With Maritimo's global launch of the S50 drawing close, the defining qualities of this new sedan model are coming into sharper focus.
Australian motor yacht builder Maritimo is putting the finishing touches on what it describes as the most definitive sedan model in its history. Two distinctly configured versions are set to make their public debuts on opposite sides of the Pacific before year's end.
Work is currently underway on the hardtop and a newly designed boot and entertainment console that extends the usable cockpit area. Drawing on lessons learned during the M50 development programme, Maritimo plans to retain the first S50 hull for six months of real-world testing and demonstration along the Australian coast, with that process culminating at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show in May.
Phil Candler, Operations Manager at Maritimo, is candid about the value of keeping that first build in company hands. "We learned so much by having the first M50 for seven months. It travelled extensively along the Australian east coast, going up to the Great Barrier Reef and down to Sydney. This process helps tremendously with sales when people can get up close and spend time on the actual boat."
The debut hull will carry twin Volvo Penta 800hp units and feature an oak timber interior. A second S50 is already planned for the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show in October, powered by twin 1000hp Volvo Penta D13 engines that should push the vessel into the low 30-knot range. That boat will wear a satin walnut fitout alongside a coloured hull and hardtop, and will spend six months on the US East Coast.
A deliberate shift toward liveable cockpit space sits at the heart of the S50's development. An additional 300mm of width has been incorporated in direct response to feedback from clients who want to spend extended periods aboard without climbing to a bridge deck. The ability to stow a tender inside the boot opens cruising possibilities that sedan models have rarely offered, while a redesigned swim platform now retracts to a higher position while maintaining the vessel's overall length.
Candler sees broader demographic change as the force driving many of these decisions. "The average age of our clients has become much younger. Sedan motor yachts have a very different look and appeal, making it easier for people to step up from outboard craft in the 35 to 45-foot range." That shift is particularly visible in the United States, where existing owners cruise routes stretching from the Great Lakes to the Bahamas annually, and the S50 has been designed with that extended cruising lifestyle firmly in mind.
