After reading thru the threads and all the issues that were discussed ,is MARLOW still doing well , it appears that they are still building boats ,were the legal and construction issues resolved ? Edward
Marlow Hunter doing ok, especially in the smaller sailboats. Marlow Pilot (formerly Mainship) doing very little. Marlow Yachts still floundering along with a sale here and there but a large percentage of the new sales ending up back on the market very quickly as used.
Must have some deep pockets to keep going . Good looking yachts with added performance ,too good to be true ? Edward
Disappointment. Not being what they expected. Boat not performing or riding as anticipated and in some cases some major issues in build or fitting and never being able to get them all worked out. Consistency of build and quality isn't their strong suit. Their best boats built have been nice, but those are few and far between those with problems. Also, price creep during the build seems to be common.
Yeah there have been post with negative comments on the ride and elusive vibrations. The 65 we sea trialed had vibrations for various reasons and the broker said to expect vibrations caused by the underwater exhaust( that turn off the fun meter). Because I worked in a boat yard when young I am very practicable about rigging and exterior maintenance. Most Marlow's have teak decks and a lot of varnished cap rails plus those pretty dark blue hulls, maintenance intensive combination. They look pretty at the dock when maintained which has little to do with a good performing boat.
Problem is that no two boats they produce are the same and issues like vibrations people encounter they excuse and attribute to various things but they don't eliminate them.
ob, appears to have been a problem during construction with design changes and aligning the twin strut keels in the prop tunnels which also has a vibration problem with the exhaust. Saw a later transom/bottom picture, looks like they have moved the underwater exhaust port farther aft to fix that problem. Obvious they went thru a period of design changes to fix earlier problems, which only affects the new builds. No longer follow their news.
Also in the 58' and 65, if the boat is docked or anchored and relatively small wakes 8-12" hit the swim platform from the stern, the entire boat shutters and spray shoots up as high as the aft deck ceiling with relative spray on the aft deck because the swim platform design (not having enough vent holes in the deck) and the bottom being too low to the water.
That would be an aggravation. I remember talking about the swim platform with the surveyor, neither of us like the setup.
A guy was docked directly across the megadock from me in Charleston, stern facing South. When the current was incoming and there was a little wind for the entire 6 hours the 8-12" waves were hitting the swim platform constantly, water shooting directly straight up in the air as high as the FB deck, entire boat shuddering rather noticeably, and the wind blowing the spray all over the cockpit and aft deck doors. NO thanks.