Maritimo 500 Offshore Convertible

Ticket to ride

I want to preface this review with some background. We were stationed at Southport Yacht Club on the Gold Coast waiting for a window of fair weather to deliver our boat to Sydney. So we stretched our legs and struck out on the gangways, as you do, ogling boats and meeting like-minded people. We hit it off with another couple also from south of the border with a similar-size boat to ours. One thing led to another, they met us at Coffs Harbour mid-passage on our delivery home, and we have kept in contact ever since. Our passion for boating has never diminished, only they go farther, taking their cruiser north and ribbing us with regular reports anywhere from Hervey Bay to the Whitsundays.

This same intrepid couple, now with a little boy of a similar age to our girl, found themselves in need of a boat in Sydney. Forget real estate, for he is a semi-retired developer, instead he wanted a boat that as an on-water Sydney residence, in which to live comfortably aboard with the family, and range to places like the Hawkesbury where, I should add, we have already planned our joint boating holidays. Then perhaps he or we will venture to Jervis Bay, Port Stephens, and all the great ports farther north.

After trawling the cruiser market and the Sydney International Boat Show our cruising cohorts settled on the Maritimo 500 Offshore Convertible. "It's 97 per cent right," said our boat-proud buddy after taking delivery about one month after I tested the 500 on the Gold Coast. He cordially invited us aboard his new boat while it was tied to a Sydney marina in abysmal conditions. "I walked on board and immediately liked what I saw. I would have gone for cherrywood, but now this teak interior is really growing on me," he said, taking the top of a beer while giving me the grand tour.

However, as know only too well the amount of time often our semi-retired cruising cohorts spend aboard boats, I realise a lot more thought has gone into their considered purchase than with the interior décor alone. You see, Maritimo's new 500 Offshore Convertible, a kissing cousin to the 550 that ushered in the new fishing and family genre for the Australian yard last year, is based on a variable deadrise hull that boasts terrific cruising efficiency. And our footloose friends will undoubtedly welcome that.

Weighing in at about 21 tonnes dry, the slippery 500 needs only twin Cummins 670hp QSM11 fully electronic diesel engines to get up and boogie. And we're talking a 30-knot boat here, with a whopping 550nm range at low-speed cruise of 15.9kts at 1500rpm. At hull speed of nine knots at 900rpm you can cover more than 1300nm if you have the time. Slippery sucker.

As mentioned, the base boat was fitted with twin Cummins QSM11 electronic diesel engines, which is modest power for a battlewagon that - with full water, fuel, tackle and personal effects - weighs more than 25 tonnes. But, as touched on, this is a keen conveyance topping out at 30.6kts during engine commissioning with about two-thirds fuel and a full load of 800 litres of water in the polypropylene tanks under the cockpit floor.

For ranging offshore, 30kts with a mid-to-low 20kts is about as fast as you really need to go. In fact, the emphasis is increasingly on range rather than speed these days. And with a massive 3500lt fuel capacity, the 500 has, as touched on, nice long legs. There are 2.25in shafts and Nibral five-blade props with a seven-odd-degree shaft angle, which is flat to maximise thrust without having to resort to prop tunnels. The fingertip responsive hydraulic steering system is a legacy of the company's raceboat. The 500 comes with a bowthruster with handheld remote, too.

Having said that, European and American buyers still expect 35-plus knots in a boat like this and, for those markets, Maritimo offers 715hp Caterpillar C12s. As tested with the Cummins, and thanks to excellent sound insulation, this isn't a noisy boat. Nor will it be a bewildering one to maintain.

Pre-departure checks are made easy thanks to a big hatch with moulded stairs leading inside the engineroom and a fully moulded liner that let's you spot leaks. Once inside, you can trounce down the checkerplate floor between the Cummins straight sixes, find the 17.5kW Onan generator with ease, and check the Racor fuel filters forward for all three engines. There are washable membranes on air intakes and sea strainers.

The bright AC lighting in the engineroom runs off the standard-issue 2000W inverter that also powers the boat's entertainment system, microwave oven, fridges and AC outlets. And with that, no generator noise at night. The Tecma heads are switchable to saltwater should you be in liveaboard mode and the boat can be ordered with a desalinator or provision for same. It's good to see sight gauges and remote shutoffs on the fuel tank, plus a decent 300lt holding tank in case you are chained to the marina during dodgy weather.

The electrical side of the boat is 24/240V with just a few 12V switches and a decent 60amp Mastervolt battery charger. There are, of course, separate engine start and big house battery supplies, each with four 210amp AGM batteries. Wiring is coded and labelled and schematics are supplied. There's air-con throughout the saloon, optional 24,000btus in the bridge, and air to all three cabins and two heads.

FISHING STATIONS
The 500 has a marginally smaller cockpit and saloon than the 550, but the same accommodation plan below decks. Still, those who enjoy the outdoors, fishing, diving and kicking about on deck won't feel short changed by the 10m² of cockpit space traced by deep moulded coamings. These give tremendous support on the thighs and plenty of space to lock your toes under when leaning outboard to, say, fight a fish.

