Marlow 53 Explorer: Review

Marlow has made a name for itself with its long-range luxury motoryachts from 49-97ft. Each model has a pilothouse and an ocean-going hull that uses twin patented Velocijet Strut Keels to shore-up the ride. The 53 Explorer we drove is the latest model to hit the water. It also had gyro stabilisation, joysticks for docking, and all the latest mod cons to create a new class of ocean-going Marlow passagemaker and floating home.

OVERVIEW
- Marlow doesn’t break the mould
A lot of boatbuilders today appeal to our adventure mindset, with so-called long-range yachts. But they flaunt Italian styling, bluff bows, high sides and huge hull windows. How will they look in 10 years’ time? Marlow sticks with a traditional approach, using classic hulls with flared bows, long waterline lengths and evergreen pilothouse layouts. They will still look smart on a passage to somewhere decades down the track.

Built at the Norseman-Marlow Shipyard in Xiamen, China, this 53 Explorer is the latest model in the Marlow range that now extends from 49-97ft. The 53E has been a huge hit, with this boat being #15 and orders out to #21. That’s since the launch last year at the 2016 Miami International Boat Show.

The 53 is actually based on the 49, but with a stretched saloon and cockpit. It’s a beautiful looking motoryacht in oyster white, with nigh a varnished teak-capped toe rail (they are painted) to burden you with maintenance, while the light American maple interior feels like home sweet home when you set foot inside.

While not so obvious, the engineering and electronics are the latest in the game. Equipped for your ‘seafari’, this owner/driver motoryacht has joystick docking, gyro stabilisation, 17in Raymarine touch screens, Miele oven/cooktop/dishwasher, a utility room with laundry and additional freezer, even a central vac system.

For the Australian market, there was an extended flybridge overhang that shades the cockpit. With an hydraulic swim platform out the back, you have the ultimate outdoor stage. Indoors, we found one of the best staterooms around thanks to the twin V-drive Cummins QSM11 engine configuration creating more room living room without compromising servicing room.

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
- Marlow’s big standard specification and more
In these factory-loaded boats you will recognise all the top-name gear. On top of this, David Ratcliff, who has long been the local Marlow importer, spec’d this 53E for the Australian market.

We noted Cummins engines and generators, Lewmar windlass and electric bow and stern thrusters, then Raymarine and Fusion electronics and AV, plus Miele, Fisher and Paykel in the galley, and Ocean Air hatches and blinds, and a chilled-water tropical-strength air conditioning. Up top there’s a Kenyon barbecue and two-burner cooktop… so it goes right down to the inverter, pumps, fittings and more in the engine room.

Priced with everything but the tender and davit, the big and capable Marlow 53E was selling for $3.29m as displayed at the 50th Sydney International Boat Show. Really, you need to think of it as a moveable waterfront house.

LAYOUT AND ACCOMMODATION
- One of the best staterooms we’ve seen in a 57 footer
The huge hydraulic swim platform fronts the Aussie-sized cockpit, which has a lunch table, nearby fridge and hardtop for shade, plus docking station. There are side cockpit doors for provisioning, oval grab rails for a better grip, and walkaround decks.

Moving forward along the shippy bulwarks, you pass inboard engine vents and fuelling ports on both sides before arriving at the doors flanking the pilothouse. The Portuguese bridge adds to your at-sea safety up front, if not the at-anchor deck space for doing drinks. The whole boat from stem to stern is easily accessible.

That said, the extended flybridge is the entertaining hub, especially with the Seakeeper 9 spooled up and the champagne in the glass. Twin Stidd helm chairs front the dash for fair-weather cruising, but the wrap-around lounge and table for 12, and the twin barbecue and drinks centre, take some beating. With the tender dispatched (it and the davit need to be fitted), you gain a massive aft deck traced by rails and unbeatable views.

The saloon doesn’t break the mould, offering a long plush white lounge, wet bar with wine fridge, good views and space. As the boat was fresh from shipping, it didn’t have the personal effects, carpet or rug, and décor touches needed to soften the joinery. A highlight of the galley, in the traditional forward port corner of the saloon, is the double-door domestic-sized fridge and Miele appliances.

Dinner options extend from the small saloon table with twin ottomans to the table for two to four in the pilothouse. As is common, you step up to the pilothouse to gain your commanding vision. The lounge/dinette alongside the helm can double as a daybed mid-passage. From here, access leads up to the flybridge, out to the side decks, and down below…

Despite being manageable for a footloose couple and their family, this mini ship packs an amazing amount of accommodation. The three cabin/two bathroom layout has high head and shoulder room, big open companionways, and loads of living space.

There are real tiled galley and bathroom flooring, Caesarstone vanity and counter tops, LED lighting and decent storage in the cabins. The VIP is forward with an island berth, the third cabin has bunks, but the master stateroom aft blows your mind with its transverse king bed and en suite.

Access continues back into the engine room from the stateroom, which can also be reached externally, via the aft utility room and lazarette. It’s in the engineering department that Marlow makes another big a statement.

