A partnership that’s so close; Twin Disc have owned a Maritimo for their own use since 2009.
Stretching back to when Maritimo’s Founder, Bill Barry-Cotter, was building boats in Sydney over 40 years ago, the strong relationship between the two parties only got closer by the time that Maritimo was founded on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
“Just over 15 years ago, Twin Disc actually purchased a then very new Maritimo C60 for research and development purposes for our own product offering. That vessel is still with us today, homeported in the USA,” said Scott Redman, Sales Manager – Twin Disc Australia. “Bill likes to have choice, and has only ever commented positively about our quality and reliability, which are the things he demands for his boats.”
“Bill also likes innovation, and Maritimo was not only an early adopter of one of our products that’s fairly well known now, which is the Express Joystick System (EJS), but also integral into its original development. This type of control is commonplace today, but back then it was incredibly revolutionary, and has added so much to the ease of boating, which in turn has allowed more owners to take on larger boats with confidence,” added Redman.
Interestingly, that C60 leant more than a helping hand into the development of the EJS. The vessel is named, Double Clutch, which is a distinct reference to the core technology behind the brilliantly smooth QuickShift transmission the company supplies for Maritimo owners.
The essence of the gearbox is to allow an element of slip between the two plates as gears are engaged, which, with the immense torque modern Diesels deliver, means people do not get thrown off their feet when drive is engaged. Officially, the statement is ‘oil quickly fills the small chamber, smoothly engaging the clutch. Then the second chamber is filled, allowing maximum torque through the drive line.’
Whilst QuickShift’s origins are in agricultural equipment, Twin Disc has been involved in the marine space since before WWII. At the time they developed the gearbox for the landing craft that put the Marines ashore, and as the story goes, on top of the Government specification, they also added a reverse gear to then get them back off. The commercial market then stemmed from that, and over the last four decades or so, the recreational market has been offered the distinct benefits from Twin Disc.
Another benefit of this is to allow different control modes to suit specific boating requirements, which make for more pleasurable times afloat. Redman said, “There effectively four different modes, with some sub-modes stemming from them. The first is Cruise, which allows for individual control of the engines by each lever. The subset as such is, Sync, or synchronised to match revolutions. This mode is totally proportional. You push the lever(s), you get more throttle, plain and simple.”
Redman continued, “Express mode is next. This allows for 100% to 0% clutch slip in the first 30 degrees of lever movement, and it is proportional all the way to Wide Open Throttle, just accentuating zero to say six or seven knots. It provides for super low speed manoeuvring and on the to idle speed in that first 30 degrees, which is ideal for marinas and no wake zones.”
“It provides for greater control by allowing more movement, so you are not trying to use micro adjustments, or coming in and out of gear repeatedly. When you are handling 40 to 70 tonnes of Maritimo, this adds a huge level of safety to the equation, with peace of mind just as critical as ease of use.”
Note that single lever operation of the throttles is available in Cruise and Express modes.
“Trolling mode is all about fishing, as the name implies. By taking the idle speed up to about 850RPM, you can get through to about eight knots of boat speed, and it is fully adjustable to meet the owner’s requirements up to a fast troll of 12 knots, which certain species run at. Clutch slip is from 90% to zero, there is no synchronisation of engines and totally independent control of the levers.
Clearly it is no mean feat to not only absorb all the torque on offer, but also delver different operational control. This speaks directly to not only the tech concerned, but very much the quality of the inherent componentry. The levels of clutch slip on offer means the machinery and fluids all get hot, and the control of this is what has made the Twin Disc set up so very popular.
Whilst aesthetically very pleasing and also terrifically tactile, the controls almost bely the fly-by-wire technology that seamlessly integrates gearbox control with thruster vectoring from the U.S designed and built, all stainless-steel equipment.
Redman went on to say, “Bill was very much into the 2.5:1 ratio inside the gearbox from way back, when most were at 1.5 or 1.7:1. Whilst 2.1:1 might be trending more these days, Bill has well and truly proven the performance/range equation of the larger screw spinning more slowly. I think the rest of the industry has probably caught up with him, and the 2:1 is equally as popular now as what you would see with the 2.5:1s.”
Certainly, the torque on offer from the modern, ultra-high pressure common rail Diesel, with innovative turbocharging and intercooling matches in well with Bill’s thinking, and a large diameter screw is always going to be more efficient.
“We are very proud of the long relationship with Maritimo, and the development of the interwoven technological aspects, too. It truly is mutually beneficial, as well as being both enduring and rewarding,” said Redman in closing.