The cockpit hasn't sidepockets, but there's scope for creating gaff and tag pole storage, an optional lift-out in-floor killtank with Gulper pump, and you can order a mid-transom livebait tank instead of the amenities centre that includes small stainless steel barbie, top-loading freezer and sink.

While hardcore anglers will delete the boarding platform, it adds to the waterfront real estate on an all-purpose boat. Teak decks are an (expensive) option and without them you get easy-clean decks. Either way, I couldn't fault the scupper system and marlin door that, during reversing procedures at sea, didn't allow much water in the boat at all. In fact, the transom has been designed to push the water back and, with the shallow deadrise and shaft angles, the boat doesn't dig in and therefore remains maneuverable. Hawsepipes instead of above-decks cleats won't foul fishing lines.

The cockpit comes standard with a eutectic freezer, deep sink, fresh and saltwater washdowns, with steps to nice wide sidedecks that lead to the foredeck. You can mount a crane and tender and/or liferaft up front. The anchoring gear is heavy-duty, with a faithful Muir windlass from the revered Tasmanian manufacturer and a nice deep anchor locker.

Looking back from the bow, the Maritimo 500 is a pretty boat, sleeker and more streamlined than its motoryacht class. The blanked out forward windscreen adds to its purposeful lines and, with an enclosed flybridge, you don't have to worry about getting wet. This counts for plenty when long-range coastal cruising and far-away ports are part of your boating program.

There's a handy aft-facing seat, while the helm seats are the latest Pompanette numbers and high-backed for support on a passage, but not so unwieldy that they hinder your view when reversing. The low-glare dash housed twin Northstar 8000i navigation screens, Cummins electronic VesselView engine monitoring panels, Simrad autopilot, bowthruster control, with night driving lights and more.

Sight lines from the three-sided enclosed flybridge to the cockpit are great due to the aft helm location, but you're not too far back to see the road ahead, either. The Twin Disc shifts are linked to 2:1 ZF gearboxes and nice to use, with just the right amount of detent and no real lag.

Once inside, the surrounding picture windows are nice and deep to enhance the views, especially the frameless rear window overlooking the cockpit. The aft L-shaped lounge is big enough to seat four and double as a daybed. Across the floor is the wet bar, forward is a huge flat-screen television and a dinette before that can seat four for liveaboard nosh ups. Or more with a few casual chairs.

The galley is the centrepiece of the 500s saloon, traced by high Corian counters and loaded with European appliances including upright fridge/freezer, convection microwave oven, four-burner hob, drawer dishwasher, deep sink and oodles of cupboard space, including a pantry. Once again, Amtico or some such hard-wearing flooring would be more practical than carpet. And the rangehood needs to be vented overboard.

Down four steps is an identical accommodation plan to the 550's. The stateroom is amidships, removed from the forward chines, which should help dampen noise. The island double bed has beneath its base a huge walk-in storage area. The en suite has an accommodating shower, Tecma head and plenty of fan-forced and natural ventilation.

VIP guests get an island double berth in the bow where a door leads into an en suite that doubles as a communal head. The third cabin is for kids, with bunks that I reckon I could sleep on after a shandy or two. There's soft-bag storage if not a fitted washer/dryer. My only complaint is that the girth challenged may find the forward companionway a tad tight. But, by and large, the 500 is accommodating.

OFFSHORE TEST
We scored long-overdue balmy conditions off the Gold Coast for our sea trial. You know the score, a blue ocean barely heaving as the Gold Coast high rise look on like tikis from afar. As such, it wasn't a rough-water test and the 500 didn't seem to push too much water at higher cruise speeds, once the recessed trim trabs were retracted and the nose rode high. In a seaway, you will need to get the bow buttoned down to maximise ride comfort.

Powering up, the 500 returned 113lt/h at 18.3kts at 1660rpm. That's great for a 50-footer. Cruise of 1800rpm gave 21kts for 135lt/h, with 2000rpm returning 24.6kts for 162lt/h, and maximum continuous of 2100rpm giving 26.8kts fast cruise for 192lt/h. Top speed at 2350rpm was 30.3kts, but you're burning 256lt/h. And when you can troll places for 11lt/h and hook fish along the way or putter about if time allows, putting the pegs to the dash may seem like a waste of resources.

Fast or slow, I liked the motion of the 500 more than the 550. It seemed drier and smoother riding and it looks the goods, too. Design-wise, it strikes a balance between indoor and outdoor living spaces and, in this sense, really appeals to the Australian psyche. Thanks to the hull shape, you can cruise places for a lot less expense than other 50-footers blasting about in high-powered heavy deep-vee hulls.

As for my boating buddies, I'm betting that after a long hot summer in Sydney they cast the lines and sally north. Life aboard their 40-footer parked in the Whitsundays won't seem the same. Coastal cruising, fishing, diving, entertaining, exploring and living aboard are the 500's charter. Little wonder the wayfarers jumped ship.

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