Maritimo to release six new models in 2017

When we tour the Maritimo yard on the Gold Coast in late 2016 for the end-of-year media wrap, there are three 70 footers in build. One is heading to Fiji, one is off to Singapore, and the last one — with a Steinway piano on the flying bridge — will be shipped to Texas.

As the year winds down, Maritimo remains upbeat about its forward orders. Moreover, the motoryacht builder is forging ahead with its mission to build bigger, more specialised and flexible boats for diverse world markets and discerning owners.

NEW 2017 RELEASES
But the most ambitious plans revolve around the 2017-year ahead. Maritimo is in the process of building a swag of new models and ramping up its bigger boat releases.

In 2017, there will be six new Maritmos, we’re told, all of them making it to Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show opening May 25 and/or the 50th Sydney International Boat Show opening August 3.

"We have a lot coming to market in 2017," says Phil Candler, Maritimo’s General Manager of Operations. "We’re unique. Walk around the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show and you won’t find anything like us."

Maritimo has consolidated its boat range and honed its formula in 2016. It’s now resizing its boats, having added new nomenclature to create a five-boat range as it stood at the time of writing — the M51 (nee M48), M54 (nee M50), M62 (nee M58), M64 (nee M61) and M70 (nee M68).

The six new 2017 releases will bring the range to six motoryachts, with the addition of the M59, as well as adding the S59 and S70 Sedan variants to what will be a six model S Series line-up.

Joining this 2017 line-up of 12 Maritimo models will be the first new boat from the X Series, an X6, due to launch later in the year. This 60-footer is based on the Elandra 53, a boutique brand that Maritimo bought in 2016, but which it is reworking and renaming to better integrate with its existing offerings and production processes.

NEW MODEL LAUNCH PROGRAM
For the 2017 Sanctuary Cove boat show, there will be a new M54 on show. Although based on the M50 — the best seller in the range — the rebadged M54 has interior tweaks and finishing upgrades and, as we saw it in a pic above, an extended Fish Boat Transom option and lengthened cockpit that creates a pile more outdoor room.

The all-new M59, three of which were in build during our late-2016 visit, with two heading to the USA, will be released at the 2017 Miami Boat Show in February and the Australian boat show circuit thereafter.

The Sydney boat show will also have the new S59 single-level Sedan variant. The M59 and S59 will have the base 725hp Volvo Penta D11 engine, though most are being upgraded to the 800hp variant.

A new S64 is also scheduled for release later in 2017, but it's the new S70 that will be drawing the most attention. The flagship of the Sedan range introduces new modernised styling and vastly improved lines, at least if the drawings are anything to go by. The first boat will head to a Kiwi client.

THE NEW X SERIES
Maritimo is working on a new three boat X Series — the X5, X6 and X7 — of 50, 60 and 70ft lengths, with the vanguard X6 due for release in 2017. You can read more about the new Maritimo X Series here.

These boats are based on the Elandra brand that Maritimo bought out in 2016, with the X6 a derivation of the Elandra 53 but with a number of key changes, most notably an extra 1.40m addition to stretch the hull length.

From that fledgling Elandra boat company, which is no more, designer Tom Barry-Cotter, son of Maritimo’s patriarch Bill, has joined his dad's company and is spearheading the design of the X Series.

The signature feature of these boats will be an aft cabana in the transom that can be customised as a fourth cabin with queen bed, bar and beach club, watersports centre and more. More on the Maritimo X Series here.

TOP SECRET PROJECT
We were also shown a teaser at the press gathering of a new Maritimo picnic boat, a top secret project that will usher in a new high-end luxury boat brand to be built by Maritimo. The idea, it seems to us, is to compete with the Palm Beach and Grand Banks type boats. There are a lot of US dealers looking for a replacement for their GBs.

"It will be the Bentley of boats, long range, and is a result of extensive market research and input by US dealers," Candler says.

The first model in this new exclusive range to be built by Maritimo will be a 53 footer, we were told, but things and do change in the boat-building world. Expect more on this top secret project in 2017.

THE MARITIMO MIX
Maritimo’s points of difference include: big enclosed flybridges with aft or Juliet balconies and customisable options; internal staircases and walkaround decks; enlarged fuel capacity and long range; using shaft drive engine combinations from Volvo, Caterpillar and Scania in the higher horsepower classes; and full-beam stateroom accommodation throughout the range.

"We’ve been going through the most extensive design program with customer focus groups that I’ve ever seen," Candler says, adding that Maritmo is increasing the flexibility within its boats to meet customer’s demands.

The first four Maritimo M64s, which were previously known as M61s when the boat launched in May 2016, are each different in their own way.

The future for Maritimo appears to be bigger boats with more options and customisations, from fish-boat solid transoms to pop-up treadmills in cabins, to that Steinway piano in the flybridge of the 70.

A new Maritimo Experience Centre will open in late January 2017 at Sanctuary Cove with 10 marina berths — big berths for the ever-growing Maritimo models — a M70 galley inside the showroom, fitted out with Miele appliances, hosting guest chefs and cooking classes.

The new S70 will be on display at Sanctuary Cove for six months in 2017. Sales were said to be up 10 per cent in terms of numbers in 2015-16, but the boats are larger (with moe goodies and margin) and there will be a greater focus on exports going ahead.

 "The 2016-2017 order book is looking fat," said Maritimo CEO Garth Corbitt. More at
www.maritimo.com.au.