Maritimo 2008

Maritimo Rising

As a boatbuilder, Maritimo is five years-young, yet it has quickly become iconic both here and abroad.

In that short time, under the helm of Bill Barry-Cotter, Maritimo has seen its employee numbers grow from 12 to its current level of more than 500.

Their entry into the marketplace was signalled with the Maritimo 60 Long Range Luxury Cruiser which went on to earn AMIF's 2005 Cruiser of the Year and Australian Boat of the Year awards.

We sailed into Maritimo's Hope Island factory to have a peek at a new boat due to be released at the 2008 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.

CABRIOLET SPORT YACHT
The plug for the 60ft Cabriolet Sport Yacht was swarming with 40 shipwrights and boatbuilders hard at work to make sure it is on course for its debut. It will certainly turn more than a few heads both idle on the moorings and underway with dual 700hp C12 Caterpillars in its belly; and with a price tag equally as attractive - in the vicinity of a cool one million bucks under the cost of an equivalent imported cabriolet.

Capable of holding 5000lt of diesel, it will have a running speed of 30 knots. And according to Bernie Cohen, of Bernie Cohen Design and Consulting who has been working closely with Barry-Cotter on these projects, we are about to see some innovative and eye-catching design features on the Cabriolet.

Cohen has had a wealth of experience on superyachts including Azimut, so he is well heeled to steer the design concept required by Maritimo.

EXTREME DESIGN
According to Cohen: "When design becomes extreme it inherits a built-in obsolescence.

"Too many extreme products come out of Italy and the UK, and they become a huge fashion statement that lasts 18 months, two years…three years.

"People get tired of it and you get redundant second-hand boats on the market that nobody wants and a whole new fashion wave comes through.

"Take the E-type Jaguar which is classified in the automotive world as the most 'timeless' of all automotive statements. I want to represent the equivalent so that in 10 years time you look at the boat and it will still be timeless, beautiful and modern," Cohen said.

By the time the calendar clicks over well into 2008, Maritimo will be offering 11 models on six hulls and the new 60 is one of three in the Cabriolet Sport Yacht series.

MARITIMO 70
A smaller 50 and a larger 70ft boat will be afloat for release in the not too distant future with the latter due for its first public appearance at the 2008 Sydney International Boat Show. It will be driven by a pair of 1500hp Caterpillars.

With a release date yet to be confirmed, the addition of a 50ft Sport Fishing Convertible, based on the hull of the already popular and not 12-month-old Maritimo 550, will generate enormous interest.

By next year's end, the range will consist of the Maritimo 70, Maritimo 60, Maritimo 52, Maritimo 52 Sky Lounge, Maritimo 48 and the Maritimo 60 Cabriolet Sport Yacht.

Each of the flying bridge designs will be offered in either Cruising Bridge or Sports Bridge versions, the latter targeted at the bluewater sportsman.

According to Peter Jenkins of Maritimo: "The Cabriolet range is only the start of things to come."

To cope with the massive logistics of so many models of this size, Maritimo will be expanding its Hope Island Marina and production line.

MARINE PARK
With its headquarters on Waterways Drive, Coomera, Qld, Barry-Cotter is developing a couple of hundred metres away, 42 factory units for lease to marine businesses looking to base themselves in the marine precinct with one of those being retained to house Maritimo Offshore Racing Headquarters.

On top of this, extensive planning is underway to build Maritime Quays, a massive $250-million development fronting the Coomera River.

So, looking down the long river of Australian boat manufacturing, Barry- Cotter had this to say: "We are getting smarter at manufacturing these new boats.

"The reduction in labour due to increased investment in tooling is the result.

"We are looking at turning one of these 60ft Cabriolet boats out of the factory every six days.

"The reason we need to get the volume is because of what is happening with the Australian dollar.

"If you look at the dollar and the demise of Mustang, they are not the first; a few manufacturers have gone from around here. And most of them because of the dollar and really, their lack of planning and lack of thought over models," Barry-Cotter said.

COMPACT SPORTSBOATS
When asked about future models Barry-Cotter hinted at a range of smaller sportsboats.

He said: "We've been negotiating for quite a while and rather than start from a drawing, I would try and haggle a deal and get some smaller boats from over there which we had done at Riviera with Wellcraft originally for exactly the same reason; to try and give us an offset in the currency but that is still quite a way away negotiation wise."

And where was the "there" Barry-Cotter referred to? He wouldn't say!

When asked if he would be bringing finished boats in, Barry-Cotter replied: "We would only bring mouldings in to take new moulds off them as we did with Riviera and Wellcraft, and then completely retool them to get a real production base so we can produce them quickly to sell anywhere we could in Aussie dollars.

"If that doesn't happen, we'll work with a couple of designers and start from scratch.

Thirty-five-foot would be the smallest we would go," Barry-Cotter said.

Well, you can take it from us that there are more surprises to come. This is one company that is booming in an otherwise sedate manufacturing marketplace and with a vision to make it happen, and quickly at that!