Maritimo goes long to future-proof its range
A new shed built as part of a multimillion-dollar expansion program will allow the Gold Coast-based manufacturer to make boats that are almost double the size of the all-new Maritimo X50Maritimo is playing the long game, with new shedding allowing the Gold Coast-based boat-maker to build future craft measuring up to 90 feet long – if that’s the way the market swings.
The luxury yacht brand is currently expanding its manufacturing operations as part of a multimillion-dollar project aimed at helping it fill an order book that currently stretches out to 2020, and forcing Maritimo to launch a hunt for skilled workers to swell its workforce.
However, Maritimo’s designer and marketing chief, Tom Barry-Cotter, said part of the company’s strategy for its new laminating shed – its roof stands 15 metres high, giving it half as much volume again as existing sheds on the site – was to ensure the space was big enough to grow with future trends, including upsized craft.
“Definitely up to 90 feet, I’d say, you could get out of that shed,” Barry-Cotter told boatsales.com.au last week when asked how large a boat the brand would be able to build. “The real restriction is the height of the shed, especially if you’re doing multi-level boats.
“And that [building bigger boats] is because no one knows where things are going to be in five, 10, 15 years and what the market’s doing, and where the opportunities for the marketplace are going to be.”
The biggest boats in Maritimo’s current line-up, the M70 motor yacht and S70 sedan motor yacht, both measure 70 feet.
Bigger boats are coming
Barry-Cotter said there was “nothing right now” to announce about a larger Maritimo boat, but hinted that could soon be about to change. “There’s something there that we’ll be letting you know,” he teased.
One of the challenges facing Maritimo in building a larger boat will be the higher level of customisation that owners will demand.
“The way that you do production volumes [for a larger boat] is definitely going down, and if it is going to go down, the way you build it you don’t need to invest as heavily in the tooling as you do for mass production.
“So the way you structure the boats is more of a one-off build, and that allows for a lot more customisation,” Barry-Cotter said.
Barry-Cotter said a bigger boat would still wear a Maritimo badge once it came out of the factory.
“No, we wouldn’t break away [by giving the bigger boat a different brand name],” he said. “It would definitely be a Maritimo.”
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