Alma Libre

This is the exploded view of the Super Maramu 2000

Diesel Engine Yanmar 4JH3-TE turbocharged with intercooler 100 Hp
Generator Onan MDKAL53 7KW

By clicking the logo you get the Yacht Magazine Review (You have to speak German though)

In this section I will file the comments of the three reviews I mention above.
I welcome all owners to send me their comments.

"I read with interest your article in the December issue on the test sail of the Amel Super Maramu 2000. Having just purchased a 1999 Super Maramu I agreed with all of Peter Nielsens comments. However, he did leave out a few of the most important aspects of the boat and the main reasons I purchased one.

The Amel is virtually leak proof when it comes to above waterline leaks. The deck is placed on the hull while the hull is still in the mold, and then the two are fiberglassed together insuring a leak-proof joint. The stantions, usually an aggravating source of leaks, are made leak-proof by side bolting them through and above the deck joint. Below decks in the living quarters there is never a hint of diesel fuel or oil smell as the engine room is completely isolated from the rest of the boat (soundproofed, watertight and odor proof). And there is no bilge odor in the living quarters of the boat as all the wet lockers drain through hoses to the main bilge sump in the engine room.

I do have to take issue with Peters comment that the Super Maramu is a "heavy boat with a low aspect ratio, conservative sail plan that cant be expected to set the world on fire" and "for a big, heavy boat, maneuverability under power is very good." The displacement on the Super Maramu is 35,273 lbs. Wouldnt 35,000 lbs for a 53 footer be considered at worst, a medium weight boat ? My own experience with her sailing on the Chesapeake Bay has been that she performs quite well in light air.

Lastly, I believe Peter omitted commentary on an extremely important point that considering the high quality of engineering and construction, a brand new Amel Super Maramu 53 is an outstandingly good value at approximately $520,000 US (depending on US-Euro exchange rate). And when you further realize that the SM is truly "sail-away ready," equipped by the factory with just about everything anyone would need for comfortable and safe cruising, she is a really hard boat to beat. "

I believe that it is useful to describe the configuration of the onboard computer and internet access onboard as I am sure that many fellow sailors will like to have the same configuration onboard. The computer is an ordinary Compaq laptop Presario 1700 with an IBM Bluetooth adapter for wireless connection to the GSM telephone which is the Ericsson T39m. The telephone is Bluetooth enabled and the GSM connection has GPRS capability. With this configuration the data transfer is 115 KB/sec which allows pleasant internet access and high speed downloading of e-mails and weather files. On the boat is also installed a marine GSM antenna to increase the coverage. Our only hope is that the GPRS service will be roamed by the local GSM providers in France and Italy.

As I have a lot of interest about the Laptop installation on board I enclose some photographs about the installation on the chart table. It is really nice executed by Amel.

I feel extremely happy that I have persuaded the Amel people that I wanted a different instrument configuration than the standard that they offer. So I started to find out what is available. The standard configuration is as follows :

All the instruments will be connected via SeaTalk interface and will be connected to the onboard computer via NMEA interface

As an extra it is installed also a Furuno Navtex in order to receive weather information when internet access is not available. This Navtex can also be used as a NMEA display in the future.

I strongly believe that my selection was better than the standard offered by Amel. The only problem is the speed transducer that on the B&G is ultrasound and not paddle wheel as the Raymarine.

The Raymarine instruments by night

One other very important detail of an integrated system is that you can adjust the autopilot to follow the true wind angle. When you use this feature is like having a windvane on your boat and it is really working wonderfully on a balanced boat like the Super Maramu 2000.

Harbormaster™ Mark II

Alma Libre is recently equipped with the newest and most advanced wireless remote monitoring and security system designed specifically for the marine environment, called Harbormaster Mark II, by BEACON Wireless Solutions. Harbormaster monitors the vital signs of Alma Libre ensuring that the boat is safe and secure at all times. In case of an alarm, Harbormaster notification is been sent by the included GSM unit using SMS, fax, e-mail or even voice call. With full web integration, you can easily view the status of the boat, retrieve detailed historical statistics or even remotely activate devices on board. For more information you can visit the Harbormaster Store. In the following picture you can see how Harbormaster works in order to notify you in case of an alert.

