Imagine for a moment that you are aboard the new Marex 440 Gourmet Cruiser, tethered to one of the outer moorings off Warren Island State Park in Penobscot Bay. As usual, you are up early and step quietly from the owner’s cabin with its en suite head and walk aft past two guest cabins where the kids are sleeping.
The companionway is well lit with natural light, and at the top of the steps, in the main saloon, you can take a 360-degree look around through large windows to find fog has filled the anchorage. You are overnighting here with two other boats, a mini-flotilla of cruising friends, so perhaps you’re inclined to turn to starboard, toward the helm, to energize one of the multifunction display screens that you reserve for the radar, just to check on the whereabouts of your companion boats. Instead, you are stopped in your tracks by the aroma of freshly-ground coffee dripping from the new combo unit you brought aboard, that is just finishing its brew cycle.
You pass between the twin forward-facing bench seats and make for the starboard-side galley counter, find a favorite cup, and fill it to welcome the new day. In the cabinets below, there is a stacked pair of under-counter fridge and freezer where the cream is stashed, as well as a narrow pull out locker holding, among other small containers, a diner-style sugar jar. You know there is a top-loading fridge just forward, usually filled with cold drinks.
Because this is the Gourmet Cruiser version of the Marex 440, you are in a large U-shaped galley that spans the beam of the boat, surrounded by Corian counters and voluminous storage cabinetry that also house an oven and range, another drawer-style fridge on the end panel facing the centerline, as well as a large stainless double sink.
The twin sliding aft doors on the centerline and to port slide easily to starboard, leading to the aft deck seating. Before you leave the main cabin, you flip the switch that raises or lowers an aft glass bulkhead that serves to physically separate—or visually open—the galley from the aft deck. In the down position, the cook stays in constant touch with family and friends seated aft on firm, luxurious cushions that can accommodate 8 to 10 for relaxing, dining, even napping. A massive teak table includes a hinged leaf that folds up and out to starboard for dining but stores well out of the way for easy transit for foot traffic to and from the broad teak-planked swim platform.
The cockpit sole and interior sole are thermally treated ash; overhead a two-part canvas enclosure slides on tracks beneath the extended hardtop to completely protect the aft deck. When you are ready, the canvas panels slide forward and stow snugly in clever clamshell lockers found inside the pillars supporting the hardtop. Above your head, a manual sunroof waits to slide smoothly forward in case there is a call for more of the sun’s warmth.
Heading forward again, there’s another manually operated sunroof that, along with two side-opening sliding doors, provide all the fresh air and sunshine you might want in the saloon, plus all the protection you need when the weather turns inclement.
The helm, to starboard, has a raised dash that can accommodate a pair of 16-inch MFDs, and an unusual, adjustable command module for the tilt wheel, bow thruster, and joystick. At the touch of a button, the module slides slowly aft to achieve just the right distance for the helmsman’s reach, or forward to allow driving while standing—made even more comfortable with flip-up bolsters on the seat.
Sliding open the starboard cabin door, you step out onto a teak deck, stopping only to appreciate the chained boarding gate and nearby cleat, very handy if you are single-handing. Also helpful, the command module is positioned for easy reach from the side deck. Walking to the bow, there’s a large sunpad; under the anchor locker, there is a boarding ladder that flips up and out for beach exploration, and under that, are the power windlass, which is operated from the helm and monitored by a small camera in the well, and anchor.
Heading aft along the port side, you might note the builder’s commitment to on-deck safety: stout safety rails mounted on short bulwarks and side decks wide enough to transit without tripping hazards or needing to turn sideways. You reenter the main cabin through the port sliding door and perch on the plush bench seat long enough to check the status of the batteries on a small auxiliary screen in the console ahead. They are in good shape, and have kept all of the refrigeration working overnight. As the fog burns away, the solar panels mounted on the hardtop will only add to optimal battery conditions.
Launching the dinghy is equally well thought out. Access to the swim platform is through an inward-opening transom door. When tie-down straps have been released, at the touch of a button, two thirds of the platform drops into the water, while built-in steps unfold. You stop lowering the platform when the dinghy floats free, and consider leaving the platform barely submerged for the kids, who will treat it as their own wading beach or kayak launch. Instead, when you have tied the dinghy securely to a handy cleat, you bring the platform back level with the rest of the swim deck, then step out to lower the built-in chocks that stow away flush.
That done, you head back to the galley to prepare food for the crowd that will be on board soon—after all, you promised to host a pancake breakfast for the whole flotilla.
Later, before it is time to unmoor and head for another anchorage, you will drop down into the engine room beneath the aft deck and check fluids and strainers. The twin 480-hp Volvo-Penta IPS 650 diesels produce a top speed approaching 35 knots, for a possible 200 nautical-mile range, but you will likely opt for a more fuel-efficient speed of about 27 knots and a possible range of 236 nautical miles.
Marex offers twin Volvo-Penta stern drive and shaft drive options, as well as layout options that include more main cabin seating in lieu of the larger galley, and a two-stateroom version. The company, founded in 1973 by Eyvin Aalrud in Grimstad, Norway, is best known for building high-quality family cruisers.
If you are seriously in the market for a luxurious, spacious design for serious boating and entertaining, the Marex 440 Gourmet Cruiser is seriously worth your consideration.
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John Wooldridge is a longtime sailor, powerboater, and marine journalist whose home waters are the Chesapeake Bay.
Specifications
LOA: 44' 9"
Beam: 14'
Draft: 3' 3"
Displ. (approx.): 28,660 lbs.
Power: (2) 480-hp Volvo-Penta IPS 650 diesels
Fuel: 314 gals.
Water: 206 gals.
