Yellowfin 54 Flybridge

I like to walk the docks of the Ft. Lauderdale boat show in the quiet hours before the show opens. You can take in the latest boating hardware without bumping elbows with the masses.

It was during one of these quiet interludes this past October when I spotted a unique vessel amid a sea of 300-foot superyachts along the face dock. Yellowfin Yachts splashed its first 54-foot center console in 2020, and I had seen one in Palm Beach, but the boat tied up in front of me was different. This boat had a proper flybridge, and it looked handsome. The rake of the bridge matched that of the windshield. The proportions were exact. The lines sexy. And the power package intense—four 600-hp V12 Mercury Verado outboards standing stout on the transom.

I took out my phone and was about to step on the boat to shoot a quick video when a small sign above the dive door that read “No Access” gave me pause. I scanned the area. No one was around. Should I just jump on the boat? As tempting as social media pages. At the end of the video, I said that I’d love to go for a ride if the folks from Yellowfin were listening. Well, the manager of the boat, Jim Hill, saw the video, tracked me down and reached out. We talked and texted, and a few months later, I got my wish.