Maritimo, the Australian-owned and made luxury motor yacht brand, is behind two entries in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race – a superb Oyster 100, called Maritimo 100, and the painstakingly restored, 120-year-old timber yacht, Maritimo Katwinchar.
Company founder and CEO, Bill Barry-Cotter, is a pillar of the Australian boating industry, and for over 60 years, has been designing and building award-winning motor yachts for the domestic market and international export.
Maritimo is unique as the only luxury motor yacht builder in the world with a dedicated racing division and world championship offshore powerboat race team all in-house.
With a passion that started in their teens on Sydney’s Pittwater, 80-year-old Bill and his brother Kendal have been involved in competitive sailing. Since the 90s, under Bill’s direction, the Maritimo Racing Team has competed and won more than its share of international offshore powerboat championships and sailing races.
Maritimo has achieved a record 16 Australian Offshore Superboat ‘AUS1’ Championships and was crowned the UIM XCAT World Champions and XCAT Pole Position World Champions in 2019, among many other accolades.
Now in 2024, Bill is again demonstrating his dedication to all forms of boating, entering two entirely different yachts in the iconic 630 nautical-mile (1,170 km) race. Bill has undertaken two “Hobarts” and this year’s will be his third and most significant, sailing with Kendal on board Maritimo 100.
At 100 feet, Maritimo 100 is one of only two Oyster 100 models built to date by the esteemed British brand. The custom-designed and built sailing superyacht, Maritimo 100 boasts three staterooms aft, each with a lavish ensuite featuring marble and stone, a large, raised saloon with panoramic views from every window, separate lounge and dining spaces, a professional Chef’s galley, and two crew cabins forward.
Accommodating eight guests in total comfort, Maritimo 100 is a sight to behold on water and extremely luxurious for those on board. There will be no sharing toothbrushes, no freeze-dried provisions for this crew!
Bill will be joined by his brother Kendal and key Maritimo executives, among them Maritimo’s general manager of operations, Phil Candler, and Ross “Rossco” Willaton – a 50-year veteran of powerboat racing who has worked at Maritimo for 20 years.
A qualified marine mechanic, Rossco joined Maritimo in 2005 and has been responsible for overseeing delivery, warranty, and handover of many exported Maritimo motor yachts. With 16 Australian and three World Championship titles under his belt, Rossco is renowned for his skill, stamina, and endurance.
Commenting on this year’s RSHYR, Bill Barry-Cotter shared, “It will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to undertake this race with a group of people who have been involved in my companies over the past 60 years. It’s an epic event, and Maritimo 100 is a brilliant yacht to experience the thrill of the race and the camaraderie.”
At the other end of the scale, the historic 32-foot Maritimo Katwinchar has been impeccably restored by the skilled craftspeople at Maritimo to bring her up to racing standard.
Katwinchar holds a sentimental place in the hearts of Bill and Kendal as their family yacht when they were growing up around Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Built in 1904, Maritimo Katwinchar stands out for its unique design and has a rich and storied past. Racing as Katwinchar, she first competed in the Hobart in 1951, then again as the oldest yacht in the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet when she won the Grand Veterans’ division with an impressive time of 4 days, 6 hours, 27 minutes, 47 seconds.
In 2024, Maritimo Katwinchar will be sailed double-handed by Sailing Master Michael Spies and co-skipper Peter Vaiciurgis. The little yacht goes into the 2024 RSHYR in strong form, having won the inaugural 520 nautical mile Gold Coast Mackay Yacht Race Gold Coast to Mackay race in August 2024.
Her two-man crew are seasoned sailors. Michael Spies is a five-time World Champion as well as a veteran of a phenomenal 45 editions of the Rolex Sydney Yacht Race.
He started racing aged four and had his first International Regatta victory in New Zealand in 1967 crewing for his late father. Winning numerous dinghy titles at regional, state, and National level over the ensuing decades mainly as skipper saw him sought after by some of the world’s most successful teams winning countless International Regattas all over the world.
“Spiesy”, as he’s known, has won every category of the RSHYR, including Overall, Line Honours, and breaking the Race Record. This year, he embraces the new challenge of co-skippering Maritimo Katwinchar, the oldest boat ever to compete in the race, sailing in the Double-Handed Division with co-skipper Peter Vaiciurgis.
Peter will be competing in his second Hobart. An accomplished sailor who has competed since he was 16, starting with Ryde Sailing Club, Peter won his first state title at age 20, racing Windsurfer One Designs for Sydney University. Since then, he has won more than 20 National titles and more than 25 State titles over a variety of dinghy classes. Most of his titles were won on home-made boats, a pastime Peter enjoys as well, and he and his wife, Kylie, cruised the South Pacific on a sailing vessel Peter built.
“Racing for Maritimo has been fantastic and has given me access to racing on yachts that would have been out of my reach,” said Peter. “It has also given me the opportunity to sail with some amazing sailors from around Australia, sourced to race on the various race boats.
“Racing aboard Maritimo Katwinchar is such a great privilege,” he continued. “Classic timber boats have always been a favourite of mine, and to this day, I still build models of these beautiful boats. Maritimo has done an exceptional job of bringing Katwinchar back to life. She is comfortable to sail on and easily handled as a two-handed boat. I look forward to bringing her into Hobart for her third time and seeing the reaction of all the people looking upon her for the first time.”
Maritimo 100 Crew
Crew RSHYR
Peter Jones (Skipper) 26
Kendal Barry-Cotter. 12
Bill Barry-Cotter 2
Steve Jackson 4
Neil Sherring 4
Scott Kauffman 16
Peter Britt 17
Maclean Patton 4
Phillip Armstrong 3
Phil Candler 0
Martin Lewis 0
Paul Wrench 0
Ross Willaton 0
Jenny Ng 0
Dim Balsem 0
Maritimo 100 Yacht specs
Length – 30.4m/100ft
Beam – 7.4m
Designer – Ed Dubois
Builder – Oyster Yachts
Hull – GRP
Draft – 4m
Total Sail Area – 1670 sqm
Total Displacement – 103 Tonnes
Hull Weight – 31 tonnes
Top Speed – 20 knots
Daily Average Run – 250 knots
Maritimo Katwinchar Crew
Crew RSHYR
Co-skippers
Michael Spies 45
Peter Vaiciurgis 2
Maritimo Katwinchar Specs
Length – 10.02m/31 feet
Builder – Watney Brewery 1904
Draft – 1.66 m
Total displacement – 290
Hull weight – 4.847 tonne
First raced Sydney Hobart – 1951
Last race – 2019
