SeaTrial: Maritimo 550 Offshore Convertible

Reprinted from March 2010 Sea Magazine

WE LEFT THE DOCK IN A 10- TO 15-KNOT side wind, but our captain, Chris Elliott of Compass Point Yachts, used the remote thruster control and the aft controls to move the boat effortlessly into the channel. Later, when I turned the boat stern-to at 8 knots into a choppy sea with a good groundswell (I noticed no chattering, shimmering or cavitation), we took on 6 inches of green water in the cockpit. I stopped the boat and the water was gone in about three seconds — I timed it. I wasn’t surprised by either of those events, however, because the Maritimo 550 Offshore Convertible has Bill Barry-Cotter’s 40 years of shipbuilding experience behind it.