NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF OYSTER - Oyster Yachts

NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF OYSTER ISSUE N 72 SUMMER 2011 

O 

IN THIS ISSUE – LAUNCHING THE NEW OYSTER 625, OYSTER REGATTA GRENADA 

AND THE NEW OYSTER 725 UNVEILED

CONTENTS 

03 WELCOME 

David Tydeman 

04 OYSTER LIFE 

News from the world of Oyster 

08 THE NEW OYSTER 725 

11 LONDON OWNERS’ DINNER 

12 OYSTER REGATTA GRENADA 

Louay Habib 

26 OYSTER WORLD RALLY 

28 OWNER PROFILE – MARIUSZ KOPER 

Barry Pickthall 

36 AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE OYSTER 625 

ISSUE N O 72 SUMMER 2011 

12 28 40 52 

FRONT COVER PICTURE 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Photo: Mike Jones 


Th e new Oyster 625 resplendent in the 

evening light at the Oyster Private View, 

Louay Habib 

St Katharine Docks, London PRODUCTION EDITOR 

EDITOR 

Liz Whitman 

Rebecca Twiss 

OYSTER NEWS 

40 MISS TIPPY 

Brian and Sheila Norton 

50 OYSTER SUPERYACHT UPDATE 

52 UHURU’S SOUTHERN ADVENTURE 

Steve Powell 

65 OYSTER AT THE BOAT SHOWS 

66 TWIN RUDDERS 

Rob Humphreys 

68 LIVE IN CUBA 

Gunilla Brewert 

76 CROSSING THE ARABIAN SEA 

Liz Cleere and Jamie Furlong 

84 THE TASTE OF AN OYSTER 

Louay Habib 

88 THE 25TH ARC 


94 FOUR MEN AND A BOAT 

Tim Barker 

102 GONE WITH THE WIND 

Stephen Hyde 

108 ON THEIR WAY... 

FROM THE EDITOR 

We publish Oyster News twice a year and we know from our readers that 

the articles they most enjoy reading about are the contributions from Oyster 

owners. If you have a story to tell or information about cruising in your Oyster 

please let us know. Photographs are always welcome with or without a story. 

email: liz.whitman@oystermarine.com 

or rebecca.twiss@oystermarine.com 

Oyster News is published by Oyster Marine Ltd. Oyster News is for promotional purposes only, privately circulated, and cannot form part of any contract 

or off er. Views, details and information herein are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher who will not be held responsible for the consequences of any 

error or omission. Pictures and illustrations are liable to show non standard equipment. 

76 94

During the six months since the last issue of Oyster News, 

so much has happened it’s hard to know where to start. 

I’m delighted to say we closed 2010 with the largest value 

of contracts ever signed in one year, which of course gives 

us a stable platform going forward – but lead times are now 

stretching out again… so don’t wait to plan your adventures! 

WELCOME 

Several of these orders are for clients planning to take part in our inaugural 

World Rally starting in January 2013 and it’s exciting to know that we have 

fi rm commitments and entry fees from more than 30 participants. Th is will 

be a truly memorable event. 

In late June we cracked the champagne on the fi rst Oyster 100 – Sarafi n 

– named aft er a high quality Turkish wine – no prizes for guessing how 

we celebrated signing the contract last year. She’ll complete her sail trials 

in Turkey over the next few weeks, before setting sail for the Caribbean. 

Meanwhile, the fi rst Oyster 625 went sailing in early May and the fi rst 

Oyster 885 starts fi t-out at our Southampton Yacht Services yard in August. 

We’ve just sold 625-08 and the yacht has been nominated for a European 

Yacht of the Year award. She is attracting owners who prefer to sail with 

just family and friends, and it’s interesting to see how the perceived 

maximum size a family can handle has grown, yet she also works well as 

a crewed yacht. Plentiful on-deck living space and a crisp, modern interior, 

with her Seascape saloon windows are particular attractions. Capitalising 

on the success of this new design, we have upgraded the Oyster 72 – now 

the Oyster 725 – the fi rst of which is under construction and will include 

some of the features that are so admired on the 625. 

SUMMER 2011 

SYS have had a good year and Sea Lion – a 1950s Abeking and Rasmussen 

built yacht – was relaunched in late June aft er a complete re-build. I think 

there were only a couple of strakes in the keel area left of the original. 

A fantastic quality job by our team of specialists at SYS and a fi tting fi nal 

project for Piers Wilson who founded SYS over 30 years ago and retired 

at the end of June. We wish him well. 

A great regatta in Grenada in April this year will be followed in September 

by over 30 yachts taking part in our Palma event. We head to the British 

Virgin Islands in April 2012 as we continue to organise rallies and dinners 

to help our owners enjoy their yachts. 

Finally, if I may make a personal appeal. I started off shore sailing on the 

Sir Winston Churchill with the Sail Training Association (now the charity – 

Tall Ships Youth Trust Ltd of which I’m Chairman). We’re trying to locate 

people who sailed the Churchill and Malcolm Miller in the 1980s – if you 

know anyone, please ask them to contact me. 

Many thanks for your continued support of Oyster. We’ll do our best 

to keep building great yachts. 

Sincere regards to you all, 

David Tydeman 

CEO, Oyster Group 

david.tydeman@oystermarine.com 

3

4 


Oyster life HEADLINES 

NEW FACES AT OYSTER 

We are delighted to welcome some new additions to Team Oyster as we 

strengthen our support network for our customers and owners around the world. 

Dan Wurzbacher 

Sales Manager 

USA Offi ce 

Dan has been 

professionally 

involved in the 

marine industry 

for seven years, 

culminating with 

his Captaincy of Argo, a 110 degree Langan 

Design Schooner. He has completed crossings 

of the Atlantic, Pacifi c, and Indian Oceans, 

with over 50,000 miles of blue-water 

cruising experience, including extensive 

landfalls. He has overseen several major refi t 

projects and joins Oyster from a career in 

Brokerage with Berthon USA in Newport. 

Dan is based at Oyster Marine’s US 

Headquarters at Newport Shipyard in 

Newport, RI and handles new yacht sales 

in the Oyster fl eet, from the Oyster 46 to 

the Oyster 885, throughout the Americas 

and Caribbean. Contact Dan at: 

dan.wurzbacher@oystermarine.com 

NEW DIRECTOR 

Molly Marston 

We are delighted to announce that 

Molly Marston was appointed a Director 

of Oyster Brokerage Ltd earlier this 

year. Molly’s contribution to the 

Oyster business has been signifi cant, 

particularly through her careful and 

studious expansion of Oyster Charter 

over the last few years. Her new title, 

as Director of Operations – Oyster USA, 

refl ects what we have all known for 

some time, that Molly really has been 

running the Oyster USA offi ce ever 

since it opened 16 years ago! Molly will 

continue to manage and develop our 

Oyster Charter business. 

Michael Bell 

Representing 

Oyster in Australia 

We are very 

pleased to have 

secured the 

services of Michael 

Bell to act as our 

representative for 

new sales enquiries in Australia. Michael is a 

well-known fi gure in the local marine industry 

and yachting community, having previously 

represented Nautor in Australia, and is 

conveniently based from his own offi ces 

at Pittswater, just north of Sydney Harbour. 