Maxsea Software

When you dream for sailing around the world you need the maps and your exact position on them. Max sea offers both excellent user interface and with the C-Map charts you can sail around the world if you only had the courage to do it. With the NMEA interface the gps signal is transferred to the laptop computer and together with the excellent weather information which you can dowload from the navcenter.com site you have a weather forecast that you can really start dreaming. You have to see it to believe. We use the charts from the Greek Distributor of C-Map.

Comments about the Raymarine Instruments and MaxSea Software after our sail to Greece (1205 Nm)

The instruments have been performing excellently. The combination of Radar Chart Plotter with MARPA has been very useful during the overnight sailing and it is a must for single hand sailing.

I believe that the Raymarine solution for an AMEL boat is the logical choice taking into consideration the price performance and the integrated capabilities . I could add in the configuration one more GPS with NMEA output in order to have the Laptop computer connected independent from the SeaTalk interface and as a backup to the total configuration. During the trip sometimes the GPS output has been intrepreted by the Laptop computer as a mouse and the cursor started moving around randomly. The solution to that was to disconnect the NMEA interface from the PC reboot and try later.

The MaxSea software was invaluable as we had a perfect tool for our navigation together with excellent weather forecast for our route. We have not used the weather routing facility but we always consulted the weather forecast from Navcenter which proved to be extremely precise during our cruise.

Weather Forecast on board Alma Libre

Weather Forecasting onboard is important especially if you cruising with a family. Onboard Alma Libre we have used during our sail from France to Greece the Seewis software everyday with a high speed dial up connection in order to get the latest atmospheric pressure map and to understand the movements of the fronts and we have downloaded the Mediterenanean forecast from Navcenter which is offered free of charge by Maxsea. The great benefit of Maxsea is that you see the wind arrows changing with time and you know exactly the conditions while sailing. I have to admit they Navcenter was very accurate and extremely helpful.

In France the Navtex was providing useful information but in Italy it was out of order. The good think was that in Italy we had GPRS connection to the internet so forecast over the intenet was easier to access.

Sail inventory on Alma Libre

It seems that there is a secret for the performance of the Super Maramu off the wind. I recently bought from Gateff sail maker the original Sail maker of Amel an asymmetric spinnaker. The boat is behaving completely different in low wind conditions and in wind angles above 90 degrees.

And of course you can always use the mizzen stay-sail which is delivered with the boat and the performance becomes phenomenal

And for those that do not believe what I am saying here is the proof.

With the two spinnakers the Speed over Ground (SOG) is 6,7 Knots the apparent wind is 6,6 Knots and the true wind 6,9 Knots with a true wind angle of 90 degrees.

Comparison between Alma Libre - Aeolian Fantasy

Before the boat delivery I was looking for a comparison between the Santorin and the Super Maramu 2000. As I could not find any information I decided to write a comparison note by myself. I will compare various aspects of the boats. I wanted to start this comparison after having some miles with the boat as you can only judge after using a boat and not before. So after 1600 nautical miles in 3 months I can provide some information that could be useful.

Speed
There is no comparison the Super Maramu 2000 outperforms the Santorin. You can easily reach speeds over 8 Knots with true wind over 11 Knots and true wind angle of about 50 Deg. So you are enjoying more light wind sailing. In heavy weather the bigger boat is much more stable and is going really fast over 9 Knots can be easily reached. The main reasons of the better performance is of course the length , the autoprop propeller and the bigger sail area. But what is very interested is also motoring against the wind. With the Santorin motoring against the wind was very difficult. The new Yanmar engine together with the autoprop propeller is propelling the boat against the wind and waves with a speed over 7 Knots. The motorsailing with the above mentioned combination of motor and propeller is giving a speed of over 8 Knots with 1500-1800 engine rpms .

Comfort- Ease of use
The bigger cockpit is much more comfortable. The permanent table outside makes it much more usable. The larger cockpit tent protects you so well from the elements that you can sail in difficult conditions. Last weekend we were returning from Spetses Island and were met by heavy rain and wind and we could continue sailing without any problem. The electric winches for the genoa make the boat really a pleasure to single hand. In the beginning I could not believe that they make such a difference in the handling of the boat but they really do. The same applies also for the electric winch for the main sail which is very useful to be electric not only for the trimming of the sail but in order to hoist the outboard engine and the dinghy.

Safety
There is not much difference. The two boats are identical in that aspect. The Raymarine instruments are providing a better navigation capability to the boat and thus they enhance the overall safety of the boat. The color chart plotter together with the radar overlay are very useful in deteriorating conditions.