A shared vision for balance and innovation delivers poise and comfort.

Seakeeper has been part of the Maritimo landscape from very early on in the esteemed brand’s history. Glenn Frettingham secured the deal and created the relationship back in July 2009, to be precise. Importantly, this was the very first sale outside of the USA, which makes Maritimo the first OEM in Australia, and also the entire Asia Pacific region, to adopt Seakeeper’s ‘motion-reducing’ technology. The installation of that very first M7000 Seakeeper has been followed up by well over 100 units now being placed into new craft, as well as retrofitted into the famous and innovative Maritimo motor yachts.

Seakeeper was created in 2001, with product development and trialling following thereafter, and the first, purpose built for the recreational marine market production units were launched in 2008. Seakeeper was the brainchild of Lawyer, turned hotelier, turned boatbuilder, Shep McKenney, and Naval Architect John Adams, a living legend in the realm of gyro stabilisation.

Seakeeper was, and still is a revelation, but just like Maritimo, they keep innovating and evolving. To find out more, we spoke with APAC Sales Manager, Chris Thompson.

Historically, stabilisation was solely available for ships, and large, displacement style yachts, with fins being the most prolific option. Gyro stabilisers had been around for a lot of the previous century, but their cumbersome size and mass rendered them not compatible with planning hulls. Seakeeper changed all this by containing the unit inside a vacuum, which had the added benefit of significantly reducing the power requirements, as well.
Today, engine rooms are designed from the get-go to house a stabiliser, and as a sign of Seakeeper’s dominance in the marketplace, they invariably fit straight in.

“I don’t know of many boats over 40 feet now that get delivered without some form of stabilisation. In the USA in 2023, 56% of new vessels between 30 and 80 feet had a Seakeeper installed at the factory”, stated Thompson by way of providing some perspective.

“The secret to Seakeeper’s success is they’ve built a product that’s reliable, with a great support network around the world. This augurs well for Maritimo, who are well and truly no longer an Australian or New Zealand centric brand now. As it stands, I look after Maritimo here in Australia, the Pacific, Japan, the USA, and Singapore/SE Asia. You’ve got to be able to back your product up around the world, and Seakeeper literally has hundreds of dealers around the world to support these boats wherever they go.”

“Seakeeper has evolved over that journey, with longer service life in between intervals being one of the key changes. Our Seakeeper 9 was the largest volume unit sold to Maritimo. Soon we will launch out fourth generation of gyroscopic product, including the 10.5 that replaces the 9. We’re now 35% more powerful, but in like half the space, and obviously, with reduced weight, as well. As everybody wants more usable space on board for the accommodations, these are really great developments.”

This article was originally published in Maritimo Motor Yachts on 5 November 2024.