Visiting Oyster owners will receive a very 

warm welcome. Contact Michael at: 

michael.bell@oystermarine.com 

Chris Fairfax 

Broker 

USA Offi ce 

Chris joins Oyster 

Brokerage with 

a wealth of 

experience of 

the US brokerage 

market and a long 

career as a yacht captain, including Atlantic 

and Pacifi c crossings on board Oyster 

yachts, so is well placed to advise those 

looking to purchase a yacht for blue water 

cruising. Chris and his wife have two young 

sons – they cruise their S&S designed 34ft 

cruising yacht and race a Rhodes 19 in 

the summer, while Chris keeps busy in the 

winter playing ice hockey. Contact Chris at: 

chris.fairfax@oystermarine.com 

FAREWELL TO BOB MARSTON 

FROM 

THE WORLD OF OYSTER 

Paul Bennett 

New Customer 

Support Manager 

With Eddie 

Scougall fully 

employed in 

helping Debbie 

Johnson to plan 

and run the Oyster 

World Rally, Paul Bennett has taken over the 

role of Oyster’s Customer Support Manager. 

Paul has held a senior role in Oyster’s 

commissioning team for the last fi ve years, 

but has in fact been skippering Oysters for 

various owners, including the Oyster 82 

Cygnus of Anglesey, as well as working for 

Oyster for the last 15 years. So he has a wealth 

of blue water sailing and technical knowledge 

and experience. 

Claudio Corvino 

New Yacht Sales 

Italy 

With a passion 

for sailing, 

Claudio has sailed 

extensively on his 

family’s cruising 

yacht and has a 

background in new and brokerage yacht 

sales gained from his previous position in 

Varazze, Italy. Claudio has joined our 

European sales team where his native 

Italian will be put to good use handling 

new enquiries. He will be based at Oyster’s 

Ipswich HQ, whilst he is building up his 

knowledge of Oyster and looks forward to 

meeting customers at the Genoa Boat Show 

in October. Contact Claudio at: 

claudio.corvino@oystermarine.com 

We were sorry to say goodbye to Molly’s husband, Bob Marston, who left Oyster to pursue 

a new career in the marine industry. Bob played a big role in growing our US brokerage 

operation in recent years and we are pleased that he will continue to be a part of the Oyster 

family through Molly.

WE ARE RECRUITING 

PROJECT MANAGERS 

REQUIRED IN IPSWICH 

AND SOUTHAMPTON 

With a growing order book, we require 

additional Project Managers at both our 

Ipswich and Southampton Yacht Services 

offi ces to provide liaison, technical 

support and coordination between 

our clients and the yard throughout the 

construction process of their new Oyster 

yacht. Candidates will need good people 

skills, but above all comprehensive 

knowledge of what goes into a modern 

yacht, preferably combined with 

signifi cant blue water sailing or build 

experience. Th ey will need the ability 

to inspire confi dence in our clients, most 

of whom are experienced yachtsmen. 

Foreign language skills would be 

benefi cial, though not essential. Our 

Project Managers are major contributors 

to our ongoing quality development 

programme. To apply, please send your 

CV to: recruitment@oystermarine.com 

OYSTER SPONSORS LORO 

PIANA SUPERYACHT REGATTA 

Th e fourth edition of this annual event, 

jointly organised by Boat International 

Media and Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, 

and sponsored by Oyster, attracted an 

impressive fl eet of 27 of the world’s most 

stunning superyachts to the beautiful Yacht 

Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo, 

Sardinia. Oyster CEO, David Tydeman, 

enjoyed the hospitality on board the 

57.5m Dubois designed, Royal Huisman 

Twizzle, a slightly larger version of the 

Oyster 125 Flybridge, but it was Harry 

Macklowe’s Unfurled and Irvine Laidlaw’s 

Highland Fling that triumphed in an 

event that was dominated by strong winds. 

OYSTER LIFE 

OYSTER REGATTAS 

PALMA 27 SEPTEMBER – 1 OCTOBER 2011 

Th is September will see an impressive fl eet of around 30 Oysters taking part in Oyster’s annual 

Mediterranean regatta, hosted as usual by the Real Club Nautico in Palma. Participants can look 

forward to some great racing in the Bay of Palma and some wonderful parties at some of the 

island’s best venues, including a wine tasting and Paella party at the mountainside Bodegas Santa 

Catalina and cocktails on the terrace of the iconic Es Baluard art gallery. A full report will appear 

in the next issue of Oyster News. 

BVI 2 – 7 APRIL 2012 

Th e British Virgin Islands is one of the most stunning cruising areas in the Caribbean and provides 

a fantastic location for an Oyster regatta. Th e Oyster fl eet will rendezvous at Nanny Cay Marina 

and will visit a number of islands during the 7-day event, including a planned stopover at the 

recently opened, prestigious Oil Nut Bay where the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda has opened 

a Caribbean base. 

COWES 9 – 14 JULY 2012 

Planned to be held just before the start of the London Olympics, Oyster’s UK Regatta will once 

again be hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron at their beautiful and historic headquarters, 

Th e Castle, overlooking the Solent. Always a popular event, a large fl eet of Oysters is expected 

to take part. With a number of other signifi cant events planned in the Solent in the build up to 

the Olympics, there will be plenty of other sailing action for participants to enjoy, including what 

will surely be one of the biggest fl eets of J-Class yachts to be seen anywhere in the world. Th e 

organisers are hoping to have a fl eet of up to seven J’s take part in the Regatta, which starts on 

18 July and ends with the Hundred Guinea Cup around the Isle of Wight on 21 July. Following on 

from the Oyster Regatta, this is sure to be a spectacular sight not to be missed. 

To ensure you are able to take part in any of these events, owners should register their interest 

as soon as possible with Jacqui Kotze at: jacqui.kotze@oystermarine.com 

HARRODS INTERIOR DESIGN 

SHOWCASED ON OYSTER 72 

We were delighted to off er the Harrods Interior Design 

team the opportunity to dress the new Oyster 72, Infi niti, 

with a range of beautiful soft furnishings and decorative 

objects from the Harrods store, for our Private View event 

at St Katharine Docks. Th e yacht looked absolutely 

stunning and was much admired by visitors to the event. 

We look forward to working with the team in the future. 

For more information see: www.thestudioatharrods.co.uk 

SUMMER 2011 5

6 

OYSTER 625 

NOMINATED FOR YACHT OF THE YEAR 


Launched earlier this year to great acclaim at Oyster’s Private View in London, the 

new Oyster 625 has been nominated for the European Yacht of the Year, proving 

what the team at Oyster, and the seven owners who have already placed orders 

for the 625, have known for some time, that this innovative new yacht, with her 

modern profi le and contemporary styling, really is a winner both above and below 

decks. Th e Oyster 625 will be displayed at this year’s Southampton, Cannes and 

Genoa Boat Shows. To book a boarding pass to view her at these shows please 

go to the Events section of our website: www.oystermarine.com or call us on 

+44 (0)1473 695 005. See page 36 for a report on this stunning new yacht. 

