The fall boat show season is just getting underway in North America from Seattle to Newport. Builders historically showcase new model year product at these shows, and this year, there were a varity of new boats that caught the attention of our editors. Here are some highlights from the Newport, Rhode Island show and the Norwalk, Connecticut shows. We're also heading down to Annapolis and Ft. Lauderdale in October and will keep you posted. In Norwalk, Sea Ray debuted its 47 Sedan Bridge, which we feel is a nice filler model between the 44 Sedan Bridge and the 52 Sedan Bridge. The company also showed the new Sea Ray 290 Amberjack. For those not familar with the Amerjack series, this is Sea Ray's fishing series and the company does a good job of straddling between comfort and hard a core fish boat design. Look for a future review of both of these models on this site in the near future. For more information log onto www.searay.com. Marquis Yachts attracted a large crowd with its new Marquis 40SC at the Norwalk show. This is the first non-flybridge for the company. The open-air saloon and helm station open seamlessly to the cockpit, creating one large level of living space. The builder uses Volvos IPS drives for propulsion. For more information log onto www.marquisyachts.com.As you would expect from the New England Shows, new downeast models were in full force. One of the most impressive was the Grand Banks 55 Eastbay series. Although the boat arrived one day late to make it in for the Newport Show, it was available for general viewing. Then it was shown the following week in Norwalk. The company has really spent time on recent models updating its interiors to become more contemporary and comfortable, while not losing the tradtional appeal the company is famous for. One of the most appealing features of the 55 is you can now get two, nearly equal size staterooms. This was not the case on the succesful Grand Banks 49 Eastbay. Depending upon the engines, expect a cruise speed of between 24-30 knots. For more information log onto www.grandbanks.com.