Maritimo S58 Motoryacht

Maritimo has extended the appeal of its popular 58 hull with a new S58 iteration. Based on the hot-selling M58 Cruising Motoryacht, the S58 is a Sedan with all the signature features that have made Maritimos so popular with serious cruising folk. Bar one. The flying bridge is noticeable by its absence. As such, this is a great entertainer with a more social lower helm and saloon adjoining the vast cockpit. Mind you, there’s still great efficiency, signature long cruising legs, walkaround decks, and a full-beam stateroom. Only the S58 drives more like a limo than the M58 ‘Hummer’ with elevated flybridge helm station.

But you have to be quick these days. Blink and you’ll miss the boat. Certainly the Maritimo M58 Cruising Motoryacht with flybridge has been a big export hit since its release and above linked test back in 2012.

The S58 we drove was number four and the 16th hull to be released from the 58 mould. That’s a great effort for a $2 million-plus luxury cruiser from manufacturing-challenged Australia, as our currency shows few signs of retreating, and the tight global boat-building market is more competitive than ever.

This says something about Maritimo’s standing overseas and on the high seas. As if to prove as much, our seatless S58 was bound for Vancouver for final fitout after shipping following this review on the Gold Coast. Serious cruising folk in the Americas appreciate the long cruising legs of Maritimos, with more than 100 boats ‘Up Over’ since 2005.

The M58 and S58 sister ships are based on the same hull, a stretched version of the previous 56. The extended running surface enhances performance, while the creation of a private full-beam stateroom, with a bureau/vanity/office and en suite, has quickly won over a raft of real boaters who spend more than just ‘salad days’ aboard.

The S58 has a base price of $2.07 million with a pair of 800hp Volvo D13 engines, a 17.5kW generator, air-con throughout, Miele appliances including washer/dryer, electric sunroof, leather upholstery and satin or high-gloss joinery.

Late last year, Maritimo foreshadowed it would offer a wider range of engines and we’re told the S58 can be fitted with upgraded 900hp D13 Volvos, 900hp continuously rated Scanias, 1000hp MAN and MTUs, and there are even 1200hp options.

But with the standard-issue 800hp D13 Volvos the S58 remains a 30-31 knot boat with 22-27 knot eco cruise speeds. This Canadian-bound S58 had the standard engines and a few changes besides the expected 110V electrical circuits. But the photos that accompany this review are of the S58 #1 to show the likely local finished boat. This was the pride and joy of a Gold Coast cruising couple who owned a previous smaller Maritimo and it will be on show at the 2014 Sanctuary Cove boat show.

For what it’s worth, the key options on the Canadian-bound boat were upgraded anchor winch, hydraulic swim platform, Simrad electronics package, cockpit barbecue, LED floor lighting pack and watermaker. This took the price to AUS$2.14 million, which is very competitive for a serious cruising boat with this volume.

This S58 bound for Canada had the standard transom treatment that most readers will know, with a central island amenities centre, flanked by gates, that incorporated a top-loading fridge/freezer, sink with hot/cold water, room to fit the optional 240V barbecue hot plate, and storage space. (As an aside, two M58s in Venezuela have the crew-quarters options using the Euro layout and adding single beds, sink and a head in the lazarette, plus cross-low ventilation via portlights).

A Freedom Lift, a neat hydraulic tender cradle and launcher, was to be fitted to this S58 in Canada. These let you carry your RIB at the transom, well clear of the water, without relying on an extended hydraulic swim platform, which can create slap when at rest. Of course, a davit and cradle on the foredeck isn’t an option on the S58 due to the required vision from the helm.

While the cockpit sole has a gradual fore-to-aft incline, the teak deck is spacious and nicely shaded by the extended overhead moulded awning. The lazarette floor hatch on this S58 had an electric ram for push-button access to the exceptional storage space, assisting stowage and retrieval of a loose teak table and chairs that would complement the cockpit.