TRANSATLANTIC MAXI YACHT CUP 2011 

OYSTER 885 TAKES SHAPE 

Th e International Maxi Association (IMA) 

and Yacht Club Costa Smeralda are jointly 

organising a Transatlantic race starting from 

Tenerife in November 2011 and fi nishing 

at Virgin Gorda, in the British Virgin Islands, 

just in time for the opening of the new YCCS 

Club House at Oil Nut Bay. Th e event is open 

to yachts over 60 feet LOA, with a mini 

maxi fl eet 60-80 feet, maxis 80-100 feet 

and supermaxis of 100 feet and over. Th e 

organisers would be delighted to see a fl eet 

of Oysters take part. For more information, a 

copy of the Notice of Race and to enter, go 

to: www.internationalmaxiassociation.com 

Th e fi rst of the fantastic, new Oyster 885s has been released from the mould and will soon be 

installed in the build bay at our Southampton Yacht Services yard, where she will commence fi t-out. 

Oyster 885-01 is being built for Formula One Racing commentator, Eddie Jordan’s family trust and 

will be launched in time to go on show at the 2012 Southampton Boat Show before heading for the 

Caribbean to join Oyster’s World Rally fl eet. 

OYSTER 56 

FIRST IN WORLD ARC 

Stephen and Aileen Hyde’s Oyster 

56, A Lady, was fi rst in her class in 

the 2010-2011 World ARC that 

ended in the Caribbean in April, 

repeating the success of David 

Holliday’s Oyster 72, Kealoha 8 

that won her class in the previous 

event. Just days aft er fi nishing their 

14-month voyage around the 

world, Stephen and Aileen joined 

the fl eet of Oysters at our regatta 

in Grenada, where they enjoyed 

some success on the racecourse. 

See page 102 for more news on 

A Lady’s circumnavigation. 

PRIVATE VIEW PALMA 

Our fi rst Private View to be held 

in Palma, Mallorca takes place 

over the weekend of 24-25 

September, providing an 

opportunity for customers to view 

a selection of yachts from across 

the Oyster fl eet, conveniently 

located alongside the terrace at 

the prestigious Real Club Nautico. 

For more details, or to make an 

appointment, please call our sales team 

on +44 (0)1473 695 005 or email: 

privateview@oystermarine.com

ROUND THE ISLAND RACE 

Th e new Oyster 82, Starry Night, led the 

fl eet of 13 Oysters in this year’s J. P. Morgan 

Round the Island Race, crossing the line in 

just over six hours in 19th place, in a record- 

breaking fl eet of over 1,900 yachts. 

Organised by the Island Sailing Club, this 

year was the 80th Anniversary of the event. 

In a race that was dominated by weather, 

the 16,000 crew taking part faced wind 

speeds of up to 28 knots and huge swells 

off the Needles. Amongst the Oyster fl eet 

OLD PULTENEY ROW TO THE POLE 

Announced in the last issue of Oyster News, 

intrepid Scots explorer, Jock Wishart, is making 

fi nal preparations for his attempt to ‘Row to 

the Pole’, an expedition planned to highlight 

the already dramatic eff ect of climate change 

on the ice around the Polar Regions. A 

seasoned Arctic adventurer and Transatlantic 

rower, Jock will be leading a small crew in 

what is a world fi rst attempt to row to the 

Magnetic North Pole (as certifi ed in 1996). 

Th e expedition will set off from Resolute Bay 

at the beginning of August 2011 and the 

crew plan to row for 450 miles before 

fi nally reaching the Magnetic North Pole 

at 78 degrees, 35.724 minutes North, 

104 degrees, 11.915 minutes West. We wish 

Jock and his team every success. Follow the 

expedition at: www.rowtothepole.com 

OYSTER LIFE 

was Steve Powell’s Oyster 62 UHURU, just 

returned to the UK aft er her amazing trip to 

the Antarctic and Falkland Islands – one yacht 

that certainly wouldn’t have been worried by 

the conditions! Th e veteran Oyster Lightwave 

48, Scarlet Oyster owned by Ross Appleby 

was one of six yachts taking part on behalf of 

the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, with a crew 

of young people on board. Oyster continues to 

support the Trust, which was the offi cial charity 

for the 2011 race. 

TEAM OYSTER COMPLETE 

LONDON TO BRIGHTON 

BIKE RIDE 

Congratulations to Superyacht Project 

Manager, Julian Weatherill, Broker, 

Tom Roberts and Marketing Assistant, 

Rebecca Twiss who joined 27,000 other 

cyclists taking part in the 56-mile British 

Heart Foundation’s London to Brighton 

Bike Ride. Th e intrepid trio completed 

the ride in fi ve hours, raising just under 

£1000 for the charity. Anyone who 

would like to support their achievement 

with a donation can still do so by going 

to the Just Giving website at: 

www.justgiving.com/team-oyster 

OYSTER EVENTS 

2011 

Orust Open Yard 

26 – 28 August 

HISWA Amsterdam In-Water Boat Show 

6 – 11 September 

Cannes International Boat Show 


Newport Brokerage Show 


Southampton International Boat Show 


Oyster Brokerage Autumn Show 


Oyster World Rally Seminar 


Oyster Owners’ Dinner, Beaulieu 

17 September 

Monaco Yacht Show 


Oyster Private View – Palma 


Oyster Regatta – Palma 

27 September – 1 October 

Genoa Boat Show 

1 – 9 October 

Annapolis Sailboat Show 


Hamburg Boat Show 

29 October – 6 November 

Hamburg Owners’ Dinner 

29 October 

ARC Owners’ Party 

17 November 

ARC Start 

20 November 

2012 

Oyster Regatta – BVI 

2 – 7 April 

Oyster Olympic Regatta – Cowes 

9 – 14 July 

2013 

Oyster World Rally 

January 2013 – April 2014 

SUMMER 2011 7

8 


INTRODUCING THE 

NEW OYSTER 725 

Th e new Oyster 725 is a stunning development of the well-proven 

Oyster 72, with many new features, including triple ‘seascape’ vertical 

hull windows in the saloon and a clear, fl ush aft deck, both features 

recently introduced on the new Oyster 625 to great acclaim.

Th e Oyster 725 was conceived from the outset 

to blend the live-aboard and seamanlike qualities 

of a typical Oyster within a design where high 

performance is also considered a priority. 

Th e 725 is built using modern composite 

engineering, producing a hull and deck that 

are both light and stiff , without compromising 

the strength, durability and ease of handling 

for which Oyster yachts are so well known. 

Th e Oyster 725 has one of our sleekest deck 

and cockpit designs ever, with her rolled edge 

side decks, fl ush deck hatches and fi ttings, 

transom stairwell and a host of ‘superyacht’ 

OYSTER 725. DIMENSIONS 

Length overall (including pulpit) 22.77m 74' 9" 

Length of hull 22.10m 72' 6" 

Length of waterline 19.75m 64' 9" 

Beam 5.85m 19' 2.5" 

Draft HPB keel (standard) 2.95m 9' 8" 

Draft HPB keel (shoal) 2.34m 7' 8" 

INTRODUCING THE NEW OYSTER 725 

features. Below decks her interior joinery styling, 

fi xtures and fi ttings have undergone a subtle yet 

comprehensive transformation, giving her a 

modern and contemporary feel. 

