Maritimo M48: 2015 Model Review

Ever the savvy boatbuilder, Bill Barry-Cotter has continued his program of improving existing models and, from his sweet-running 470 Offshore Convertible hull, this new M48 Motoryacht is born. The boat costs about $1.4 million cruise-away with the right gear or from $1.23 million as a base boat. This is $200K less than the new M50 which is based on the old M48. Yet the successor still packs a full-beam stateroom, decent walkaround decks, sleeping for up to six, and some real innovation like a sub-cockpit tender garage.

OVERVIEW
- Based on the excellent 470 hull with a modern and open interior
The story goes that the new M48 came about after considerable input from a customer focus group at the 2014 Sydney Boat Show. In this way, this new addition to the Motoryacht range is the product of the way owners go boating rather than the way a boatbuilder might suggest they should.

The hull is a derivation of the 470 Offshore Convertible, but with a stretched waterline, higher sides and a 30mm wider beam. It’s hasn’t the 5.20m beam of the old M48, which became the M50, but that might be a selling point for some would-be owners and marina managers looking for a berth.

At rest, this new M48 hull sits beautifully and there’s lots of freeboard for trolling into a headsea and travelling at displacement speeds — 1000nm range at 9.25 knots! — without burying the bow. The factory is discussing a fishboat transom option. More on that later.

The new M48 certainly has the signature features that Maritimo buyers covet: walkaround decks, reduced a little compared with the old M48 and with a moulded step going forward; internal stairs to a fully enclosed flybridge with outdoor bridgedeck; a full-beam master stateroom, which is an achievement in a 48; a loaded aft galley with bifold cockpit doors; and shaft drives and fuel for long-range cruising.

We asked the indefatigable Bill Barry-Cotter about what he set out to achieve with the new M48. "To hopefully outsell the old 48. We did 108 of those in six or seven years, so we should be able to do a lot better with this. It has a full-beam master cabin, flat forward deck, tender garage… and the fuel figures should be five per cent better than the old boat,"  he told us at the 2015 Sanctuary Cove Boat Show.

The other notable improvement is to the fit and finish. The boat has sharper joinery, upmarket soft-furnishing touches, and a lifted specification with plenty of powerpoints, storage, and appliances as standard compared to the old M48. Then there’s that innovative sub-floor tender garage that no other Maritimo features at this point in time.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
- Competitive pricing with all the Maritimo features
"We’re trying to get something on the market within a price bracket but with a far more modern interior than the old 48. And with a full-beam stateroom in a boat under 50 feet. It’s going to perform well, too, because the old 470 with the [670hp] Volvos was a 34-knot boat," says Greg Haines, Maritimo’s marketing man, as we prepare to depart the Hope Harbour facility in torrential rain.

The M48 #1 we tested appeared at Sydney boat show after it's debut at Sanctuary Cove. It has the 600hp Cummins QSC8.3 engines for 28.5 knots top speed. These are no longer the base engines. The standard engines are now 675hp Volvo Penta D11s, producing an expected 30 knots-plus and better economy, and better buying with the Euro v US dollar right now.

Our test boat had some options, notably: a Sirocco tender with Suzuki outboard; tender davit in the garage; teak to flybridge and swim platform; sunroof; Bose sound system; twin 19” Simrad screens with radar/sounder; Cummins Inboard Joystick by Glendinning (about $20K); laundry fitout in the third cabin, flybridge sofa bed; Cummins joystick in the cockpit to assist docking; and more.

From the base price of $1.23 million, the extra fruit brought the as-tested price to $1,394,707. This is right where Maritimo hopes the cruise-ready M48 will sway buyers away from other cruiser brands with bigger tickets and less cruising range. Compared with the 470, fuel has been increased from 3000 litres to 3200 litres, and water has gone from 400 litres to 700 litres.

Among the other possibilities being talked about are a fish-boat transom with extended cockpit, island live-bait tank, toe kicks and bolsters, infloor kill tanks and single transom door. The standard transom is this Euro-style module with moulded cockpit seating and an aft-amenities centre that’s operable from the swim platform. The barbecue is an option. Regarding the aft galley, the upgraded Miele appliance package popular on the bigger Maritimo sister ships costs $18K. For that money, we would add a watermaker instead.

But there’s certainly a lot more that comes standard on your Maritimo these days, from the must-have air-con in the flybridge to a 1600W inverter (upgradable), to the new tender garage and lazarette below.

LAYOUT AND ACCOMMODATION
- New optional laundry, flybridge sleeping, and standard full-beam stateroom
Our dalliance with the M48 at Sanctuary Cove boat show left us wanting more. At the press of a button, the transom module with amenities centre and seating lifts to reveal the garage and lazarette inside. This was a show-stopping trick and it’s a big hook on the M48, as it facilitates easy dispatch of your tender and potentially a lot more.

