Amel Super Maramu and Super Maramu 2000 Buyer's Guide
Henri Amel's 53-foot ketch was sold as a complete cruising system, and three decades later it is still the boat many circumnavigators would choose again.
- Length
- 52.5 ft16 m
- Beam
- 15.1 ft4.6 m
- Draft
- 6.7 ft2.05 m
- Cabins
- 2 plus saloon berths
- Used price
- $150K to $320K
On this page
- Overview
- Henri Amel's idea of a complete cruising system
- Super Maramu or Super Maramu 2000: what actually changed
- A ketch you can sail from the cockpit seat
- Watertight bulkheads, a skeg rudder and a sea chest
- Understanding the Amel C-drive before you buy
- Living with 24 volts, furlers and a thruster
- Motoring range and annual costs
- Specifications
- Price and value
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Used buyer checklist
- Rivals
- Our verdict
- FAQ
The Amel Super Maramu is a 52 ft 6 in center cockpit ketch built in La Rochelle from 1988 to 1998, followed by the Super Maramu 2000 until 2005. About 480 were built in total.
- Couples planning a circumnavigation
- Trade wind cruisers
- Buyers who want a proven turnkey boat
- Liveaboards who value systems over speed
Amel Super Maramu by the numbers
- Sail area to displacement
- 19.4Balanced power for coastal and offshore cruising.
- Displacement to length
- 223Moderate displacement, a classic cruising balance between load carrying and speed.
- Theoretical hull speed
- 8.6 knThe practical top speed of a displacement monohull under normal sailing, based on waterline length.
- Ballast ratio
- 34%A typical ballast ratio for a cruising monohull.
- Capsize screening
- 1.84Below 2.0, the traditional threshold for offshore suitability.
- Motion comfort ratio
- 32.9Moderate motion comfort, typical of modern cruisers.
- Length to beam ratio
- 3.48 : 1Moderate proportions.
Henri Amel's idea of a complete cruising system
Henri Amel founded his yard in La Rochelle in 1965 and spent the next decades building one model at a time, each delivered with almost everything a long-distance couple would need already fitted at the factory. The Amel Super Maramu, introduced in 1988 to replace the Mango, was the purest expression of that idea. Owners did not choose from a long options list. They bought a finished cruising system: electric furling, a hard dodger, a generator, a dishwasher and washing machine, watertight compartments and a layout designed around two people living aboard for years.
The formula worked. Sailboatdata counts 237 original Super Maramus through 1998 and 241 Super Maramu 2000s between 1999 and 2005, about 480 boats in total, and some broker histories put the figure nearer 490. Cruising World named the Super Maramu 2000 its Best Overall Cruising Boat for 2000. Two decades later the popular SV Delos YouTube channel, filmed aboard a Super Maramu 2000, introduced the boat to a new generation of buyers, and brokers will tell you that the effect on demand is real even if nobody can measure it.
Super Maramu or Super Maramu 2000: what actually changed
Searchers use "super amel maramu", "amel super maramu 2000" and "53 foot amel super maramu" interchangeably, but there are two distinct generations on the same 52 ft 6 in hull. The original (1988 to 1998) is plainer inside and came with the Perkins MT80, the closely related Volvo TMD22A (the most common engine) or, later, a 78 hp Yanmar. It uses separate through-hulls for its raw water systems.
The Super Maramu 2000 (1999 to 2005) brought a richer interior finish, improved refrigeration and a single sea chest that feeds all raw water systems, cutting hull penetrations. The 100 hp Yanmar 4JH3-HTE was an option from the start and became standard in 2003, and about 80 percent of the 2000 fleet has it. If your budget allows, the 2000 is the easier boat to own. If it does not, a well-maintained original with an updated engine is a far better buy than a neglected 2000.
A ketch you can sail from the cockpit seat
The rig carries about 121 m2 (1,302 sq ft) of working sail: a 35 m2 mainsail, a 67 m2 genoa and a 19 m2 mizzen. The main and genoa furl electrically at the push of a button, and the mizzen furls in the mast with a winch handle. Primary and mainsheet winches are electric. Downwind, Amel's signature arrangement uses twin permanent poles to wing out a 69 m2 ballooner alongside the genoa, with a 35 m2 mizzen staysail available, taking total sail area to about 190 m2 when everything is flying.
That twin headsail rig is why Super Maramu owners talk about trade wind crossings with a drink in hand. It is stable, it does not need a preventer and it can be reefed from the cockpit by rolling both sails. Upwind, the shallow keel, in-mast furling and ketch rig make the boat a capable but unremarkable performer. Owners cite hollow-leech furling sails as a limit on efficiency. Accept that you will motorsail some windward legs.
