The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show draws innovators from across the global marine industry every year, but at this year's edition a single debut commanded the waterfront's attention. Moored alongside the superyacht docks, the Palm Beach 85 caught every eye with her silver-white hull reflected in the calm Florida water, her proportions quietly announcing that something significant had arrived.
For Mark Richards, the founder and chief designer of Palm Beach Motor Yachts, the moment carried the weight of decades of work.
“The Palm Beach 85 is our first step into deep-boat production, building a timeless product,” he said. “It’s still very much an owner-operator boat — extremely manageable with one person.”
What the crowd witnessed that day was more than a handsome new motor yacht. It was a company stepping across an invisible boundary, moving from acclaimed luxury cruiser builder to fully fledged superyacht creator, while preserving everything that had made it distinctive. Richards described the PB85 as "the pinnacle of composite engineering and balance and design and ergonomics," and pointed out that an 85-foot, 100,000-pound yacht capable of this level of efficiency "just doesn't really exist in the production market out there."
Palm Beach used the Fort Lauderdale debut to articulate that philosophy publicly. The brand's official statement noted, "We debuted our flagship Palm Beach 85 and shared the next chapter of innovation with the transformation of Palm Beach XI during a special media preview, each moment a reminder of what makes this community extraordinary."
Owners, journalists, and competing designers responded immediately. The PB85 was acknowledged not simply as a new flagship model but as a demonstration of what modern boatbuilding can accomplish when performance and elegance are weighted equally.
At rest, the PB85 carries the visual language that Palm Beach Motor Yachts has spoken since its first hull launched in the mid-1990s. A long, uncluttered foredeck extends ahead of a gently sweeping sheerline. The superstructure sits low and composed. Every proportion reads as resolved rather than contrived.
The hull beneath that calm exterior is the true source of the yacht's authority. Palm Beach's proprietary V-Warp Technology combines hydrodynamic refinement with advanced composite construction, and each hull is built from a resin-infused laminate of E-glass and carbon fibre bonded directly to the bulkheads and deck.
“My background is America’s Cup-level sailing,” Richards explained. “Convert that to the powerboat world and it’s about every bit of efficiency you can possibly get. That really has been the key to our success.”
The fine bow entry and near-flat transom reduce drag while generating lift and stability simultaneously. Through the speed range the boat runs flat and smooth, holding a consistent five-degree angle at 26 knots. That composure translates into measurable real-world benefits: cruising at 23 knots, the PB85 carries roughly 700 nautical miles of range from a single tank of fuel, burning approximately 58 gallons an hour. Owners who want additional pace can specify twin MAN V8 engines, which push top speed to around 27.5 knots, showing that efficiency and exhilaration are no longer a trade-off.
Inside the structure, carbon bulkheads and lightweight composite joinery maintain rigidity while keeping displacement low. The boat feels poised at every speed, neither ponderous nor nervous, and the helm answers with a precision that Palm Beach owners have come to expect.
Step through the cockpit doors and the brand's commitment to simplicity becomes something you can feel rather than just observe. A continuous single-level salon flows from the forward helm station through to the covered aft deck, creating an uninterrupted sightline and an easy flow between spaces. Glass encloses every zone without isolating it, and natural light reaches throughout.
Richards describes the result as "beautifully balanced and beautifully engineered and beautifully fit and finished, that's what it's all about for us."
The interior arrangement is adaptable without ever feeling compromised. The full-beam master suite sits amidships, protected from engine vibration and framed by panoramic hull windows. Its ensuite is generous but restrained, finished in warm timbers and brushed stainless accents. Guest accommodation follows either a three- or four-stateroom configuration depending on owner preference, and the crew quarters aft are sized to rival those found on considerably larger vessels, a deliberate decision in a segment where crew comfort is frequently an afterthought.
