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The 60 proved to be just as agile inshore. After taking the helm back from cucumber-cool Willaton, I easily negotiated the inlet leading to a relatively protected sound called the Broadwater, then ran a long, narrow channel from there—the boat holds course nicely on one engine with little if any rudder—and finally backed her into a slip near the Maritimo facility at Hope Island by merely bumping her ZF/Mathers electronic sticks (and her 715-mhp Caterpillar C12s) into and out of gear a few times. Although unnecessary at the time, our Side-Power thrusters, fore (standard) and aft (optional), worked powerfully enough when I gave 'em a whirl.
Usually at this point in a test report I'd transition into my take on the interior layout, a comparatively simple affair on the 60, with four staterooms below decks (a master aft, a VIP forward, and two guest cabins in between, one to starboard and the other to port) and a bright, longish saloon on the main deck (with galley aft, electrically actuated, tempered-glass sunroof overhead, and hardtop-shaded, dining-table-equipped cockpit). Then I'd address the engineering, again a comparatively simple topic that would probably subsume the exceptionally robust and efficient all-'glass construction as well as the cockpit-hatch-accessed engine room with its seven-foot standing headroom, sound-insulated AquaLift mufflers, 360-degree engine access (with easy-to-get-at, inboard-mounted filters and dipsticks) and more than enough orderliness to indicate top-notch craftsmanship.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
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But I'm going to cut to the chase instead. Once I'd finished my day on the 60, complete with tours of both the vessel and the Hope Island facility that will eventually build a series of five Cabriolets from 50 feet to 70 feet, I headed for a local waterfront eatery to have dinner with Barry-Cotter. This guy's the real deal, as most any Aussie will tell you. Trained as a shipwright in his youth, he was the powerhouse behind Riviera for more than two decades before founding Maritimo just five years ago. He wears blue jeans and plaid shirts on the job and refuses to maintain a personal office anywhere, preferring instead to circulate constantly among his employees on the shop floor. And he races Australian Power Boat Association wild things, an activity that he says seeds his Maritimos with not only steering systems and slippery running surfaces, but numerous other technologies.
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The author leans on a Gas Strut Marine electric actuator for the tender garage. |
We had a great time; surfing with Willaton earlier in the day gave us lots to talk about. But perhaps the most striking remark of the evening came when I asked exactly what made the Maritimo C60 Sports Cabriolet run so superbly.
"Well," he replied, pausing to think, "balance is probably the biggest thing. The 60's designed to focus her weight over the center of buoyancy—engines, fuel, water, everything. That way she moves efficiently through the water at any speed—and does a fair imitation of a surfboard as well, by the sounds of it."
For more information on Maritimo USA, including contact information, click here.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Construction Techniques
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Bill Barry-Cotter began building all-fiberglass boats more than 20 years ago. And as other builders have been catching up, he's been refining. For example, the materials in our 60 are for the most part all-'glass and conventional by today's standards. But the way they are put together is not. In addition to stringers and transversals, the hull is beefed up with two complex glued-in, modular components: an engine-room liner that includes engine bearers and an integral amidships fiberglass fuel tank that puts great rigidity into the central portion of the boat. After layup, the deck of the 60 (see below) is held aloft on jigs, with bulkheads and various components, hanging down. This facilitates installation of plumbing, electrical, and other runs by allowing workers stand-up access (and plenty of elbowroom) from the outside. Once the interior's complete (but still suspended from the underside of the deck), it is lowered into the hull and 'glassed into place.—B.P.
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This article originally appeared in the September 2008
issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
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