Maritimo’s signature, safe, bulwarks topped with heavy-duty stainless steel rails and deck gear lead forward. Such is the ease with which you can reach the enormous foredeck that all kinds of possibilities come to mind. With a deck-mounted umbrella and some inflatable palm trees you could stage the tropical soiree to end them all!

A portside door to the lower helm and bi-fold saloon doors improve access to the saloon to the point it is an extension of the boat’s vast decks. And while the saloon is a step up from the cockpit, to gain internal space below, we didn’t notice it. But we sure did acknowledge the full-height engine room and stateroom.

Meantime, the aft galley feeding back into the cockpit is a cracker, with an extended island option on the test boat that creates a bigger and better servery. Ordinarily, it also includes a decent dishwasher. With high-wearing Amtico flooring, the galley is as much a utilitarian space as a centrepiece for gourmands and their guests.

The S58 comes standard with a Miele appliance package including four-burner stove and rangehood, speed (convection micro) oven, upright fridge/freezer with icemaker, and the dishwasher under the island servery. The bench tops have subtle fiddles, while the opening side door forward, alongside the helm, and the bifold rear doors, jointly assist ventilation.

Opposite the galley, where the staircase to the M58 exists, is extensive in-built cabinetry. This harbours the conventional AC/DC breakers, generator and invertor switches, multifunction tank gauge and abundant storage space. The wetbar keeps company with a large switchable Fisher and Paykel drawer fridge/freezer and a separate icemaker alongside.

The icemaker and the fridges can be run off the inverter, along with the AV systems, so you don’t need to run your gennie all night. And with (upgraded) LED lighting throughout, you can let the dinner party roll on during the raft up. A gas/water splitter on the generator ensures agreeable operation in any event.

There are seating options in the vast, single-level saloon. The review boat had a two-person settee behind the helm, whereas S58 #1 (photos above) has tub chairs. A M58 sister ship we saw had a settee with a sofa bed option, but that’s not likely with the S58’s smaller settee that’s cut short to accommodate its internal helm station.

Opposite and to port is the main dinette and lounge that can be ordered with an adjustable pedestal and infill cushions to create a coffee table and daybed. The dinette had a larger permanent timber table on S58 #4 whereas #1 sported a folding-leaf number to assist access.

There’s storage under most of the saloon lounge bases and terrific access to all the wiring runs and some key electrical items behind the lift-out lounge backrests. Maritimo has certainly improved the servicing -- and the supplied owner’s manuals are impressive -- in its boats.

Accommodation is exactly the same as the M58 we tested previously. But there are options: the three-cabin and three-head layout can be ordered with extended bunks and a full-height hanging locker in third cabin. This layout comes at the expense of the boat’s third bathroom/dayhead.

If you enjoy entertaining aboard, we reckon the dayhead is preferable. As it was on S58 #4, there was just a single bunk in the fourth cabin and full-sized stacked washer and separate dryer in a laundry space created alongside.

As ever, VIP guests and key family get the forward cabin with plush island bed and en suite. The trim and ambience have been lifted, but they are nothing compared to the full-beam owner’s digs back aft with desk, dresser and generous clothes storage.

The en suite runs forward of the vanity area, while the actual full-beam cabin is down another four steps. With the king bed set at 45 degrees, a lot of floor space remains. There’s in-built television in the teak cabinetry at the foot of the bed and a daybed/kids bunks alongside the opening portlights.

Additional lockers take care of your clobber, but as if this wasn’t enough, the Canadian owners had added more semi-custom storage for their personal effects and clothing. Such fit-out and ‘furniture’ changes highlight a more accommodating Maritimo these days and, along with American sizing throughout, you can see why the 58 has been so well received.

“We do a lot of custom stuff on the 58s, nothing major, just personal changes as you see here,” explained Greg Haines, head of sales and marketing, himself a soon-to-be M58 owner with a boat in build at the time of writing.

