Search for a perfect yacht ends with a Marten 49

by Helen Hopcroft on 23 May 2007 New Zealand sailor John Meadowcroft knew what he wanted; a thoroughbred cruiser/racer with sleek lines, high tech appearance and first class performance. He wanted a fast boat but also one that would be suitable for taking his wife and three daughters cruising. He eventually settled on an Australian built Marten 49, which he christened ‘Carrera’. Sail-World spoke to Meadowcroft about his search for the perfect yacht.

‘I was looking for a racing/cruising boat.’ He searched the market for available boats but found that many of them ‘had too many compromises for what I was looking for.’
Some of the boats were either cruisers dressed up to look like racers; the sea going equivalent of sticking a spoiler and mag wheels on a slow car.

Or racers trying to be cruisers; lively, twitchy, high performance speed machines with a slightly incongruous swimming platform stuck on the back. It was hard to find a boat design that was a genuine balance between comfort and speed.

‘I came across the Marten 49 fairly early, when Marten Yachts was still being built here in New Zealand. One of the first things that interested me was that the concept was very similar to a Wally yacht.’

‘The Marten 49 is very high tech, very sleek looking, obviously high performance, but also luxurious. The more I looked into it, the more it fitted the profile of something I was looking for.’


Meadowcroft brought the fifth Marten 49 built by Azzura Marine’s Nowra facility. It was sailed back to New Zealand and within a week of arriving it was performing well on the race track.

‘We’ve raced with reasonable success. We placed second in the White Island Race which was a week after the boat was delivered.’

‘And then we were the top boat of the fixed keel boats in the Bay of Islands Race. The boats that beat us were canting keel boats, so I was pretty happy with that. She was right in there with all the other boats and we had a lot of fun with her.’

Carrera proved to be an ideal cruising boat in the beautiful Bay of Islands waters.

‘Just prior to the race, the boat had been up in the Bay of Islands with both my own family and my sister’s family onboard, for quite an extended cruising period. And we found it an excellent cruising boat as well.’

‘I’ve got three daughters, my wife and I, and it was very comfortable with five of us. Having the lifting keel means you can anchor in closer to the bay and so forth.’

‘You can jog around just under a furled headsail. If you wanted to go sailing it was quite comfortable to sail around under that. We have a water maker on board and a reasonable entertainment system so it’s a very comfortable boat to cruise on.’

‘In my opinion we’ve got the best of both worlds. It’s a true racer/cruiser.’

One of the design innovations of the Marten 49 is a nifty fold away anchor system, worthy of the best James Bond customized car. The anchor is stowed under the deck aft of the bow, so it’s not visible when the boat is underway. Sail-World asked Meadowcroft how the anchor system performed.

‘We had the yacht in about 30 knots of wind one night in a bay. Like any light displacement, high performance boat she sails around a bit. We found that the warp would rub against the front edge of the arm so we just put a couple of little rubbing strips on that. But that’s the only thing.’

‘It really goes along with the whole theme of the boat…streamlined and efficient. It just looks so great. A lot of people commented on it. They’d say ‘where’s your anchor?’ and we’d flick it out.’

‘Carrera’ will be raced at this year’s Audi Hamilton Island Race Week and then cruise around the Whitsundays before returning to New Zealand later in the year.


Of the nine Marten 49s sold to date, only one will definitely remain in Australia; all the others have been snapped up by overseas buyers. Sail-World asked well known yachtsman Jason Rowed, Sales Manager of Marten Yachts, where the latest 49s are going.

‘Number six was built for a UK based owner. This Marten 49 was launched in January this year, commissioned in Sydney, sea trialled, then packed up and shipped back to the UK.’

‘That boat is now based in Hamble and is preparing for the Fastnet race and associated RORC events. The owners like adventure style sailing as well as cruising and plan to take their Marten 49 down to the Mediterranean.

‘Hull seven is coming out of the yard in approximately six weeks, and is being built for a Sydney based owner. This yacht will be based at the CYCA, which is very exciting as it will give Marten Yachts a real breakthrough in Australia with the ability of showcasing the Marten 49 to people in their own time.’

‘Number eight is going directly to the Hamburg Boat Show to our dealer. This will be the first time we’ve actually displayed a Marten 49 at a Boat Show in Europe.’

‘Number nine is looking strong to stay in the country as well. But we do have an active dealer in the UK…so it’s either going to stay here or go to Europe.’

The popularity of the boats within the market inadvertently cost the Marten 49 a spot in this year’s AMIF Boat of the Year finals. When judging was due to take place, unfortunately no Marten 49’s were in the country, so they weren’t eligible for the final.

Rowed commented that one of the many advantages of the Marten 49 is that ‘it is a true offshore sailing yacht capable of cruising the world’s oceans. With a design by world renowned Reichel Pugh, it is only natural that exhilarating performance is also one of its key benefits’.

With the Marten 49 now being built at Azzura Marine’s Nowra facility, Rowed states ‘it is great to produce such a high quality yacht here in Australia and export them to such a large market as Europe where there are many other options available. With the engineering and materials by SP Technologies (Gurit) the Marten 49 is certainly in its comfort zone either participating in a Hobart race or crossing the Tasman to the land of the long white cloud’.

Rowed says the he is proud of the build quality of the Marten Yachts and is happy that after the last 12 months of hard work, Marten Yachts has re-established itself as one of the worlds premier brands.

‘If you look in a Marten Yacht, you’ll find there’s no paint in any of the lockers. Its all clear coat carbon. There’s no fairing, there’s nothing like that. Every single locker including the bilge is finished in clear coat carbon.’

‘Obviously that takes longer. It’s a better construction method. And you end up with a better product. That all equals a little bit more cost. And that’s what people want, that’s what we produce.’

Sail-World asked owner John Meadowcroft whether he agreed that Azzura Marine’s workmanship was good.

‘Yes’ he replied.

‘Basically mine was the first boat to be built totally in Australia. I had seen the build quality in New Zealand and was very concerned that they couldn’t maintain the same build quality’ he added.

‘And I have no hesitation in saying that they did.’

Marten Yachts
Head Office
Suite 110 Jones Bay Wharf
Pirrama Road
Pyrmont NSW 2009
AUSTRALIA

Tel: + 61 2 9552 1133
Fax: + 61 2 9552 1100
http://www.martenyachts.com