Most owners in this size range will appreciate the 

advantages of separating the crew and galley 

from the owner’s and guest accommodation, 

a proven confi guration that works really well on 

the 725 with no compromises. Th e well-appointed 

owner's suite, together with double and twin guest 

cabins aft , provide luxurious accommodation for 

family and friends, whilst the living area forward 

of the galley can be confi gured with two en suite 

cabins or as a VIP guest suite. Th e Oyster 725’s 

spacious, light and airy saloon, with its great 

outboard vista through the vertical hull 

windows, complements the large cockpit, 

perfect for alfresco dining. Whilst her vast aft 

deck is a wonderful area for sun worshippers, 

entertaining and partying. 

Th e standard layout makes best use of space 

on board the Oyster 725, but as with all the 

larger Oysters, the in-house design team 

is expert at confi guring a custom layout 

to best match an owner’s individual needs 

and priorities. 

Standard rig and spar type Masthead cutter with fully battened main 

Available rig options In-mast furling 

Ballast keel type High Performance Bulb (HPB) 

Displacement (standard keel) 51,500 kgs 113,538 lbs 

Typical engine Cummins QSB5.9 156kW (212hp) 

SUMMER 2011 9

10 


VISIT. EXPERIENCE. SHOP. DINE. UNWIND. 

With the Bay of Kotor as its backdrop, Porto Montenegro is a breathtaking marina that is home to 

some of world’s finest superyachts. This summer visit our new boutiques, restaurants, bars, spa 

and beauty salon located in the Adriatic’s most exciting waterfront village. 

info@portomontenegro.com 

www.portomontenegro.com

With not one, but two guests of honour, both of 

whom had sailed around the world, along with 

a number of owners who had already signed up 

for Oyster’s World Rally in 2013 in attendance, 

the evening had a distinctly circumnavigating 

theme to it. Several owners had fl own in from 

around the world to attend and, as usual, there 

was great camaraderie as the previous season’s 

cruising stories were exchanged and future 

plans discussed. 

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston CBE had his leg pulled 

by fellow circumnavigator, David Holliday OBE, 

owner of the Oyster 72 Kealoha 8, for being the 

fi rst to sail single-handed non-stop around the 

LONDON OWNERS’ DINNER 

Th e London Owners ’ Dinner 

T H E L O N D O N O W N E R S ’ D I N N E R 

Over 170 owners and guests gathered at the Royal Th ames Yacht Club’s elegant 

Knightsbridge headquarters for Oyster’s annual London Owners’ Dinner in January. 

world and later to become the fastest, but never 

to have done it in the luxury of an Oyster yacht. 

Quick as a fl ash, the sailing Knight of the Realm 

retorted that he was allergic to oysters and all 

“It will be a fantastic experience 

– a once in a lifetime adventure. 

Paint yourself in bright colours, 

not pastel shades – enjoy every 

minute of the voyage.” 

other shellfi sh, and then regaled his audience 

with the benefi ts of sailing singlehanded. “You 

don’t have the problems of getting recalcitrant 

crew out of their bunks and up on watch, you 

don’t have them eating all the stores, and they 

don’t cost you anything in port.” He joked. 

Sir Robin did however have encouraging words 

for the 29 Oyster owners who have already 

signed up for the 2013-2014 Oyster World Rally 

to mark Oyster’s 40th Anniversary, “It will be 

a fantastic experience – a once in a lifetime 

adventure. Paint yourself in bright colours, 

not pastel shades – enjoy every minute of the 

voyage.” He told his enthusiastic audience. 

SUMMER 2011 11

12 

OYSTER NEWS

FRIENDSHIP AND 

FUN IN GRENADA 

OYSTER REGATTA 

GRENADA 2011 

BY LOUAY HABIB 

SUMMER 2011 13

14 


“Grenada provided the Oyster family with a fabulous setting. We wanted to 

have a Caribbean adventure and to explore a spectacular new location for 

our Oyster Regatta programme, but we got much more than a special venue. 

Th e Oyster owners and their guests were made extremely welcome by the 

people of Grenada, who were genuinely excited that the Oyster family had 

come to their island. I am sure that we will be going back.” 

David Tydeman, CEO Oyster Group 

Th e island of Grenada off ers some of the most 

idyllic cruising grounds anywhere in the world. 

Wonderful hidden coves and beaches with 

sand like fi ne sugar typify Grenada. Known as 

Th e Spice Island of the Caribbean, the mountainous 

interior is festooned with spice plantations with 

the sweet scent of nutmeg and cinnamon 

carried on the breeze. 

Grenada’s natural beauty is enhanced by its 

rich history and vibrant cultural heritage. Local 

festivals such as the carnival, fairs and markets 

remain an integral part of daily life on Grenada, 

which was fi rst discovered by Christopher 

Columbus in 1498. Most of the population 

lives near the capital, St George’s, one of the 

most picturesque cities in the Caribbean. Its 

horseshoe-shaped harbour, surrounded by its 

colourful, traditionally built buildings is the hub 

of the island and was recently complemented 

by a world-class international marina. 

In terms of modern marina facilities, Grenada 

has been somewhat of a late developer – that 

was until December 2008 – when Camper & 

Nicholsons Marinas opened Port Louis. Situated 

opposite the island’s capital, Port Louis has 170 

berths and is capable of handling superyachts 

up to 300 feet. 

Th e Oyster Regatta in Grenada was the 26th 

in the Oyster Regatta series and the fi rst time 

the event had come to the lush tropical island 

in the Southern Caribbean. Port Louis was 

chosen as an ideal base and the 25-strong 

Oyster fl eet were given pride of place at the 

heart of this impressive location, where they 

enjoyed VIP treatment from the Port Louis team, 

including Marketing Manager Danny Donelan, 

who had been instrumental in helping Oyster 

plan the event.

Th e event organising team, led by Liz Whitman, 

arrived in Grenada a week before the start to 

ensure that everything was in place and ready 

for the Oyster fl eet’s arrival. Eddie Scougall, 

heading up Oyster’s in-house service team, 

diligently provided owners with technical support, 

a complimentary service available to all owners 

at all Oyster events. 

Following the skippers’ briefi ng at Port Louis 

Marina, the Beach Cabana at the exclusive 

Mount Cinnamon was a fi tting venue for the 

opening cocktail party, which was hosted by the 

Grenada Tourist Board. Mount Cinnamon is a 

magnifi cent boutique resort set amidst tropical 

fl owering gardens, overlooking the crystal-clear 

waters of Grand Anse Beach, considered one of 

the most beautiful stretches of pristine, white, 

powder-soft sand in all the world. 

Drinks were followed by a sumptuous buff et 

dinner, whilst entertainment was provided by 

OYSTER REGATTA – GRENADA 

the renowned Tivoli Drummers. Th e guest of 

honour was Th e Hon. Tillman Th omas, the 

Prime Minister of Grenada, who gave a very 

warm welcome to the 200 guests attending the 

opening party of the Oyster Regatta in Grenada. 

