For the last two months, I have released some information on What’s New for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. In August, I let everyone in on the return of our 20 Flats boat and in September I announced the release of our newest model the 345 Nomad. For this month, I am happy to announce that we have been working with Cox over in the United Kingdom for the past couple of years on the release of their 300 HP diesel outboard (CXO300) and we look to have them on our front entry version of the 345 Nomad. We are extremely excited that Cox has chosen us to help bring them into the marketplace and we can’t wait to get some time on these engines.

We have been wanting a diesel outboard for quite some time now. With many of our boats being tenders to the Mega Yacht market, we continue to get requests for diesel applications because they do not want to carry gasoline on board the Mega Yacht. Having a common fuel with the mothership has several advantages. Then when you think about the fuel efficiency that diesel technology brings, the low maintenance, and dependability, it makes sense that there is a place for this engine in our marketplace and I am excited about the future. Cox could have chosen anyone in the industry to team up with on this application and we are proud to say they chose us. We will continue to help them dial them in over time the same way we have helped other new marine applications that have partnered with us upon their release.

The Drive for Perfection Event

I’m sure by now everyone knows about our “Drive for Perfection” event that we are having this Saturday at our Dania Beach Sales office. If not, let me let you in on it. Move in for the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is this coming Monday, so we have 99% of the boats that are going into the show sitting in Dania staged to move in. We then thought, what an opportunity to put together a gathering for our closest customers to come to our facility and see the boats before anyone else. A smaller crowd with a chance to have some one on one attention with the sales team. The other big advantage is to be able to place an order and get on the schedule before anyone else at the show. Everyone knows about our backlogs and they only get longer once the boat show starts. It is also a small way to thank you all for your continued loyalty and a chance for us to just hang out together for a few hours!

The other advantage of attending this Saturday’s event would be to see any new product before the public and it looks as though we should have the new 345 Nomad there for everyone to see (fingers crossed). We sea trialed the boat on Sunday and it ran awesome! I’m sure most of you might have seen the pictures, running video, and sea trial numbers on Facebook. This is a model that everyone has been asking for and I am excited for everyone to see it. I am making the trek down for the “Drive for Perfection” event and I hope to see you all there, so I can get everyone’s input because, at the end of the day, our customers are the designers. We just make it happen.

For more information and to register, visit http://bit.ly/TDFP2018

Breast Cancer Awareness

Last but not least, even though the only day of the show that falls in October is the first one, we want to recognize October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month by donating $1,000 to Susan G. Komen Miami/Fort Lauderdale for every boat sold at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. We did this some years back and then the boat show moved to November. When I saw that the first day of the show was falling in October I figured we should do this again. And if you have not gone to the Intrepid website lately, you should check it out. We turned it pink to help bring awareness.

I hope to see you all at the event this weekend or be sure to catch up with me at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show October 31st- November 4th!!!!

Don’t forget to visit us at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center for the 59th annual Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show. The show begins with premier day on Wednesday, October 31st, noon to 7pm. The final day of the show is Sunday, November 4th.

Entrance to this year’s Bahia Mar venue is slightly different and closer to the swimming hall of fame. To accommodate the change, some things shifted on land. Our land display is nestled between the electronics tent and the super yachts pavilion. On water, we occupy the same position as last year, between “G” and “H” dock.

We expanded our footprint in the water at Bahia Mar for this year’s show to create an Intrepid hamlet. On the north side of the superyacht and electronics tent, along “G” dock, models will include a 475 Sport Yacht, 475 Panacea, 430 Sport Yacht, 410 Evolution, 407 Cuddy, 400 Open/CC, 375 Open/CC, and Intrepid’s all-new 345FE Nomad/CC with the very first pair of state-of-the-art Cox diesel outboards. On land, we will present a 407 Panacea, 375 Walkaround, all new 345SE Nomad/CC with side console entrance, and 327 Open/CC. Also adjacent to our land display, and next to the entrance to the water, is the newly redesigned Intrepid 200 Flats.

With twelve boats, there is surely an Intrepid for every possible use at this year’s Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show. Hope to see you there.

Stay well,

Peter

Let me start by saying that the collective hearts of everyone at Intrepid go out to our friends who have been affected by hurricanes Michael and Florence. We are here for you, so if there is anything that we can do just let us know and we’ll help however we can. Both storms have had devastating effects, and it looks like it’s going to take lots of work to get things back to the way they were. Let’s all keep good thoughts flowing toward those in need so that normalcy is restored in as timely a fashion as possible.

All of us on Team FLIR are looking forward to Leg 3 of the Wild West tournament series this month. There will be a truck at the captain’s party at the Brown Boxer in Madeira Beach on the evening of October 18th that will be loading hurricane relief supplies for our friends in need in the Panhandle. We are happy to be the title sponsor for this event that not only fosters team competition but also to provide support for the community in general as well. Fishing will be on Saturday, October 20th, the weigh-in will be that evening in John’s Pass Village in Madeira Beach. This year’s series will wrap up on Saturday, November 3rd. We hope to see you there.

I spoke to a friend of ours in Connecticut this week who was headed to the Hudson Canyon for some deep-sea fishing. Our conversation reminded me of what a nice time of year this can be in the Northeast and that there are still some good days to be had on the water before winter is upon us. This is a great time to go through systems on your boat to make a list of repairs and or improvements you might want to have done while she’s in winter storage. Boatyards are busy places in the Spring, so it’s best to get work scheduled and done with as much notice as possible.

We are very busy now getting the last of our boats ready for the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show which is going to commence at the end of this month and into early November. I had the pleasure of running our new 345 Nomad recently and I was really impressed, it does everything just right! The Nomad will be in good company with the rest of our fleet, so I look forward to having everyone see what we’ve been doing in Largo lately. In the meantime, please give me a call so we can get together here at our factory for a tour if you’re in the Tampa Bay area.

Happy Boating,

Joe