It is the Year of the Water Dragon in China, and the leviathans will celebrate their reign at the upcoming Hainan Rendez-Vous boat show.

Ocean giants present at the event will include more than ten 40+ metre vessels among a fleet of 130 yachts.

In preparation for the 2012 edition, organisers have significantly expanded the show exhibition area through the use of five special purpose barges.

This impressive Ferrari Hydroplane set an unrivalled world record in 1953 and is now set to fetch around $1.5 million at RM Auctions’ Monaco Sale.

Developed in 1952 by wealthy Italian industrialist Achille Castoldi and Ferrari Grand Prix racers Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi, the speedy craft, propelled by a 4500cc V12, handily won the world speed record the following year.

The boat piloted by Castoldi averaged speeds well over 150 mph in 1953. It broke the 24 nautical miles record in the 800 kg category as the Arno XI averaged 102 mph.

A round-up of the biggest, brightest and best boat shows to look out for next year.

Visitors to next month’s London Boat Show are set to step into a new world of luxury, with organizers opting to showcase products and services for big-money buyers alongside the boats, even as the global economy continues to shake.

The show will be complemented by a new Luxury Lifestyle & Supercar Showcase aimed at capitalizing on the event’s wealthy audience.

The ‘show within a show’ will feature 50 new brands, including names such as a diamond investment company Elite Gems, designer sunglasses maker Robert Roope, Wayne Pollock bespoke holidays and contemporary fine art by Gallery Rouge.

Since 2009, Swiss watch Manufacturer Frédérique Constant celebrates the legendary Runabout yachts of the roaring 20s by offering an attractive series of limited edition timepieces named “Runabout”.

To complete the best-selling range, the Geneva-based brand this year introduces a new version: the Runabout Moonphase.

Absolutely magnificent through its stunning design, this model is available in a limited quantity of just 1’888 pieces per material.

A London tour guide company has revealed plans to build the city’s largest sightseeing boat ahead of the 2012 Olympics.

City Cruises, which runs river sightseeing tours in the British, said May 27 that it would launch its new 600-passenger vessel on the River Thames by Spring 2012, describing it as a “next generation leisure and tourism vessel.”

The design, which will be London’s largest scheduled sightseeing vessel, is being built at a cost of £4 million and will ferry passengers between popular tourist spots such as Parliament, the Tower of London and Maritime Greenwich.