Cannes, France—This afternoon at the Cannes Boat Show, I had the good fortune to discover one of the best kept secrets, from Americans anyway, in family cruising boats. Along the crowded quay in a section with several Scandinavian builders, there were four sport-style coupes with teak decks, large aft platforms and streamlined cabins that had something different about them. Across from the boats was a tasteful and stylish land booth for Marex Yachts of Norway.
This was not entirely an accident as sometimes happens at boat shows. I had been invited to visit the boats and the booth by our American friend Chris Hughes who has been representing the builder in North America. He wanted to tell the builder’s secret and unveil for me and you these remarkable family cruisers.
First, Chris introduced me to Espon Aalrud who owns and runs Marex with his brother after their father, the founder, retired. The company was founded 51 years ago and the sons have been running it for 25 years. They now build five sport coupe models: the 31, 33, 36, 375 and 44.
Their boats are speedy, seaworthy family cruisers in the modern, somewhat angular style with modified deep-V hulls that have what yacht designers call a warp style hull. To laymen like us, that mean the V forward gradually flattens out as it runs aft to a modified V at the transom.
This flatter shape adds stability at slow speeds and when stopped and greatly improves the hull’s ability to get over the hump onto a plane at lower speeds. The 44 has a top end speed of around 38 knots and cruises efficiently on ocean seas at 28 knots.
The thing I notice about the first boat I saw from a distance was how right it looked, just handsome in a fit and wholesome way. I particularly like the slight reverse curve to the sheer line and the flat, low slung cabin top and cockpit hard top.
When you step aboard a Marex, the first thing you notice is the extraordinary depth of detail and design that Aalrud and his team have delivered to achieve the quality they want. There’s the detailed stitching in the upholstery that looks elegant and rounded cushion corners on each settee so you can get really comfortable and the solid teak and filleted edges to the teak joinery.
The second thing you notice is that the boat has two retracting sun roofs, one forward over the helm and one aft over the while cockpit. This is indoor-outdoor living in spades. But there is much more that shows the innovation and attention to the actual facts of cruising and enjoying life on the water that we will get into as we review the boats in the weeks ahead.
The news Chris and Espon had for us was thet Marex is coming to America, Norwegian Vikings coming for the first time in 51 years to reclaim the New World they discovered in handsome ships 1,100 years ago. Take a look at the Marex website to get an idea of how well these sport coupes will fit the needs of many families. Read more here.
