Arrive in style: Take a chopper and a speedboat to the Miami Boat Show
by Peter Janssen 19 Jan 2019 06:45 PST
14-18 February 2019
Helicopters on the MUV floating © Peter Janssen
Here's a new, and unbeatably cool, way to get to the Miami boat show on Virginia Key next month. While most of us are waiting for Uber cars, shuttle buses or water taxis, you fly in on your helicopter, which delivers you to a floating landing pad just off the Miami Marine Stadium, where a new HCB speedboat picks you up and takes you to the show.
All this was conceived by ILandMiami, a startup that designs, manufacturers and operates the Marine Utility Vessel, a floating landing site that can hold a helicopter up to 7,000 pounds with six passengers. ILandMiami works with 135 charter companies to provide helicopter service to its landing sites.
Certified by the Coast Guard, the new MUV is a 55 feet long and 20 feet wide pontoon boat, with an aluminum structure and polyethylene pontoons. It's powered by a 230-hp diesel and a water jet. The craft draws only 2 ½ feet, so it can maneuver in shallow water. It also can serve as a sea plane base or as a vehicle to transfer passengers to a yacht.
ILandMiami already has a deal with Miami Ritz-Carlton Residences in Miami Beach to fly guests to the Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Opa-Locka airports; the developer there calls it "the ultimate amenity."
For the Miami show, ILandMiami will fly passengers on Leonardo helicopters to the MUV floating near the Miami Marine Stadium, where an HCB Yacht will take them to the HCB display. At 65-feet LOA, HCB's Estrella is the largest center console in the world, and it's powered by five 627-hp Seven Marine outboards, producing 3,135 hp.
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This article has been provided by the courtesy of the Cruising Odyssey.