Th e Oyster family dined under the stars and it 

was a fun fi lled evening full of laughter. Many of 

the Oyster owners and their families and guests 

are fi rm friends, but those new to Oyster 

Regattas were also treated to a great occasion, 

great company and a spectacular location. 

Top left : Th e crew of A Sulana raise the regatta fl ag 

Top right: Th e Oyster Fleet, Port Louis Marina 

Right top: David and Mary Tydeman with 

Th e Hon. Tilman Th omas, Prime Minister of Grenada 

Right bottom: Evening entertainment courtesy of 

the Tivoli Drummers 

SUMMER 2011 15

16 

DAY ONE 

Lewmar Race Day 


Grenada’s lush, green paradise relies on rain and on the morning of the 

Lewmar Race Day, the Oyster Fleet certainly got that. Led out of the marina 

by the Coastguard vessel, the 25 Oyster yachts proceeded in line on a sail 

past around St George’s harbour, with crews dressed in full wet weather 

gear – a sight more reminiscent of a wet day in the Solent than the Caribbean. 

As the cannons were fi red from the old fort in 

honour of the Oyster Regatta, the fl eet provided 

a sightseeing opportunity and welcome diversion 

from the rain for all those on board a cruise ship 

berthed inside the port. But the torrential 

downpour was short lived. As if by magic the 

fresh easterly wind blew away the rain clouds, 

providing dry, if somewhat tricky conditions. 

During the course of the day there were 

numerous wind shift s and predicting these 

changes was the secret to success. A light airs 

start was followed by a building breeze, which 

piped up to 15 knots by the end of the race. 

Starts are always important but especially in a 

fi ckle breeze and the Polish Oyster 46, SunSuSea, 

judged the line to perfection to get away well. 

Owned by Mariusz and Paulina Kierebinski, 

SunSuSea came to the Caribbean in the 2009 ARC. 

“We have been really delighted with the boat,” 

smiled Mariusz, “my family love to sail, especially in 

the Caribbean. Th is is our second Oyster Regatta 

and although we have little experience with racing, 

it is a great way to learn how to improve our 

sailing technique. We really like Grenada, it is 

such a friendly place and safe for our children. 

Aft er the regatta, we will be cruising through 

Th e Grenadines to St. Lucia, our last adventure 

before the boat returns across the Atlantic.” 

Besides Mariusz and Paulina, SunSuSea is crewed 

by their daughter Claudia and son Martin, who 

are fast learners in the cockpit. Whilst friends, 

Artur and Margaret trim the mainsail, helped by 

their daughter Adriana, who is just 11 years of age. 

In Class 1, the Oyster 655, Lush with Formula One 

racing analyst, Eddie Jordan on board, sailed a 

smart race to win, but the powerful Oyster 655 

was pushed all the way by Chris Shea’s Oyster 72, 

Magrathea, a veteran of several Oyster Regattas, 

who sailed a near perfect beat by using the lift ing 

breeze along Grande Anse Beach. Jonathon 

and Jane Mould’s Oyster 72, Koluka claimed a 

well-deserved third in class.

Alan Brook, who was taking part in his fi rst Oyster 

Regatta as a competitor with his wife Sue in their 

new Oyster 56, Sulana, won the fi rst race in 

Class 2. Th e meticulously prepared yacht was 

extremely well positioned on the racecourse to 

win by a fair margin. Scott Bickford’s American 

Oyster 53, Contingency was second and 

Ian Galbraith and crew, racing his Oyster 53, 

Jigsaw, kept their concentration to take third. 

Aft er the fl eet had returned to the safe confi nes 

of Port Louis Marina, a cocktail party, hosted by 

the Marine and Yachting Association of Grenada, 

was full of talk about the day’s events. Later that 

evening, the Oyster family was treated to a lavish, 

private party at the exclusive LaLuna Estate. 

Tucked away south of the capital, LaLuna is a 

secret hideaway on Morne Rouge Bay, which 

off ers one of the fi nest beaches on the island, 

just minutes from St George’s. Th e estate is 

oft en frequented by stars of stage and fi lm 

and provided a truly magical location for the 

second Oyster party of the regatta. 

Th e ultra-chic and secluded venue has a rustic 

charm extenuated by the use of traditional 


“Together with our children and friends, we had a great time and a lot of fun at this 

year’s Grenada Regatta. Th anks to Oyster’s organisation everything was perfect. 

Great choice of clubs and restaurants... spectacular atmosphere and cuisine.” 

Mariusz and Paulina Kierebinski, Oyster 46 SunSuSea 

Caribbean materials to provide a design-fusion, 

which is unmistakably Asian in appearance. 

Opened in 2000 by Bernado Bertucci, a former 

fashion consultant to Prada and Armani and 

his wife, Wendy, the resort was designed by 

Gabriella Giuntoli. Teak furniture and curved 

couches are enhanced by fl owing drapes, 

echoing the turquoise sea and green foliage that 

surrounds the estate. Th e wooden beachfront 

courtyard blends cane, cotton, silk and thatch and 

inviting day beds are scattered throughout the 

resort with sublime views of the perfect beach. 

Th e Oyster family was treated to a mouth 

watering four-course dinner with fi ne wine and 

a wonderful ambience. Aft erwards, a company 

of dancers electrifi ed the atmosphere and very 

soon the party was a very lively aff air. It may 

have been a day of mixed fortunes on the water 

but the Oyster crew-conga, snaking through 

the LaLuna courtyards was testament to a very 

successful day at the Oyster Regatta in Grenada. 

Far left : Cocktails at the Aquarium Restaurant and Beach Bar 

Above top left : Scott Bickford’s Oyster 53, Contingency 

Above top right: Family and friends crew the Oyster 46, 

SunSuSea 

Bottom left : Crew of the Oyster 655, Sotto Vento smiling 

through a downpour 

Bottom right: Th e Death family enjoying dinner at LaLuna 

SUMMER 2011 17

18 

Th e Race Offi cers set an adrenalin-packed 

course, fuelled by strong winds, funneling 

around the awe-inspiring southern 

coastline of Grenada 


DAY TWO 

Pelagos Race Day 

Th e Race Offi cers set an adrenalin-packed 

course, fuelled by strong winds, funneling 

around the awe-inspiring southern coastline 

of Grenada. Th e Oyster fl eet was fully tuned 

up, which showcased the grace, power and 

above all safety of these majestic yachts. 

Despite the feisty conditions, all of the 

competing yachts arrived in picturesque 

Calivigny Bay, with no more damage than 

a few sails in need of minor repairs. 

Ole and Lotte Vagner’s Oyster 62, Golden Gate 

had a great day on the water, executing some 

excellent mark roundings, including a text book 

gybe-set at the penultimate mark, to steal an 

advantage on their competitors. Golden Gate 

fi nished the day in fi ne style. 

“Although we are Danish, we decided to call our 

yacht Golden Gate, as we saw it as a gateway 

to adventure and it certainly has been.” 

