Marlow Yachts Explorer 58E, Long Range Cruiser With a 20 Knot Gear

Where the 58E sits in the Marlow Yachts story

For many buyers, the phrase Marlow Yachts means one thing: a long range cruiser built to cross oceans but quick enough to run from weather. The Explorer 58E is the mid-size heart of that range. It debuted at the 2014 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show as the successor to the Marlow 57, which Power and Motoryacht credited with an 11 year production run, and it promised higher speed, longer range and more interior volume.

The company's founder, David Marlow, started sketching his Explorer concept in the mid 1990s and drew the original 57C, 61C and 65C with naval architect Doug Zurn of Marblehead, Massachusetts. Marlow presents the 58E as an evolution of the 57E worked out through its own drawings, mock-ups and testing. David Marlow, who died at 82 (Yachting published its tribute in November 2025), was famous for demanding perfection from his yard and from the journalists who wrote about his boats, and that culture shows in how the 58E is engineered.

Marlow Yachts is based in Palmetto, Florida, near Snead Island, and builds at its own shipyard in Chi Hu, Fujian Province, near Xiamen, China. The 58E sold alongside the 62E, which had launched at the Miami show earlier in 2014, and it remains on Marlow's current Explorer list in 2026.

Velocijet strut keels, the feature you should understand first

Every Marlow Explorer rides on the builder's patented Velocijet Strut Keels. Instead of exposed shafts held by struts, each shaft and its bearings are enclosed in a foil-shaped keel, one per side. Marlow says the twin keels protect the props from logs and debris, shape the water flowing into the props, reduce the stern wave and dampen pitch and roll, and that they let the yacht use smaller rudders.

The practical benefits owners notice are grounding protection and downsea tracking. Marlow compares the keels to the feathers on an arrow when running before big following seas. The trade-off is drag at low speed compared with a pure displacement hull, which is why a 58E cruises efficiently at around 8 knots but is not as frugal as a single engine full displacement trawler of similar size.

Draft is a manageable 4 ft 10 in, shallow for a 70 ft overall yacht, and a real asset in the Bahamas, the Intracoastal and the Great Loop's southern sections.

Kevlar, Core-Cell and Full Stack Infusion

Marlow's construction story is unusual for a Chinese-built yacht. The company specifies Kevlar and glass hybrid reinforcements in the hull, ATC Core-Cell foam sandwich, and vinylester and modified epoxy resins rather than ordinary polyester. Its Full Stack Infusion process, introduced around 2007, infuses an entire laminate from outer skin through core to inner skin in one shot, eliminating secondary bonds that Marlow blames for most fiberglass failures. Soundings reported the builder claimed a saving of about 2,000 lb on an average Marlow.

Tooling is equally deliberate. Marlow says the hull, deck and superstructure come from a small number of large molds, about three major pieces rather than the 40 to 50 that some builders assemble, with portlights and window openings molded in. Fewer seams mean fewer places for leaks to start, which matters on a yacht expected to spend weeks offshore.

Classic flybridge, semi-enclosed or command bridge

The 58E is offered in three upper deck configurations: an open classic flybridge, a semi-enclosed bridge and a fully enclosed command bridge, with an optional day head on the upper level. The choice changes the boat's character and resale profile more than any other option.

On flybridge boats there is a lower helm in the raised pilothouse, sharing space with the dinette. Command bridge boats drop the lower helm because the enclosed upper station is the all-weather position, which frees the pilothouse dinette to become a roomy dining area with a view through the forward windows. Command bridge boats are taller and carry more windage but are the favorite of owners who cruise in northern or hot climates.

• Classic flybridge: lowest profile, lower helm retained, best for warm-weather coastal cruising
• Semi-enclosed: protection from sun and spray with an open aft section
• Command bridge: fully enclosed upper helm, no lower helm, larger pilothouse dinette

Pilothouse galley, saloon two steps down and three cabins below

Marlow puts the U-shaped galley in the aft part of the raised pilothouse, with the dinette forward. Two steps down and aft is the saloon, with built-in seating over storage on pneumatic hinges, a wet bar and a teak coffee table, opening to an aft deck sheltered by the extended upper deck. A single stair leads from the aft deck to the swim platform, and the radiused transom with a center stair is what made the 58E's lazarette much larger than the 57E's.

Below are three staterooms, each with a full head. The master is midships and full beam, there is a VIP cabin, and the 58E's advance over the 57E was a larger port guest stateroom with its own head. A one person crew cabin, a stand-up engine room with optional air conditioning and teak and holly sole throughout complete the picture. Marlow fits Grohe faucets, Schwepper hardware and composite fuel, water and waste tanks.

Range at 8.3 knots and speed when you need it

Marlow's current brochure rates the 58E at more than 1,400 nautical miles at 8.3 knots and about 400 miles at 20 knots, on 1,500 gallons of fuel and 320 gallons of water. The 20 knot figure applies to optional engines; Marlow lists upgrades up to 1,150 hp. The 2015 base boat carried twin 550 hp Cummins diesels. We have not found an independently measured speed and fuel table for the 58E, so ask for sea trial data on the specific engine package.

Marlow says it reduced shaft angle compared with the 57E and placed the fuel tanks so trim does not change between full and empty, while water and holding tanks sit under the sole amidships to improve balance. Critical systems such as stabilizer pumps and steering have backups. Note that Power and Motoryacht's 2015 show listing printed 500 gallons of fuel and a 67 ft 8 in length; we use the builder's 1,500 gallons and 70 ft 6 in.

Running costs, service and the used 58E market

A 58E is a 70 ft overall yacht in the slip, and costs follow length overall. Budget roughly $90,000 to $170,000 a year for dockage, insurance, twin engine and generator service, stabilizers, thrusters, bottom work and canvas, before any crew. Fast cruising changes the fuel bill dramatically, so owners who run at 20 knots should budget accordingly.

Marlow sells new boats and supports owners directly through Marlow Marine Sales and encourages OEM parts sourcing. Used 58Es surface occasionally through brokers; we estimate 2026 values between about $1.3 million and $2.5 million depending on year, bridge style and engines. The brand's buyers are loyal, and Marlow highlights how its yachts hold value.