The test boat had a 2.1m ducky, but you can get a 2.4m in the garage and, expects Maritimo, a Sea-Doo Spark. The davit can be upgraded to an electric model from the manual one on our test boat. The possibilities extend further: with storage for deflated watertoys, tubes, SUPS, racks for rods, spearguns… all the fun stuff at arm’s reach from the swim and launch platform, which can be specified as a hydraulic number, too.

From the decent-sized standard swim platform, twin transom gates lead into a deceptively big cockpit. That’s because the moulded flybridge overhang, which adds to the sun and weather protection, shades the cockpit. There are the usual Maritimo cockpit side lockers, which you can convert to live-bait tanks and/or iceboxes with Eskimo units if you want. The top-loading fridge-freezer in the cockpit amenities centre is standard.

The boat hasn’t the full-depth walkarounds of traditional Maritimo motoryachts, but the toe kicks and rails provide plenty of security and the big flat foredeck could host a party. The Muir windlass is recessed to rid the deck of mud, there’s a capstan and second rope locker for deep-water and reef anchoring, and a freshwater deck wash where some past M48s had none. Looking back, you might notice the lack of mullions in the flybridge, which has three panes of adjoining glass offering excellent views.

In the bridge, the optional sunroof boosts ventilation via the standard side-opening window at the helm and a rear sliding window and opening back door. The air-con doubles as a demister. Lounge seating can swallow six or more in the bridge and there’s the aft deck for doing cocktails, casual drinks on beanbags with the ice bucket nearby, and breakfasts around a folding table. The optional bar fridge in the bridge is a box you would have to tick.

Having seen it in action, the optional sofa bed for $2100 is money very well spent. Who wouldn’t want to sleep up in their own private loft? The bed also creates a private teenagers' retreat and a potential cruising spot for family when undertaking passages.

The internal staircase leads back down into the saloon. There’s a traditional Maritimo aft-galley roughly the size of the M50’s and very much the heart of this boat. You get a four-burner cooktop, decent two-door upright fridge/freezer, micro, pull-out pantry, Caesarstone counters and hardwearing Amtico mock-timber flooring. A dish-drawer washer is an option in what will become a bigger island servery in future.

Opposite, the AC/DC panel has been upgraded to a new Smart system that simplifies operation without going to full digital switching. There is a battery/tank-monitoring gauge, the genset starter, and air-con controls and charging shelf separate to the full switch panel.

The adjoining cocktail cabinet under the stairs had a fridge, icemaker and TV that swivels to face the lounges in the raised forward saloon. The step up facilitates headroom in the full-beam stateroom below and the carpet in the forward saloon divides the formal areas of the boat from the working aft galley area where you can trounce aboard with wet feet.

You can seat up to six around the formal dinette before the windscreen and there’s a lounge opposite that also enjoys the views, which doubles as a daybed facing the TV on a swivel bracket. Opening saloon windows as per the test boat are an option we welcome. Bose was another nice upgrade and full marks for the access to wiring, air-con units, etc, behind the saloon lounges.

The forward stateroom with island bed beckons. There’s extra headroom from this boat’s raised foredeck without the usual recessed walkaround decks. The two-bathroom layout ensures guests and owners enjoy privacy and generous showers. All cabins have opening hatches with shade and fly screens.

Of course, the full-beam master cabin is the masterstroke, with a queen-sized bed offset at 45 degrees and full headroom. There are cedar-lined hanging lockers, massive under-bed storage, dresser unit with drawers, and a daybed alongside the opening portlights.

Inverter outlets in the cabins let you charge your devices and phone at night without needing generator (none too noisy all the same) and the ambience is such that you will want to leave the phone on that charger. The en suite is the size of that in Maritimo’s 58 footer, we’re told.

One of the big changes to come out of the focus group was turning the third cabin into a utility room instead of trying to squeeze in too much accommodation. Our boat had the optional laundry fitout with LG washer/dryer, workbench and cupboards to show what’s possible. A single bunk and cabin storage, which is what most owners will use this is space for, are standard.

HULL AND ENGINEERING
- New moulded liner, better electronics, more water and range
The 470 hull has hasn’t the common low second chine seen on Maritimo motoryachts, but it kicks out higher up the hull sides to maximise its volume. This means you shouldn’t get too much chine slap on the anchor, so we expect this to be a nice sleeping boat.

A new fully-moulded liner simplifies construction. It runs from the engine room through to the master cabin and is fully glassed in to create a one-piece hull structure. The technology is patented, we’re told.