Explained Lotte Vagner. “Th is is our fi ft h Oyster 

Regatta, we have enjoyed Oyster Regattas in the 

Mediterranean and Caribbean and it is so nice 

to meet up with our many friends in the Oyster 

family. Aft er the regatta we will be cruising with 

Golden Gate to Newport Rhode Island and 

among other locations, we plan to visit Cuba 

and Miami.” 

Part of the reason for going to Cuba and Miami 

is because Ole is a keen musician and his A-Band 

will be performing during the tour. By all accounts 

Ole is an accomplished base guitarist. 

“Grenada is one of my favourite places in the 

Caribbean. Th e people here are so friendly and 

they have not been too infl uenced by tourism. 

We are really enjoying this regatta and much 

of that enjoyment is due to our excellent crew, 

Kris the skipper and his wife Gunilla are such an 

important part of that. Oft en the hard work that 

skipper and crew put in goes unnoticed, without 


Aft er two days at Port Louis, the Oyster fl eet were all set to race to a new 

location. Le Phare Bleu would be the venue and it proved to be a fantastic 

experience. Th e 19-mile coastal race to Le Phare Bleu was full of excitement. 

them we would never be able to enjoy sailing 

Golden Gate, as much as we do.” 

During the race, Golden Gate had a close call 

with the Oyster 56, Asante. Although there was 

no infringement, Ole felt that perhaps they had 

come close to breaking the spirit of Oyster 

sailing and as soon as Golden Gate was dockside, 

he off ered his apologies to Andrew Walters, 

the owner of Asante, off ering him a bottle 

of champagne. It was duly accepted with 

a smile and a gracious remark from Andrew. 

“Th e situation actually stopped us from our plan 

of going inshore, which would have been the 

wrong move, so Golden Gate actually did us 

a favour, it was a lovely gesture by Ole, in true 

Corinthian spirit.” 

Aft er racing the fl eet made its way into the 

delightful little marina of Le Phare Bleu, where 

a cocktail party was held on board the lightship 

Västra Banken, originally built in Sweden in 

1900, it has been exquisitely restored. Th e 

Oyster fl eet was treated to a rather unusual 

musical performance, as a steel band played 

on board a tugboat, which sailed around the 

bay. It was an intoxicating atmosphere, as the 

sun dipped down on a perfect day and nearly 

200 Oyster guests settled in for dinner at 

Le Phare Bleu’s beachside restaurant. Dining 

alfresco at the water’s edge in the cooler night 

air was a delightful experience. A sumptuous 

buff et of local fayre including fresh fi sh and 

seafood was very well received before the 

famous Doc Adams Blues Band performed live 

to rapturous applause. Playing a string of all time 

favourites, it wasn’t long before the dance fl oor 

was throbbing to the music. With a break from 

racing the following day, the Oyster family 

partied well into the night. 

Left top: Strong winds off the coastline of Grenada 

Left bottom: Andrew & Anne Walters, Oyster 56 Asante 

leading the Oyster fl eet 

Above top: Th e stunning Oyster 82, Starry Night 

Above middle: Close racing for the Oyster fl eet 

Above bottom: Th e crew of Ole Vagner’s Oyster 62, 

Golden Gate 

SUMMER 2011 19

20 

DAY THREE 

Lay Day 

Following two fantastic days of racing, the Oyster yachts 

remained at Le Phare Bleu Marina for a well-earned rest, 

however many of the Oyster family took the opportunity 

to enjoy the beautiful island of Grenada. 

Excursions were organised by Oyster Marine, 

with over 35 people taking the opportunity to 

spend the day touring the island’s historic sites 

and rain forest with a lunch stop at the Belmont 

Estate, famous for its cocoa bean production, 

and a tour of Peter de Savary’s private Mount 

Edgcombe Estate. Several crews spent the day 

exploring the underwater world. Sea temperatures 

are usually in excess of 26ºC with excellent 

visibility. Nurse sharks, hawksbill turtles and 

stingrays are a common sight and dive sites 

vary from reef walls and coral gardens to wreck 

dives, oft en just a short journey away from shore. 

Grenada is famous for its Workboats, with over 

80 of these colourful craft racing every February 

at the Grenada Sailing Festival. For Lay Day, the 

Oyster crews were given the rare opportunity of 

sailing with the local Woburn based skippers of 

these clinker built wooden dinghies. Th ere was 

some light-hearted bragging between the local 

skippers and spectators were treated to some 

exciting racing in Calavigny Bay. Th ere was 

even talk amongst Oyster owners and regatta 

sponsors about building a workboat, to take part 

in future events, watch this space! 

Meanwhile ashore, there was a cook off , which 

involved a competition between Grenadians for 

the best tasting ‘Oil-Down’, the national dish of 

Grenada, which is a stew containing a huge 

variety of ingredients. Recipes diff er from pork 

off -cuts with coconut milk, bananas, saff ron and 

breadfruit to a salt fi sh off ering with okra and 

saff ron. Oyster owners and guests judged the 

competition before rounding off the day with 

a cocktail party, at which the ‘Oil Down’ and 

Workboat prizes were presented. 

Right: Lay Day fun on the Grenada Workboats 


DAY FOUR 

Dolphin Sails Race Day 


Aft er a truly delightful stay at Le Phare Bleu, the Oyster fl eet 

returned to action. Clear blue skies and an easterly breeze of 

15 knots provided champagne sailing conditions for the third 

race of the Oyster Regatta in Grenada. 

Th e Race Offi cers opted for a 20-mile course, 

starting with windward leeward, followed by a 

tactical beat along the southern side of the island. 

Th e wind abated during the course of the race 

but the forecast light airs never really materialised. 

Ray and Birgitte Charmak’s Oyster 53, Out of India 

had a great start, judging the line well and 

setting off at pace. 

“I was determined to get a good start today,” 

explained Ray, “we have been shy of the line on 

the last two occasions and as one of the smallest 

boats in the fl eet, we always have most of the 

fl eet in front of us. Before we decided to set off on 

our adventures with Out of India, Birgitte and 

I had hardly done any sailing at all, we really 

jumped in at the deep-end. Now we have sailed 

the yacht across the Atlantic and completed 

thousands of miles together, it has been a 

wonderful experience. Aft er considering several 

options, we decided to go for an Oyster, for 

blue-water cruising, it was a very good choice. 

We prefer a smaller yacht because it allows us to 

get away from it all and sail the boat by ourselves. 

But Out of India is not set up for racing, our main 

aim at Oyster Regattas is to have fun and we are 

certainly doing that in Grenada.” 

“When we heard that Oyster were organising 

the regatta in Grenada, we were delighted,” 

commented Birgitte “it is a wonderful island with 

really fascinating and breathtaking scenery. It is 

somewhere that we have enjoyed coming to 

before, and to have all of our friends from the 

other Oysters here makes it even more special.” 

Dolphin Race Day provided the fl eet with a tricky 

passage race back to Port Louis with special 

attention needing to be paid to negotiating the 

Porpoise Rocks on the southwest tip of Grenada. 

In Class 2, Alan and Sue Brook’s, Oyster 56 

Sulana was once again victorious, with John 

McTigue’s Oyster 56, Blue Dreams second and 

Harvey and Sue Death’s Oyster 56, Sarabi third. 