Three distinct variants define the model range: Sedan, Flybridge, and Skylounge. The Sedan version offers clean exterior lines and an immediate connection to the water around the boat. The Flybridge adds an upper salon suited to extended cruising passages, while the Skylounge converts the top deck into a fully enclosed, climate-controlled space appropriate for blue-water voyaging and higher-latitude destinations.
Every detail across all three variants is functional, but nothing feels cold or clinical. Finishes are hand-crafted, edges softened, and materials chosen to invite contact. From the polished teak cockpit table to the discreet LED lighting along the side decks, the impression is that nothing has found its way aboard without earning its place.
Richards is openly enthusiastic when the conversation turns to how the PB85 behaves underway.
“When they start that boat up, feel how quiet and smooth it is, then take it for its first sea trial and just blow it away with its performance and smoothness — you just can’t beat that feeling as an owner, designer, and builder.”
Under power, the yacht moves with a lightness that belies her dimensions. The helm delivers a genuine tactile connection to the water, and the hull responds immediately to changes in trim or throttle. Twin Volvo IPS 1350 drives work quietly beneath the deck, their pod configuration providing both efficiency and the kind of manoeuvrability that reduces docking to an almost single-handed operation.
At cruising speed the PB85 rides level, spray tracking cleanly away from her chines. Composite isolation and careful weight distribution hold noise levels to a point where conversation stays effortless throughout the salons. Richards traces this serenity directly to his racing background: weight carried forward, lift generated aft, and wetted surface kept to a minimum.
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The statistics are compelling, but the sensation is what stays with a driver. Long passages become genuinely effortless, and fuel consumption running roughly seventy percent below comparable yachts extends range to the point where routes once reserved for trawlers or expedition vessels become accessible.
“I think we’re going to see some fantastic voyages through these customers and owners around the world,” Richards said. “They can go long distances quickly.”
Speed, silence, and stability combine to give the PB85 something uncommon at this size: a feeling of lightness that its displacement would not suggest.
The story of Palm Beach Motor Yachts is ultimately about persistence as much as it is about design principles.
“It’s been thirty years since I started Palm Beach Motor Yachts,” Richards said. “My inspiration back then was to build the most fuel-efficient and highest-quality powerboat in the world. It’s all been driven by passion and evolution.”
That evolution now encompasses nine models in the Classic series and three in the GT line, yet the central idea has remained constant throughout. Every boat must perform as well as it presents itself. Beauty must follow from efficiency, not exist in spite of it.
Richards considers himself a sailor first, shaped by campaigns in the Sydney to Hobart and America's Cup arenas. Those years instilled an enduring obsession with hull efficiency and weight distribution, and the lessons carry directly into the way Palm Beach builds its boats: hulls that plane cleanly, run flat, and travel farther on less fuel.
“We’re still building smaller boats,” he said, “but it’s just a more comprehensive range now. To put all of our technology into a boat this size and achieve what we’ve achieved with unbelievable fuel efficiency — it’s a big deal that not many other companies in the world are doing.”
Behind the brand's polished presentation is genuine conviction. Richards' sentences frequently arrive at the same destination: it's all about perfection. He uses the phrase literally, pointing to a continuous process of refinement that touches lamination schedules as readily as it touches interior ergonomics.
The Palm Beach 85 carries the presence and appointments of a superyacht while retaining the personality of a boat a capable owner can handle independently. It rewards the curious, suits extended exploration, and looks equally at home in any port. The step to 85 feet was bold for Palm Beach, but in hindsight it reads as inevitable. As Richards himself put it, "Just that constant drive for perfection is what I'm all about."
The Palm Beach 85 shows that progress and integrity can occupy the same vessel. It delivers the autonomy and comfort associated with true superyacht ownership while holding onto the agility, efficiency, and understated character that have always distinguished the brand. Whether at sea or lying at anchor, it projects a quiet confidence rooted in capability rather than scale, and invites its owners to travel farther, linger longer, and find as much pleasure in the passage as in the arrival.
