Bill Barry-Cotter orders luxury $3.5m Maritimo S70 motor yacht

Bill Barry-Cotter, the owner and founder of the Gold Coast luxury-cruiser manufacturer Maritimo, has ordered a flagship S70 Sedan Cruiser now in build and said to be for his own personal use.

But the $3.5-$4 million showboat will also double as a major exhibit at the 2018 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show (SCIBS) opening May 24-27.

Considered an Australian boatbuilding doyen, Barry-Cotter was said to be taken by the style and functionality of the first new S70 sedan cruiser his team built last year.

New Zealander's Brian and Cathy Carran originally threw Maritimo the challenge of producing a true bluewater passage maker in a sedan version.

The footloose Kiwi couple had been on a worldwide search for their ideal retirement vessel and found it in a Maritimo S70 cruising motor yacht, but without the bulk of a flying bridge up top, the yard said.

BARRY-COTTER'S S70
The S70 motor yacht subsequently caught the eye of the company's owner and Maritimo S70/02 will be finished in time to take pride of place at SCIBS.

Maritimo CEO Garth Corbitt said the yard worked closely with the Carrans to design the first S70 motor yacht from the ground up, which suited their personal needs.

Barry-Cotter's boat will also has the very latest in design innovation and styling…

"Bill decided an S70 would suit him and his family perfectly, so we set about designing number two with a number of significant changes specifically for him," Corbitt said.

SCANIA 1200HP POWER
The first big change with the Barry-Cotter boat will be a pair of Scania 1200hp motors over the standard 900hp Volvo Penta engines with shaft drives on the company's 70-footer.

In the full-beam master suite, the study desk and daybed have been swapped from one side of the boat to the other.

Comprising four cabins, the 70-footer can comfortably sleep seven people or two families. All of the three bathrooms have stone flooring.

More changes have been made in the saloon and entertaining area, with a streamlined flow on the port side via the repositioning of the all-important icemaker and the wine fridge closer to the action.

Continual refinements and attention to ergonomics has resulted in a smarter dash with more stitching and simpler operation, Maritimo says.

There's a 17kVa Cummins/Onan genset, hydraulic swim platform, bow/stern thrusters, and Twin Disc EJS joystick system

At the same time, all the portholes are now recessed into the hull to create cleaner lines and better protection from water flow.

Maritimo says S70/02 will have more of a mega-yacht appearance and, thus, raise the bar for the brand in the 70-footer league.

CANALS AND SEA TRIALS
Being low-profile, the S70 sedan will be able to navigate under bridges and, thus, enable Barry-Cotter to access his waterfront property above the Sundale Bridge on the Nerang River, just north of the Gold Coast's Surfers Paradise.

Sea trials will be conducted on the Gold Coast later this month (March 2018). It is anticipated that the second S70 will perform in line with its predecessor, cruising at 25 knots at approximately 2000rpm with a top speed of 30 knots at 2300 rpm.

The first S70 travelled from the Gold Coast to New Zealand in 100 hours late last year, with the professional captain who piloted the vessel across the Tasman saying it was the best performing boat he had even driven on the crossing. And it was his 50th.

Maritimo hopes the S70 will be a winner in Europe and some parts of the USA. Having the owner, family and friends all on the one level makes for very social boating. The lower centre of gravity, compared to a traditional flybridge model, is said to deliver exceptional seakeeping ability and stability without the need for a gyro.

Meantime, we're unsure stage if an offer were made at SCIBS whether Barry-Cotter would sell his S70, as he's been persuaded to do with such boats before. But having the boss buy the flagship $3.5m model is a great marketing ploy no matter how you look at it.

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