Ian Galbraith’s Oyster 53, Jigsaw had a great race 

and was well placed, but unfortunately touched 

the fi nishing mark. In a great act of sportsmanship, 

they alerted their error to the race committee. 

In Class 1 Jonathan and Jane Mould’s sporty 

Oyster 72, Koluka took line honours and won 

on handicap by a signifi cant margin. Koluka is 

a stylish Oyster 72, with a performance rig in 

carbon and a luxurious interior, with a state of the 

art entertainment system, Koluka is certainly a 

great combination of performance and comfort. 

Chris and Susan Shea’s Oyster 72, Magrathea 

was second and Eddie Jordan, racing the 

Oyster 655, Lush was third. 

The evening festivities took place at The 

Aquarium restaurant and beach bar. Th e staff 

at Th e Aquarium were full of smiles as the 

Oyster guests arrived. Many of the party took 

the opportunity of wandering onto the beautiful 

beach to watch the sun go down. It was a 

stunning location for the Oyster family to enjoy 

the cool sea breeze and twilight views of 

Grenada’s picture-perfect historical capital. 

Guests settled into the open-air restaurant 

amidst tropical gardens with Koi carp ponds 

and waterfalls. Th e Aquarium prides itself on its 

international wine cellar, which was very well 

received by the guests who enjoyed a barbeque 

of local fayre. Th e cobalt night sky and the sound 

of waves breaking on the pristine beach created 

a totally relaxing atmosphere. 

Top left : Chris & Susan Shea’s Oyster 72, Magrathea 

Bottom left : Ray and Birgitte Charmak, owners of 

Oyster 53, Out of India 

Above: Alan Brook and crew aboard Oyster 56, Sulana 

SUMMER 2011 21

22 

DAY FIVE 

Pantaenius Race Day 

Th e happy smiling faces dockside at 

Port Louis were testament to a truly 

memorable Oyster Regatta on the 

magical island of Grenada. However, 

there was an element of tension in 

the air on the last day of racing and 

a dramatic conclusion was to follow. 

Th e race area south west of Grenada was sublime, 

sunshine and crystal clear water with a warm 

breeze, which developed during the day, to a 

steady 12 knots. 

Jonathan and Jane Mould’s Oyster 72, Koluka 

continued their domination of Class 1 with their 

fourth victory, a clean sweep. An impressive 

performance but the couple did not come to 

Grenada just to compete, Jonathan and Jane 

were accompanied by their extended family, 

both daughters, husbands and grandchildren. 

“To be honest with you, the racing has been the 

most relaxing part. With three grandchildren all 

two or younger, it is a busy time ashore. My wife 

Jane has done most of the baby-sitting, while 

the rest of us have gone sailing. It has been a 

lovely experience, it is always nice to do well but 


to be in such a wonderful place with my family, 

is something to savour for years to come.” 

Chris and Susan Shea’s Oyster 72, Magrathea 

was a gallant second, that scored consistently 

through the regatta. Eddie Jordan on board 

the Oyster 655, Lush, fi nished the regatta in 

style, coming a close second to the overall 

winners Koluka. 

Alan and Sue Brook’s Oyster 56, Sulana was a 

clear leader prior to the last race but a dramatic 

event on the racecourse nearly cost them 

victory. A coming together with John McTigue’s 

Blue Dreams meant a 20% penalty, resulting 

in a 10th place for Sulana for the fi nal race. 

However their string of wins, prior to the last 

race, meant that Sulana held on to win 

Class 2 overall. 

Alan Brook commented: “We have been in 

Grenada for six weeks now and I can safely say 

it is an excellent place for many reasons and a 

very fi tting venue for Oyster yachts and their 

owners. I have an excellent crew on Sulana, 

who all worked well together to contribute to our 

success but I think that we can all leave Grenada 

as winners, it has been an excellent event.” 

Second in Class 2 was Scott Bickford’s Oyster 53, 

Contingency. David Fass’s Oyster 56, Sulana 

was third by just a single point. Meaning that 

Ian Galbraith’s Scottish Oyster 53, Jigsaw and 

Stephen and Aileen Hyde’s Irish Oyster 56, 

A Lady, just missed out on a podium fi nish. 

Stephen and Aileen Hyde left Crosshaven, in 

Southern Ireland, in the summer of 2009 and 

haven’t been back since. Aft er cruising their 

Oyster 56 down to Las Palmas, they crossed the 

Atlantic and continued west with the World ARC 

fl eet. Stephen has written a fascinating account of 

their 30,000-mile circumnavigation, with the fi nal 

instalment featured in this issue of Oyster News. 

“Without doubt, the most amazing place 

we have visited was the San Blas Islands.” 

Commented Stephen. “Th e archipelago is 

composed of approximately 200 islands off the 

coast of Panama. Beautiful beaches free from 

crocodiles and mosquitoes and brilliant diving in 

the reefs and blessed with crystal clear waters 

with an amazing variety of wildlife. Even black 

tipped reef sharks, which would oft en swim 

with us. When I suggested to my wife that we 

should sail around the world, she said absolutely 

nothing – no comment. However with just a few 

days to go until the start, she told me she was 

coming and was going to sail every mile. It has 

been a fantastic adventure.” 

On the fi nal night of the Oyster Regatta Grenada, 

the prize-giving party was held at Port Louis 

Marina. Th e new facility has been a splendid 

setting for the Oyster fl eet and a fi tting venue 

for the closing ceremony and party. Over 230 

guests attended the evening with Grenadian 

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Peter David, as Guest 

of Honour. “Sailing is very important to Grenada, 

it is deeply rooted in our culture and I speak for 

Top left : Mark Howard’s Oyster 56, Amanzi 

Top right: Jonathan & Jane Mould’s Oyster 72, Koluka

It was a very happy occasion with 

crews toasting each other and 

recalling memorable moments 

during a fantastic week. 

the Prime Minister and all Grenadians, that we 

were delighted to welcome all of the Oyster 

yachts to our island and hope that you all return 

soon.” Commented Peter David. 

Aft er the prize-giving, a gourmet four-course 

meal was served, it was a very happy occasion 

with crews toasting each other and recalling 

memorable moments during a fantastic week. 

Eddie Jordan was competing at his fi rst Oyster 

Regatta, his long career with Formula One has 

taken him to some of the world’s fi nest locations. 

“To be honest, contrary to popular opinion, 

I have never been much of a party-goer. I have 

oft en found that social events oft en never live up 

to the billing. But I have to say this regatta has 


surpassed my expectations. I arrived in Grenada 

extremely jet-lagged aft er travelling with the 

Formula One circuit through the Far East and 

it was a pleasure for myself and Marie to enjoy 

such a well managed event with great people 

in a lovely part of the world.” 

A brilliant fi rework display over the marina, 

capped off a truly wonderful event. Th e Oyster 

Regatta in Grenada had been a roaring success. 

Probably one of the main reasons for that was 

the warmth and friendship of the people of 

Grenada, something that the Oyster family 

appreciates a great deal. 

