Miami delivers for Maritimo in its 10th year

Australian boating industry icon, Maritimo’s luxury motor cruiser range was a big hit at the recent Miami International Boat Show with a total of 5 vessels contracted for in excess of $8 million.

The stand-out success was the recently released M50 Flybridge Motor Yacht which attracted rave reviews, according to Maritimo’s sales and marketing manager Greg Haines who was in the USA for the show.

“The M50 just blew them away with a lot of people saying they could not believe that so much could be incorporated into a 50 foot vessel,” he said.

“And in the fuel conscious world that now exists internationally the low shaft angle and conventional shaft drives providing greater efficiency was also a big drawcard. 

“Our research has shown that with Maritimo’s weight distribution, shaft angle and propeller design we are getting better efficiencies than our pod driven counterparts and the Americans like that saving.

Mr Haines aid there was a crowd of people on the boat at all times during the opening hours of the show.

Maritimo’s award winning M58 Flybridge Motor Yacht also attracted the crowds and by the end of the show two of the $2m vessels had been contracted. The M58 was first launched into the USA market at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show last year.

The sales at the Miami show were particularly significant as they occurred at the first show attended by Maritimo as it starts the celebrations to mark its 10^th anniversary.

Mr Haines said the atmosphere at the Miami show was very optimistic with Maritimo USA President Dave Northrop saying it was one of the best-attended shows since the GFC. “This is great news as we start off our 10^th year,” said Mr Haines.

“Our result is an indication of the cautious optimism that is starting to emerge generally and while we are not at pre-GFC levels by a long stretch there is room to be upbeat,” said Mr Northrop.

“And the pleasing thing is that our dealers are still negotiating with and following-up leads that were generated at Miami and I feel confident that some of those will turn to sales further boosting our totals.

“We sold a good cross- section of vessels in our range, but the M50 and the M58 were the crowd stealers.”

Greg Haines said apart from people directly involved in displaying vessels quite a few Australians attended the show including a number of people from the Gold Coast.

“There was a good Australian contingency at Miami and with the actual show stretching for over five kilometres there was plenty for them to see,” he said.

“We are upbeat by the response so far and Dave and his team will continue to work on the opportunities that are still under negotiation.  “We may not know for some weeks the actual end result from the show, but with 5 deals finalised, we came away happy.”

He said production at Maritimo’s Coomera factory headquarters would now be stepped up to deliver the boats sold and to also prepare for the up coming Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.

“We have a full work book so that is good for the Gold Coast economy and also good for jobs,” he said. “Ten years on from the launch of Maritimo we have some of our best designed and finished vessels ever and the world market is responding to them which is great.”

The Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show kicks off on May 23.