Maritimo's world debut

LUXURY favourite Maritimo has assembled an impressive 13 boat on-water display with a combined value of around $20 million.

The Gold Coast Marine Precinct-based company expects the exhibit to create significant sales with the world release of its 47 Sports Cabriolet and the 470 Offshore Convertible sportfisher.

Maritimo founder and CEO Bill Barry-Cotter, says while the ‘big boys’ attract the most interest, the lifeblood of the local industry is in the sports yacht range.

“The 44 and the 47 are our most popular vessels. We’ve quoted a few already in that range as there are not a lot of boats in that price bracket sold with that high a quality,” he says.

“The 44 sells in the $850-860,000 range while it goes up to around the $940,000 mark for the 47 and 470 Offshore.”

Maritimo marketing director Luke Durman, says the 470 Offshore Convertible is based on the successful 500 Offshore Convertible.

“The flybridge and the cockpit are the same length as the 500 Offshore. With a slightly narrower beam and about one metre shorter in overall length, we expect similar performance, giving the boat a comfortable cruise speed of about 25 knots and top speed in excess of 30 knots,” he says.

The C47 is designed with two cabins and two bathrooms. The full-beam master stateroom amidships features large portlights in the hull and a queen double bed on the port side. The VIP guest cabin forward has a double bed and fixed portlights as well as a deck hatch offering light and air.

The Maritimo team believes the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show (SCIBS) has a distinct advantage over its only local competitors, the Sydney and Melbourne shows.

“It’s one of three major shows in Australia but the biggest advantage the Sanctuary Cove show has is the time of the year,” says Barry-Cotter.

“Being the first show of the year it’s the best barometer to basically tell us what volume we’ll sell during the rest of the year. The event attracts a lot of interstate and internationally visitors for that reason.”

Maritimo’s display will be headlined by the Queensland debut of the flagship M73 Motor yacht of which the base model sells for $4.2 million.

“The M73 is the largest production boat built in Australia,” says Barry-Cotter.

“The early interest has been very positive, we’ve sold one in the United States and one in Singapore with a second sale to Singapore likely. We’re currently quoting on a couple in Australia and hopefully we’ll sell one or two more from the boat show.”

A $40 million decrease in sales last financial year and poor export results is no deterrent for Barry-Cotter, forecasting growth of 15-20 per cent in the 2010 financial year.

With the range bolstered to attract wider access to one of the Gold Coast’s marquee marine brands and two new sales offices to be added in NSW and Queensland, Maritimo is restructuring operations to focus largely on local sales.

“The Australian market is about the only thing around at the moment as we’ve been destroyed in the US and other export markets,” says Barry-Cotter.

“I think we can grow strongly but surely a few others will have to drop off the market. We can live off the Australian market alone if we continue to be super competitive in what we do. We can always beat the Chinese and the Americans in quality and price.”