HULL AND ENGINERING
- Built for ocean-going adventure
All Marlow boats will be built in the Norseman Shipyard in Xiamen, China, with resin-infused hulls and decks to, among other things, save weight and improve performance. Kevlar reinforcing, epoxy resin and Corecell foam coring are used in the hull and deck. Importer Ratcliff says the boat is built to Lloyds Germanischer (LMGBH) Class A capability for significant wave heights above 5.45m and winds of more than 40 knots..

The 53E of course uses Marlow’s proprietary Velocijet Strut Keel technology, with twin hull keels that fully protected the running gear, reduce drag, dampen roll and pitch, and improve directional stability using smaller than normal rudders. Draft of this 30t (dry) mini ship is just 1.35m and you can leave your boat to dry out and careen if you wish.

The signature Marlow engineering features also include a common Seachest for all saltwater intakes to reduce the risk of clogging and facilitate easy cleaning. There are twin Racor fuel filters per engine, twin Cummins 17.5 and 7kVa generators — use the smaller one to run the Seakeeper gyro — 24V and 24V water pumps, a 4kW inverter, Bluewater watermaker serviced locally, twin GRP fuel tanks, FRP food-grade water tanks, copper or SS piping with a common drain system, and so on.

With twin 715hp Cummins QSM11 diesel engines and V-drives, the boat gets along. A Cummins Joystick docking system using the 24V thrusters was added to both lower and upper helm stations, as well as in the cockpit. It wasn’t windy during our departure and the boat moved away from the dock without labouring.

ON THE WATER
- A 1200nm range at 10 knots with stabilisation
The 53E actually measures 61ft (18.59m) overall, with a centreline length of 56ft 7in (17.25m), so it’s a big boat with a 17ft 3in or 5.26m beam. With 4250lt of fuel and the time-proven QSM11 engines, your range is around 1200nm-plus at 10 knots and around 400nm at 20 knots, not that you will sit on that speed, mind you.

While displacement speed of 10 knots is a sweet spot, using just 33lt/hr in total (according to the Gold Coast-Sydney delivery), this hard chine hull is happy to jump up to planing speed. Top speed is actually 23 knots, but the boat will happily cruise at 16 knots a 2050rpm for more than 420nm. And without pushing too much water. Other than crossing bars and outrunning a storm, there’s no need to rush for home. It’s under your feet.

For our quasi adventure, we left the dock short-handed with ease using the Cummins Joystick docking, ventured down the skinny Coomera River, burst into the Broadwater and headed out to sea where the Seakeeper 9 gyro could do its thing. From the estuary to the ocean, there aren’t too many places the Marlow 53E can’t explore.

VERDICT
- A cruising abode with manageability
Offshore, the 53E felt commanding, defiant and determined. Above all, it was comfortable and confidence inspiring. You just set and forget, while maintaining a watch. The boat feels like one with the ocean, as indeed you will be before long. Sea miles pass, new destinations call, this is the cruising life.

With the anchor dispatched somewhere idyllic, this 53E plays the part of your floating abode. This a surfeit of power with inverter and twin generators, endless water thanks to the 90lt/hr Bluewater, additional refrigeration in this Aussie boat, and the Seakeeper 9 gyro that you can leave running is the slop gets up. Not that you’ll hear it from that epic aft stateroom.

But all of this sounds like something we’d write about with a 65 or 72 footer. And that’s the big deal here. The 57E achieves a big-boat agenda while delivering the manageability and manoeuvrability of something smaller, which a couple can get their heads, wallets and wrap of the bollard around.

LIKES
>> Big cockpit and flybridge space for Australian boating
>> One of the best aft staterooms we’ve seen in a 57
>> Smooth and stable at sea
>> 1200nm range at 10 knots
>> Top Marlow engineering

NOT SO MUCH
>> Soft furnishing touches needed in saloon
>> No weather protection in the flybridge
>> Should we have an engine-driven bilge pump?

Specifications: Marlow 53E
Price as tested: The Marlow Explorer 53E #15 was selling for $3.29 million as tested with twin 715hp Cummins QSM11 diesel engines and extensive options from Seakeeper 9 gyro to watermaker, Raymarine electronics and more.
Priced from: Around $2.5m with twin 715hp Cummins QSM11 diesel engines and factory standard inventory
Length overall: 18.59m
Centreline length: 17.25m
Waterline length: 16.15m
Beam: 5.26m
Draft: 1.35m
Weight: 29,937kg (dry standard boat)
Berths: 6
Fuel: 4250lt
Water: 1136lt + desal
Holding tank: 416lt grey; 416lt black
Engines QSM11 fully electronic six-cylinder diesel with common rail injection, turbocharging and aftercooling
Rated HP: 715 at 2300rpm
Displacement: 10.9lt
Gearboxes (Make/ratio): V-drive with shaft
Props: Five-blade bronze

Supplied by:
Pacific Motor Yachts
76-84 Waterway Dr, Coomera, QLD, 4209
Further details from importers Explorer Marine,
sales@explorermarine.com.au
Mobile: 0408 405 065
More at www.marlowyachts.com.