Watertight bulkheads, a skeg rudder and a sea chest
The Super Maramu was designed to survive mistakes far from help. The hull is solid fiberglass with watertight bulkheads bonded in while the hull was still in its mold, creating sealed compartments forward and aft, with the engine room isolated. Reviews describe four full-height watertight bulkheads, two of them with watertight doors, and limber pipes with valves draining to a central sump. The rudder hangs on a full skeg, and the keel is a shallow, iron-ballasted wing-style fin drawing about 6 ft 9 in.
Other details are pure Amel: cockpit drains are structural fiberglass tubes, deck-stepped masts avoid penetrating the cabin top, solid stainless handrails replace wire lifelines and the center cockpit sits under a hard dodger with a solid windscreen. A retractable electric bow thruster can be serviced afloat. It is a long list of small decisions that add up to a boat insurers and delivery skippers respect.
Understanding the Amel C-drive before you buy
The most unusual feature of the boat is the drive train. The engine sits midships facing aft and drives through Amel's own C-drive, a sail-drive-like leg mounted behind the keel that keeps weight central and lets the propeller shaft exit horizontally. It works well and protects the prop, but it is unique to Amel, and parts and expertise come from Amel's service network or specialists familiar with the boats.
The C-drive carries its own gear oil reservoir mounted above the drive. If water gets past the seals, the oil turns the color of chocolate mousse, which is the first thing to check at a viewing. Seal service is routine maintenance on a well-run boat. A full replacement after years of neglect has been quoted around 32,000 euros, which is why the drive's history belongs at the top of your survey list.
Living with 24 volts, furlers and a thruster
The Super Maramu runs on 24 volts DC throughout, a deliberate choice to handle the bow thruster's high current draw and the electric furlers and winches. That means 24 volt pumps, lights and electronics, or converters for 12 volt gear. Early boats used an unusual wiring scheme that later owners often convert to a conventional common ground, and many boats now have lithium banks, large solar arrays on a stern arch and inverters for 110 and 220 volt equipment.
The genoa furler gearbox is a known weak point because the original unit is no longer made. A worn gearbox can be rebuilt, and retrofit kits exist at a cost in the region of $8,000. The headstay is also specific to the Amel furler: it needs a swaged lower terminal, and riggers who substitute a mechanical terminal and shorten the foil cap can create chafe and wear problems that are invisible until the foil is opened up. Use a rigger who knows Amels.
Motoring range and annual costs
Under power a Super Maramu 2000 cruises at about 6.5 knots at 1,800 rpm in calm water, and owners quote roughly 1,000 miles of range from the 158 gallon diesel tank. Fresh water capacity of about 250 to 264 gallons is generous even before a watermaker. The interior has two cabins with heads, an aft owner's cabin with a large double and a forward guest cabin, plus saloon berths, a sheltered galley and a proper chart table.
Budget $25,000 to $50,000 a year to own a Super Maramu in the US, excluding a major refit. The big recurring items are a 55 ft slip, insurance for an older bluewater boat, haul-outs, Yanmar and C-drive service, generator and watermaker upkeep, and a reserve for standing rigging, which insurers typically expect to be replaced about every ten years on a ketch with two masts to re-rig.
Amel Super Maramu specifications
| Length overall | 52.5 ft16 m |
|---|---|
| Waterline length | 41.3 ft12.6 m |
| Beam | 15.1 ft4.6 m |
| Draft | 6.7 ft2.05 m |
| Displacement | 35,274 lbs16, kg |
| Ballast | 12,125 lbs5,5 kg |
| Sail area | 1,302 sq ft121 m² |
| Fuel capacity | 158 gal598 L |
| Fresh water | 264 gal999 L |
| Cabins | 2 plus saloon berths |
| Berths | 6 to 7 |
| Heads | 2 |
| Standard engines | Perkins MT80 or Volvo TMD22A (about 80 hp) on the original; Yanmar 4JH4-HE (78 hp) on early Super Maramu 2000 |
| Optional engines | Yanmar 4JH3-HTE (100 hp), standard from 2003 |
| Maximum power | 100 hp |
| Cruise speed | 6.5 knots |
| Range | 1,000 nm |
| Hull type | Moderate displacement center cockpit monohull |
| Keel | Shallow wing-style fin keel with iron ballast, rudder on a full skeg |
| Rig | Masthead ketch with electric furling main and genoa, manually furled mizzen, twin downwind poles |
| Hull construction | Solid hand-laid fiberglass hull, cored deck |
| CE design category | A (Super Maramu 2000) |
| Builder | Chantiers Amel, France |
| Naval architect | Henri Amel |
| Other design credits | Jacques Carteau |
| Production | 1988 to 2005 |
| Status | Discontinued |
Figures come from builder documentation and independent tests where available. Displacement is usually quoted light, so a loaded cruising boat will weigh more. Compare these specs with another model.