Fuel is a whopping 5500 litres and the tanks with sight gauges live outboard in an excellent walk-in, standing-height engine room. What’s remains is abundant servicing space around the 13-litre engines and 17.5Kva Onan generator back aft. But there’s not a lot else, nor any clutter.

We noted washable membranes on the air intakes, fuel filters forward, engine strainers with clear inspection ports, eight batteries across house and engine-start duties, and scope for fitting a watermaker, which this boat was to have fitted -- and we most certainly would too.

Most of the key plumbing items are accessed via a large floor hatch in the companionway off the bathrooms, although the freshwater pump is back in the lazarette. And with twin pumps for water delivery and pressure, you have a degree of redundancy.

The standard-issue, high-thrust Vetus bow and stern thrusters and race-bred heavy-duty, hydraulic, power steering system make light work of handling this 58-footer. With plenty of Maritimos making extended coastal voyages, we have absolutely no hesitation backing the S58’s solid hand-laid glass hull, simple electrical systems and engineering.

While our drive was a mere dip of the toes on the Broadwater, the S58 seemed a good fit with luxury abodes lining the canal estates. Where bridges cross these waterways, the S58 can still slot under their span and be right at home moored at your marina.

On the throttles, the 58 hull runs nice and flat and is therefore a natural for the Sedan treatment. Without calling on trim tabs, with a light load, the boat slipped almost imperceptibly to planing speed and vision (standing) at the helm was never compromised.

As for the cruising groove, such is the 58’s willingness to cruise and the broad-spectrum efficiency that Willaton quipped the boat’s cruising groove is “anywhere on the plane.”

Looking at the supplied data carrying 1400 litres of the 5500 litre fuel supply, 400 litres of water and five people, 1900rpm gives a very impressive 21.1 knots for 152 litres per hour or, more tellingly, 7.20 litres per nautical mile.

Range at this 21-knot cruise speed is 825 nautical miles leaving 10 per cent of the fuel supply in reserve. That’s impressively long cruising legs in this shaft-driven boat with modest 800hp engines. You can see why motor-cruising enthusiasts gravitate to the efficient Maritimos.

The S58 was also propped just right, with the smooth-running five bladers from Teignbridge returning about 94 per cent engine load on our light ship. They were chosen for carrying an additional 1-2.5 tonnes of extra gear, as is typical aboard. With added attention to sound insulation and the use of rubber and Mylar lining, this was a quiet cruiser in the saloon, too.

At 1700rpm and 17.60 knots the range extends to 858 nautical miles; fast cruising speed of 24.95 knots at 2100rpm leads to a 765 nautical mile range; while top speed is 30.05 knots according to sea trial data (we saw 31 knots on our test). Pull the throttles back to roughly hull speed of 10 knots and your range reaches 1500-plus nautical miles.

In fact, Maritimo says its new M58 is more frugal than the early M48s and reckons this boat is also more efficient at displacement speeds than passage-makers like Nordhavns. It plans to prove the point with some extensive low-speed cruising trials to come.

Meantime, this S58 with lower helm will make a terrific social cruising platform, champagne limo, and coastal passage-maker when the bug bites. As you are lower to the water than the M58 with flybridge, there’s more ambient spray and wipers might be needed along the way.

But the Sedan has its advantages, not least being a greater sense of unity and, with the side door and thrusters, the S58 isn’t a handful for a retired couple to berth. Therein the key…

The spacious cockpit on the S58 gains a greater degree of weather protection and shade than the M58 due to the extended moulded awning. You could even fit tracks and clears or canvas to create an all-weather cockpit enclosure and extend the living space. Turn up the reverse-cycle heating and go boating all winter long.

With weight savings in the order of two tonnes without the flying bridge, on a hull that was designed to carry that weight, the S58 is a very stable boat at sea. It’s also slippery. According to the official supplied data, speeds are in keeping with the M58. However, reduced windage leads to slight economy gains with this true bluewater limo.