Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show: the US market's answer to Monaco, 31 August

The signal The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show remains the largest in-water boat show on earth. The 2026 edition opens 29 October across seven marinas, with more than $4B of inventory in the water. It is the industry's biggest single marketplace and the US market's answer to Monaco, pairing superyacht tonnage with the sportfish money that defines the American waterfront.

The bench Attendees are American yacht buyers, LATAM owners, and the brokerage industry's entire US bench. Arrivals are by yacht and by jet. The show functions as the annual calibration point for the hemisphere's sales pipeline, where deals negotiated in Monaco and Antibes find their American counterparty.

The window Late October through early November sits at the hinge of the Atlantic yachting season. European deliveries have cleared, winter itineraries are being set, and the brokerage floor is fully staffed. The timing concentrates the year's most active buyers in one geography for ten days.

The approach With the show nine weeks out, inventory positioning is the current tell. Brokerages are finalizing which hulls will float in the New River, which will sit on hard display, and which LATAM clients are flying in for private viewings. The water is being readied; the marinas are being allocated. The circuit moves south for the season's opening auction block.