Maritimo M600 - O is for…
by John Curnow, Global Editor, Powerboat.World 18 May 2022 15:00 PDT
Oh Yeah!
All right. All right. All right. It’s actually offshore, as in Maritimo M600 Offshore Flybridge Motor Yacht, but after time on board in real world conditions, I actually reckon my version is bang on.
Now it could also be O for old school, as there is literally heaps of that going on, which is incredibly appealing, but it works in so well with all the new school too. The flows and transitions from cockpit and mezzanine, thence on to the galley, saloon and atrium stairwell enticing you down into the accommodations deck being the prime examples of the latter.
So definitely you get the offshore passage making and fishing thing, virtually as you swing on board via the transom gate. The owner of our test vessel has opted in for a swim platform to carry a jet ski, with the tender going on the foredeck. It won’t be the same as presented here in the images, but rather it will be much more open to allow for significant drainage. At any rate, it is one grand arrival.
Not as visible at the time, but nestled under the entertainment console is an additional 2000l of Diesel, taking the total bunkering to a massive 6550l for some incredible range. Think 1000nm. Did someone say, Oh yeah?
After settling down, I wondered if O might be for outdoors, too? Anyone who has cruised with kids or pets knows the value of the signature Maritimo bulwarks, and now an enclosed transom means you could be asleep on a banana lounge in the cockpit with nary a concern to plague you.
So yes. I do think the M600 can have two distinct roles. You could delete all the fishing rod holders, tuna tubes and everything, put in carbon pole holders for a demountable awning, and it’s the most amazingly large area. In that way, you can convert between sports boat, secure family mobile pavilion, and you do not even have to go offshore if you don’t want to. It is such adaptability that adds to outright functionality, as exemplified by the toe holds under the wing lockers, and access both in front of and behind a full size game chair. (And don’t forget the utterly massive under deck lazarette that actuates electrically, as first seen on M55 and S55).
The key word is offshore, right?
Our owner had also opted for the 1200MHP Di16 V8 Scanias. They are brutal, and dispatch the process of getting going like it is a backhand down the line from Federer: Observe. Listen. Behold. They are spinning five-bladed sweptback NiBrAl screws from Veem attached in line via shaft to the 2.5:1 Twin Disc boxes with the full suite of dynamic position holding, joystick and all the toys. We had a partial load, and could see over 34 knots in flat water, both up and down hill.
These are the kings of the power to weight title fight in the category. They have incredible low-end torque due to high velocity exhaust manifolds feeding and spooling up the two turbos quickly, in combination with injector pressure and pulse spray pattern. There is 2768Nm on offer at 1200RPM, and it tops out at a more than healthy 4078Nm at 1800RPM, with 3512NM supplied at WOT (2300RPM).
We were fortunate to have enough weather on the day of our run out off the top of the Gold Coast to be able to experience the real deal. It was not gruesome, but there was enough there to make bashing into it, quartering, and then finally running with it, the genuine experience.
There was 15 knots out of the Sou’east, which was definitely 18 a lot of the time, with a very confused little sea state of about 30-50cm on top of a rolling 1.5-1.8m seaway that also originated out of the Sou’east. You could easily do 20 knots of boat speed, and we had 18 true from something like 70% load between 1700 and 1800RPM, with a fair dollop of bow down tab induced in.
The spray was clean up past the enclosed bridge. Now normally you’d probably be back down to 12 and sometimes even 10 or 8 if it deteriorated even more, simply because it’s too uncomfortable, and I have endured that for the best part of 10 hours, just to make port.
Yet there I was, standing on the flybridge, just moving in time with the motion. We had three to four degrees of running attitude, burning a combined total of 210l/hr, or 11.6l/nm into that slop. I’ll take that for a voluminous 60-footer with a bit of windage.
How so?
At the time I said, ‘I think what we’re finding here is the added buoyancy out aft, which would be significant, is allowing a totally different trim attitude so offshore, which is why there is a 0 in the name of the boat, means that you will be able to do this for prolonged periods. So that makes it a legitimate cruiser, and not tied to the quay because you’re a bit tired or scared.’ Tick. Tick. Tick.
We elected not to run the gyro-stabiliser that day, which I was happy about, because apart from maybe being beam on whilst trolling off the GBR, I just do not think you’ll need it. Put the money into more toys. This boat is surefooted, which was utterly evident as we heeled around to port and took the sea on the starboard quarter. Significant beam out aft, like 90% all the way to the transom, long, shallow angle (8 degree) shafts, and probably 57 feet of LWL all combined to add at least a full knot to the boatspeed, all the while making you say, ‘What a ride!’
The tabs had long been retracted, and then when going dead downhill the ability to run true and not try and squirm back around to windward was very evident. No doubt a bit of toe out on the spade rudders helps there, along with some splashes of the dark arts learned from Maritimo’s racing pedigree. If the occupants are having a better time, it’s less stressful, and thereby less taxing, making the nauticals get disposed off effortlessly, as the conversation rambles on. It is always a gentle motion when on board. Never jerky.
I said at the time, ‘The other thing to remember with Maritimo’s M600 is that especially with the V8 Scanias just how effortless it is to get into express. It’s terribly pleasant to play with at sort of 8’s, you know a fast troll at 900/1000 rpm. You’re not touching the wheel much, but at express it’s very, very even, fair and true. The M600 does both roles very well, indeed.’