The engine room is accessed via the usual cockpit floor hatch. We noted typically expansive servicing room and a very simple layout around the engines. The boat has GRP wing tanks with sight gauges, fuel filters back aft, a proven ventilation system with washable membranes, 11kW Onan and inverter/charger, easy access strainers and that’s about it.

Fired up, the boat performed very smoothly and quietly underway and on the generator. The props we had on test weren’t the eventual wheels for this boat, so the following figures are from the official sea-trial data supplied later.

ON THE WATER
- Proven bluewater hull with longer cruising legs
The demo boat had a single helm seat, but twins can be mounted before the dash. A footrest would be good, too. The twin 19in Simrad screens will do everything you need and the right arm falls naturally to a mounting ledge with a universal remote for their easy control when cruising.

The Cummins Inboard Joystick and the throttles, Bennett trim tabs (not recessed as with the 470 hull), wiper buttons and tilt steering are all within easy reach of the helm seat, too. As touched on, vision forward is excellent and the bluewater attributes of the 470 Offshore hull are a welcome legacy.

Performance with the 600hp Cummins QSC 8.3s is what we would call honest. Top speed of 28.5 knots with 1000 litres of fuel and 200 litres of water won’t set any records. But the motion is agreeable. The cruising groove was just 17.35 knots at 2100rpm for 6.24l/nm (108lt/hr) and safe range of 461nm going on 90 per cent of the 3200-litre supply. Sydney to Gold Coast right there.

We had joggly, grey offshore conditions, yet I felt the boat kept it’s head up, had a smooth cruise and a predictable ride into the sea and riding back home. Trim range with the big Bennett tabs is broad, too.

VERDICT
- A price saving and a bit less space over the new M50
We tested the original Maritimo M48 in 2006 with twin 660hp Cummins QSM11 engines and a $1.1 million price tag. That boat was a runaway success with some 108 sold in the intervening years. While the excellent new M50 supplanted that best-seller in early 2014, it has a $1.6 price tag with 670hp Volvo Penta D11 engines and the necessary cruising kit.

So, price-wise, you can see where this new M48 fits in. It’s $200K less that the M50, which admittedly has a bigger saloon, decent third cabin and full-beam stateroom. But the two cabin/two bathroom layout on this boat works very nicely and the focus group says a flexible third cabin mainly for storage is what owners want.

Importantly, the new M48 honours the Maritimo tradition of building long-range motoryachts. Even at a fast cruise you’re getting 400nm range. That and the provision of a full-beam stateroom in a 48-footer should endear this new model to cruising couples. The optional sofa bed on the bridge will be a winner for extended boating holidays, while the new sub-floor tender garage is a virtual man cave for parking and playing with the must-have watertoys.

HIGHS
>> Full-beam stateroom in a sub-50 footer
>> Aft sub-floor tender garage and watersports storage area
>> Proven Maritimo saloon layout with aft galley and bifold doors
>> Good performance with the Cummins QSC-600s, which are known for their reliability
>> Nice hull with sharp lines, plenty of freeboard and a pure running attitude
>> Excellent long-range thanks to boosted fuel supply

LOWS
>> Second helm seat would be nice for cruising couples
>> Bigger island bench in galley is a welcome amendment on future M48s
>> The 670hp Volvo Penta engines will create a snappier and, we're told, more fuel efficient boat than this 600hp Cummins rig

Specifications:
Price as tested: $1,394,707 with 600hp Cummins QSC8.3s and notable options including Sirocco tender with Suzuki outboard; tender davit in the garage; teak to flybridge and swim platform; sunroof; Bose sound system; twin 19” Simrad screens with radar/sounder; Cummins Inboard Joystick by Glendinning (about $20K) and cockpit helm; laundry fitout in the third cabin, flybridge sofa bed; Cummins joystick in the cockpit to assist docking; and more.
Base price: $1.23 million with 670hp Volvo Penta D11 engines and standard spec.

LOA: 15.27m
Overall Length ISO: 15.23m
Beam: 5.03m
Draft: 1.20m (max)
Weight: Around 21,000kg dry with standard Volvo D11 engines
Sleeping: 4+2+2
Fuel capacity: 3200 litres
Water capacity: 700 litres
Holding tank: 200 litres
Engines: Twin 600hp Cummins QSC8.3 common-rail diesel inboard six-cylinder engines with shaft drives spinning five-blade props

Supplied by:
Maritimo Offshore,
15 Waterway Drive,
Coomera, Qld, 4209
Phone: (07) 5588 6000
Website: www.maritimo.com.au