Maritimo's new racer

Following on from its world championship offshore powerboat win late last year, Gold Coast-based luxury-cruiser manufacturer Maritimo has been fine tuning a new $1 million offshore powerboat. Initial trials revealed exceptional performance and promising handling.

The new boat, named Maritimo Australia, had its first competitive run at Hervey Bay on the weekend. There was a steering issue that forced the boat to pull out of the second race, but the race team is quietly confident of getting the new boat up to speed.

At the same time, Maritimo Hunter Storage won the first race of the Supercat 1000hp class also at Hervey Bay and needed only to finish the second race to take out the Australian Championship. The victorious crew were driver Darren Nickelson and throttleman Peter "Muddy" McGrath.

Maritimo Offshore Racing spokesperson Kurt Davies said the new boat Maritimo Australia was like a Formula One race car on the water and featured refinements and design changes that were cutting-edge.

"We ran it the first time and then came back and did some fine tuning and then ran it again and I am very pleased with the way it has responded," he said.

"It has excellent top speed, good acceleration and importantly stays on track when you set its course. Given we are running a totally new set up with engines, gears and props we are very encouraged.

"I don’t want to give too much away, but we will be very competitive and I think this is the best race boat we have had come out of Maritimo so far."

He said the team was confident it will be capable of speeds of almost 150 miles per hour (130 knots).

He said a newly created trim system that uses accumulators was leading edge. The system stores energy in canisters and can deliver pressures of around 3500 psi, enabling the trim to go from minimum to maximum trim and back in one second.

"We are having to write new programs for all this technology and I’d say we are about one third of the way done with the next third being the most challenging," he said. "Things are happening so quickly we have to create programs to accommodate the equipment."

Davies said the new race boat had been about 18 months in the planning, design and construction stages. In its first hit out at Hervey Bay the boat ran two Mercury 525hp engines. In 2014 or 2015, the boat will compete internationally running a UIM engine rated at 850hp.

"When you race internationally, it is the cost of getting everyone and everything to the race that is the majority of the spend, it is not the actual racing, so you have to ensure that the chances of breakdowns or failures are at an absolute minimum," said Davies.

Long-term Maritimo skipper Ross Willaton will control the throttles and Davies will be responsible for steering.

Maritimo sales and marketing manager, Greg Haines, said the expertise gained through the race team ultimately transferred over to the production boats.

"Steering systems in our production cruisers already benefit from race team experience and engine positioning to lower the centre of gravity and minimise shaft angles also stems from the race shop," he said.

"The lessons learnt with this new race boat will ultimately benefit our customers when they purchase a family cruiser," added Haines.