How much does a Amel Super Maramu cost?
Original Super Maramus mostly trade between about $150,000 and $240,000, while Super Maramu 2000 boats have recently been asked at roughly $225,000 to $300,000 in the US and roughly 190,000 to 300,000 euros in Europe. Condition outweighs year by a wide margin: recent standing rigging, a rebuilt or resealed C-drive, a healthy genoa furler gearbox and modern batteries can add $50,000 or more to a boat's value. Boats with a 100 hp Yanmar sell more easily than those with the original 78 to 80 hp engines.
Estimate your yearly cost
A planning estimate using common rules of thumb: insurance near 1.5 percent of value, maintenance near 3 percent, haul out and bottom paint by length. Your marina, region and use will move these numbers. Open the full cost calculator.
Versions and options
- Super Maramu (1988 to 1998)
- Original version with Perkins MT80, Volvo TMD22A or Yanmar engines around 80 hp, plainer interior and separate raw water through-hulls.
- Super Maramu 2000 (1999 to 2005)
- Richer interior, improved refrigeration, single sea chest and the 100 hp Yanmar on most boats.
- Late Super Maramu 2000 (2003 to 2005)
- 100 hp Yanmar standard. The most sought-after and rarest boats on the market.
Amel Super Maramu timeline
- 1965Henri Amel founds his yard in La Rochelle
- 1988Super Maramu introduced to replace the Mango
- 1999Super Maramu 2000 launched with a single sea chest and upgraded interior
- 2000Named Cruising World's Best Overall Cruising Boat
- 2003100 hp Yanmar becomes standard
- 2005Production ends as the Amel 54 takes over
Strengths and weaknesses
What owners like
- Complete factory-fitted cruising system
- Push-button furling for short-handed sailing
- Watertight bulkheads and skeg-hung rudder
- Superb downwind rig with twin poles
- Huge water and fuel capacity
- Strong owner community and Amel service network
What to weigh up
- Proprietary C-drive and furler parts
- Unremarkable windward performance
- 24 volt system complicates adding standard gear
- Two masts double the rigging bill
- Older boats need careful system-by-system review
Used Amel Super Maramu buyer checklist
Take this list to a viewing. Your ticks are saved in this browser so you can come back to it.
Always commission an independent marine survey and an engine survey before you buy. How a marine survey works.
Rivals to consider
Amel 54
The direct successor with a more modern interior and updated systems, at a substantially higher price.
Compare side by sideAmel 50
Amel's modern sloop with an enclosed doghouse, twin rudders and a shaft drive, costing several times more.
Compare side by sideHallberg-Rassy 46
A Frers center cockpit sloop with superb joinery and conventional systems, smaller but easier to service anywhere.
Oyster 485
A British center cockpit deck saloon sloop of the same era, faster upwind, with more customized equipment.
Our verdict on the Amel Super Maramu
The Amel Super Maramu is one of the few production boats designed from the outset for a couple to sail around the world without crew, and the hundreds still cruising prove the concept. It is not a sporty boat and its proprietary systems demand an owner who learns them, but for comfort, safety and sheer ease of handling on long passages it remains a benchmark. Buy on condition, not year, prioritize the C-drive, furlers and rigging in your survey, and lean on the active Amel owner community. A well-sorted Super Maramu 2000 is among the best values in used bluewater sailboats.
Amel Super Maramu questions answered
How much is an Amel Super Maramu worth?
Original Super Maramus typically sell for about $150,000 to $240,000, and Super Maramu 2000 boats for about $225,000 to $320,000, with condition the main driver.
What is the difference between the Super Maramu and Super Maramu 2000?
The 2000 version (1999 to 2005) added a richer interior, better refrigeration, a single sea chest and, on most boats, a 100 hp Yanmar. The hull and rig are essentially the same.
How long is an Amel Super Maramu?
It is 52 ft 6 in (16.00 m) overall with a 41 ft 4 in waterline and 15 ft 1 in beam, which is why it is often called the 53 foot Amel.
How many Amel Super Maramus were built?
Sailboatdata lists 237 originals and 241 Super Maramu 2000s, about 480 boats in total; some broker sources quote slightly higher figures.
What is the Amel C-drive?
It is Amel's own drive leg, mounted behind the keel and driven by an aft-facing engine placed midships. It needs regular seal service and gear oil checks.
Is the Amel Super Maramu good for a couple?
Yes. Push-button furling, electric winches and a sheltered center cockpit were designed so a couple, or one person, can handle the boat alone.
Amel Super Maramu photos
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