

Ahpo was the undeniable crown jewel of the Miami International Boat Show. The 377-foot superyacht, built by German shipyard Lürssen, features interior and exterior design by Nuvolari Lenard, the Italian firm behind some of the world’s largest yachts, including Bravo Eugenia, DAR and Seven Seas. Ahpo is no less impressive.

Towering over the sea of boats in the marina, the superyacht stood tall with her six decks and sleek, high bow, which incorporates an unusual full-beam owner suite duplex. While Ahpo has been spotted sailing the seas since 2021, the boat show gave many yachting enthusiasts their first opportunity to enjoy a peek inside, where things get even more interesting.

The owner’s brief was to “link all the elements of nature”, so designers made heavy use of natural materials, including premium woods, marble and leathers, to bring a sense of nature inside. In the 2690-square-foot wellness centre, which features a plunge pool, a hot tub and a hammam, a large bamboo grove encased in backlit frosted glass transforms the space into a forest, while a zen-like lounge area features a fold-down terrace offering a closer connection to the ocean.

Elsewhere, subtle touches can be found throughout the yacht’s living spaces, from the latticed wood pattern that runs through the salon, to the floral patterns adding colour pops in the bedrooms, and the grand staircase that depicts an olive tree growing up towards the sky.

Wellness centre on Ahpo superyacht at Miami International Boat Show 2023 in Effect Magazine
Apho featured refined biophilic detailing throughout the build: Above L: The grand staircase depicts an olive tree growing up towards the sky. Above: the wellness centre, with plunge pool and encased bamboo grove (Photos: Guillaume Plisson)

“For Lürssen, the task was to build a motor yacht for a repeat client, an upgrade from his 282-foot Lürssen, who had many years of owning and chartering different types of yachts behind him,” says Peter Lürssen, CEO of the shipyard. “He required top-notch design and engineering as well as seagoing comfort for his family, guests and crew. The launch of Ahpo is testament to the excellent team of builders, designers and engineers we have at Lürssen and the strong relationship with the client. Lürssen prides itself on meeting challenges and this one was no different.”


Azimut Grande Trideck

 Azimut Grande Trideck at Miami International Boat Show in Effect Magazine
The Italian-made Azimut Grande Trideck features a distinctive triple-decker design which features a sea-view terrace on a fourth ‘floating’

The ‘made in Italy’ stamp comes with a certain expectation of style and quality. As the new flagship of Italian shipyard Azimut Yachts, the Azimut Grande Trideck lives up to this reputation with aplomb.

The Trideck proposes a revolutionary layout to create new spaces more congenial to contemporary owners increasingly inclined to a less formal lifestyle onboard and closer contact with the sea.

The 125-foot superyacht, said to be the “new symbol” of Azimut’s innovative DNA, is the largest boat the company has built to date. She was created in partnership with a trio of distinguished Italian names, including Italy-born, Monaco-based designer Alberto Mancini, who worked on the exterior; Rome-based designer and architect Achille Salvagni Architetti, the visionary behind the interiors; and Pierluigi Ausoni who collaborated on the naval architecture.

From the outside, the yacht is instantly recognisable with her triple-decker design which features a sea-view terrace on a fourth ‘floating’ aft deck. It’s a modern evolution of Azimut’s previous models. “The Trideck proposes a revolutionary layout, both indoors and outdoors, to create new spaces more congenial to the demands of contemporary owners, increasingly inclined to a less formal lifestyle onboard and closer contact with the sea,” Azimut reveals.

In the interior, Salvangi continues this informal theme by creating spaces that offer owners a “more natural way of experiencing life onboard” – picture a streamlined style with clean lines and quality materials. To bring his vision to life, Salvangi designed every piece of furniture onboard. Stand-out pieces include the large enveloping sofas with soft curves that reflect match the circular elements embedded in the ceiling of the main saloon, the unique egg-like armchairs, and the coffee tables made in a full-mould metal bath.

“Every detail is designed with the attention that the flagship deserves – for example, the marble top of the storage unit integrated into the sofa that incorporates a wireless charger and the wooden floor laid in a herringbone pattern with brass inserts,” Azimut adds. All things considered, it’s a piece of floating Italian art.

Sunseeker 90 Ocean

British-built yacht 90 Ocean by the Sunseeker shipyard at Miami International Boat Show in Effect Magazine
British-built yacht 90 Ocean by the Sunseeker shipyard

British shipyard Sunseeker crossed the Atlantic from Poole to Miami with several of its latest models, including the new Sunseeker 90 Ocean, which made its US launch at the boat show. As its name suggests, the yacht has been designed to connect owners with the sea. Her most impressive feature is the beach club on the aft deck, which is four times the average size of a traditional bathing platform, and enables family and friends to socialise close to the waves – a retractable SeaStair gives guests direct access to the water. The foredeck is another excellent suntrap and can be transformed into an open-air cinema for movies under the stars.

The Sunseeker 90 Ocean’s living area features floor-to-ceiling windows that flood the space with natural daylight

This sense of connection with the ocean also flows inside. In the living area, floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space with natural daylight and draw your eye to the landscape outside. Below deck, the luxurious master cabin stretches across the full width of the yacht, offering panoramic views from her eight-foot feature windows.

The 88-foot yacht, which has already won several awards, stands out thanks to her generous size – she’s got 20% more interior volume and 25% more deck space than a comparable yacht – and her sleek new silhouette that cuts through the water like a dolphin. Furniture is carefully selected to reflect and complement this elegant exterior, and its contemporary lines are reflected in the modern lighting that slices across the ceilings in the bedrooms and hallways. It’s perhaps the most design-forward Sunseeker we’ve seen to date.

With a growing presence of international names, the Miami International Boat Show is fast becoming a major platform for brands across the globe to launch new models and innovations. And with the yachting season preparing to ramp up in spring, we can expect to see some of these launches hit the ocean in the not-too-distant future.

Read more: Superyachts | Interior Designers I Interiors |  Design | Miami