Of course, I am not the only one impressed. One of Maritimo’s long-term partners, Scania, is also more than glad to be part of the high output offering. André Arm, Scania’s National Manager for engines said to me, “I am delighted that Maritimo has chosen the DI16 V8 engine to power the new M600. Australia’s leading luxury yacht manufacturer, Maritimo, takes high performance luxury boating to a new level with this addition to their range of sport motor yachts, and early interest in them is very strong.”
We were somewhat lightship when we tested the M600, so we grabbed these results a bit later - 1700RPM – 19.6 Knots – 212lph @ 78% Load, and at WOT (2300RPM) – 34.0 knots – 408lph @ 99% Load. The thinking would be something like 515nm range at 22 knots (with 10& reserve of 6500l making 5895l usable bunkering).
As for other choices, well firstly you have Volvo Penta’s D13 straight sixes of 800 and 1000hp to consider. If you want outright pace, or plan to run at full noise all the time, then opt for a pair of Tier II (IMO) 17.9l 8V200094M mtu powerplants. They deliver a very muscular 1268MHP and go out to a fast 2450 RPM, feeding it all into 2.5:1 ZF boxes. From there, the Sourcerer of Screws, Rosco Willaton, is bound to find the right combo for the wheels to match your needs. At any rate, you just simply cannot shoe horn in anything bigger than either pair of V8s into the engine room.
Should you wish to learn more about mtu’s made-for-marine-use 2000 series, then see our article, Not your average Iron Ladies.
We’re a funny mob us humans.
Now apart from being a Maritimo first and foremost, every model in the line-up has one overarching and encompassing feature that delivers its very own personality that matches into an owner’s requirements. It’s a bit weird then, given that Maritimo’s fresher look is just 12 months old, that already it is like we have just simply become used to it. Not blasé, but more like the expectation bar has been reset quite high, so now we look over or past it like, much like you don’t see the mesh anymore when you press your face right up to the wire fence.
So it was really pleasing to take another in-depth look at the whole package, this time with the M600 Offshore. Just before I was talking about buoyancy, beam carried aft and LWL, and earlier on in the day I had taken this shot out aft from the galley to highlight the expansive real estate. Whilst it is great for both handling and storage, from the living point of view, you’re getting way more real estate than you’d expect in a 60-footer, and well close to something a fair bit larger.
Use the cockpit as you wish, sit six comfortably around the dining table on the mezzanine deck, and interact with both the galley and the BBQ console all at the same time, or tune out to the large TV that you can actually see from all of those areas.
Even if you are hard at work in the galley, the large sliding vista windows with low sashes and narrow scullions still firmly locate you at sea, or in an anchorage. This experience is only enhanced when you elect to use the formal dining setting or merge into the cushions of the sofas on each side of the main saloon. Release yourself into the possibility of escape, and let the breezes whisk you away. It is also from here that you realise just how clever running the internal stairs back up into the widened bridge deck has been. Not only are they far less intrusive visually, the space handed back to the galley for storage is significant and makes that area even more workable in the process, by virtue of containment, if nothing else.
Not a cavern! An oasis.
The atrium stairwell with open treads is yet another one of those super-subtle touches in the new Maritimo paradigm that adds incredibly tangible elements to the deal. Light and space are the attributes, with conviviality the main benefit. The for’ard VIP features the offset bed so that both sides have clear access, and as with the rest of the boat, changes to floor and ceiling heights are limited, so as to remove trip and bump hazards, which is again the kind of thing you appreciate at sea.
The side-by-side twin to starboard features both a deck hatch for ventilation and light, and uses the substantial day head off to port, for which the VIP has its own access. Immediately aft of that is the master bathroom, and the dare-I-say-it in light of the expectation comment, de rigueur, full beam master suite with a King sized island bed. I really like this layout for the way it positions the bathrooms and reduces the chance of noise transfer. Nice one. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Of course, if open and expansive is your thing, then securing the bridge as your bedroom means you can select which of the two convertible couches to beds you want to occupy, with the aft one closer to the drinks in the fridge, and squarely opposed to the massive TV screen. Opening the roof hatches, and the bi-fold doors also gives you the 9/10ths of the law access to the Juliet deck for stargazing, and if you get hungry, the galley is right below you. Ah yes. The room with a view has well more than a Florentine vista on offer for her inhabitants.
What to make of it all?
Well, if you are not fishing offshore, then don’t elect to have the aft control station, and have the full balcony lounge instead. It is brilliant, however, and the vision for driving offshore is superb, as well as the connectivity with work being conducted in the cockpit. The command pod on the upper cockpit will take care of docking, and you are on the main deck level if you need to step off to get lines or something whilst sitting in geo-stationary hold.
If it is in the budget, then get the big donks. They are sublime. QED. If you are going cruising at speed, you’ll love them, and just opt in for the extra bunkering. Just on all of that, look to be thinking of three to maybe three point five silver back gorillas as your overall number.
Expect that if you are not in the queue already, then it will take some time, but it will be worth it.
If you are intending to back down on the big ones, then just don’t have a swim platform, and maybe even look to installing the full wedge transom. A properly sized tender goes on the foredeck with the crane, and if you want to beach it all the time, fish near bricks or the delightful snappy logs, then it can be a high freeboard alloy tough boy, no problem. This means the lazarette is exclusively all yours for fish, dive, or water sports needs, and it is cavernous, especially when you consider what is left around the bulwarks as well.
Comfort at sea is not just for when the pick is down, the BBQ is on, and the tunes are playing. More than ever it is in the getting there. To that end, reliability, sea kindliness, efficiency, low noise and vibration, along with a calming motion are crucial. Oh yeah. You do have to step up and buy one, so I think the path to the Maritimo dealer is now going to be lit like the channel to the homeport. Kick back and cruise on in…