Later in the year the Oyster family will return to 

Palma, Mallorca for the annual Mediterranean 

Regatta. Hosted once again by the prestigious 

Real Club Nautico, the event will run from 

27 September to 1 October 2011. 

For more information about Oyster Regattas see: 

www.oystermarine.com/events 

Photos: Ingrid Abery 

Above: Th e crew of Oyster 82, Oceana celebrate 

crossing the line. 

Below: Th e Oyster 655, Lush 

SUMMER 2011 23

24 

CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE 

CLASS 1 

Presented by Oyster Brokerage 

Golden Gate 62 Ole & Lotte Vagner 

CLASS 2 

A Sulana 56 David Fass 

Sarabi 56 Harvey & Susan Death 

Sulana 56 Alan & Sue Brook 

RACE 1 – SPONSORED BY LEWMAR 

CLASS 1 

1st Lush 655 Fastnet Ltd 

2nd Magrathea 72 Chris & Susan Shea 

3rd Koluka 72 Jonathon & Jane Mould 

4th Starry Night 82 Starry Yachts 

CLASS 2 

1st Sulana 56 Alan & Sue Brook 

2nd Contingency 53 Scott Bickford 

3rd Jigsaw 53 Ian Galbraith 

4th Queen Emma 45 Laurence Batten & Susie Bowman 

RACE 2 – SPONSORED BY PELAGOS YACHTS 

CLASS 1 

1st Koluka 72 Jonathon & Jane Mould 


3rd Starry Night 82 Starry Yachts 

4th Pandemonium 82 Stuart Smith & Barry Cooper Jr 

CLASS 2 


2nd A Sulana 56 David Fass 

3rd Contingency 53 Scott Bickford 

4th A Lady 56 Stephen & Aileen Hyde 


RACE 3 – SPONSORED BY DOLPHIN SAILS 

CLASS 1 



3rd Lush 655 Fastnet Ltd 

4th Dorado 62 Terry & Mollie King-Smith 

CLASS 2 


2nd Blue Dreams 56 John McTigue 

3rd Sarabi 56 Harvey & Susan Death 

4th A Lady 56 Stephen & Aileen Hyde 

RACE 4 – SPONSORED BY PANTAENIUS 

CLASS 1 


2nd Lush 655 Fastnet Ltd 

3rd Starry Night 82 Starry Yachts 

4th Magrathea 72 Chris & Susan Shea 

CLASS 2 

1st Stardust of Burnham 56 Paul Bateman 

2nd Sarabi 56 Harvey & Susan Death 

3rd Asante 56 Andrew & Ann Walters 

4th Contingency 53 Scott Bickford

THE YACHTING WORLD PERPETUAL TROPHY 

Presented by Hon Peter David, Minister of Tourism 

Magrathea 72 Chris & Susan Shea 

THE WINDBOATS ANNIVERSARY TROPHY 


Lush 655 Fastnet Ltd 

THE OYSTER REGATTA TROPHY 


CLASS 1 



3rd Lush 655 Fastnet Ltd 

4th Starry Night 82 Starry Yachts 

CLASS 2 


2nd Contingency 53 Scott Bickford 

3rd A Sulana 56 David Fass 

4th Jigsaw 53 Ian Galbraith 


“Th anks for such an enjoyable event, really well 

organised down to the last detail. Th is was our fi rst 

Oyster Regatta and it exceeded all our expectations. 

You not only build nice boats but you also help us to 

make the best of them in delightful ways and places.” 

Andrew and Ann Walters Oyster 56, Asante 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the many individuals 

and businesses in Grenada who supported the Oyster Regatta, for 

which we are extremely grateful. More information can be found on 

the Events section of our website. 

Honourable Tillman Th omas, Prime Minister 

Honourable Peter David, Minister of Tourism 

Simon Stiel, Grenada Board of Tourism 

www.grenadagrenadines.com 

Marine & Yachting Association of Grenada 

www.mayag.net 

Grenada Port Authority 

Grenada Coastguard 

Anita and Mark Sutton, Island Dreams 

www.islandreamsgrenada.com 

Danny Donelan and Glynn Th omas 

Camper & Nicholson’s Port Louis Marina 

www.cnmarinas.com/plm 

Dieter Burkhalter, Jana Caniga & Lynn Fletcher 

Le Phare Bleu Marina and Boutique Hotel 

www.lepharebleu.com 

Mark Scott, Mount Cinnamon 

www.mountcinnamongrenadahotel.com 

Uli Kuhn, Th e Aquarium & Victory Bar 

www.aquarium-grenada.com 

Bernardi & Wendy Bertucci, LaLuna 

www.laluna.com 

Rodney George, Loan of the committee boat 

James Pascall, Horizon Yacht Charters 

Loan of marks and mark laying 

www.horizonyachtcharters.com 

Mike and Pete, Palm Tree Marine 

Mark laying 

www.palmtreemarine.com 

Russ Fielden, Race course advice 

Jimmy Bristol, Grenada Sailing Festival 

Loan of race equipment 

www.grenadasailingfestival.com 

DABS Car Rentals, Loan of team car 

www.dabscarrentals.com 

Digicel, Loan of team phones 

www.digicelgroup.com 

Grenada Marina Taxi Association 

Westerhall Rum, Complimentary rum 

www.westerhallrums.com 

North South Wines, Complimentary wines 

www.northsouthwines.com 

Sarah Baker, Woburn Workboats 

SUMMER 2011 25

26 


OVER 30 OYSTERS TO SET SAIL IN WORLD RALLY 

Plans for Oyster’s World Rally are gathering 

pace, with 32 enthusiastic owners now signed 

up to take part in the inaugural event, which 

will see the Oyster fl eet set sail from the 

historic Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua on Sunday 

6 January 2013. We are delighted that so many 

owners have taken up the challenge and we 

are so proud, and frankly slightly humbled, 

by the fact that this event has taken off at an 

astonishing pace. 

Held during the weekend of Oyster’s Private 

View event in London in May, the fi rst of this 

year’s complimentary two-day seminars was 

hosted by the Royal Th ames Yacht Club and 

attended by 26 of the owners on the entry 

list. With an international fl eet ranging from 

an Oyster 46 to the fi rst Oyster 885, delegates 

fl ew in from as far afi eld as Singapore, South 

Africa and the USA to take part. 

Leading the London seminar was the Oyster 

in-house team who will escort the rally fl eet 

throughout the entire circumnavigation. Oyster 

Project Manager, Debbie Johnson, and Customer 

Care Manager, Eddie Scougall, who are already 

familiar to many owners, have both completed 

circumnavigations in Oyster yachts and between 

them have a wealth of technical expertise and 

experience of blue water sailing. Both Debbie 

and Eddie have already been released from 

their usual duties and are now working full-time 

on preparation and planning for the rally, which 

has already seen them visit the Panama Canal, 

Galapagos, Marquesas and Tahiti. As David 

Tydeman commented, “We recognise that our 

owners’ expectations and requirements may 

be diff erent to other world rally fl eets – Oysters 

are large yachts and this is a much bigger fl eet 

than recent world rallies, which will provide a 

challenge in some of the smaller islands visited 

en route. We want this to be an experience that 

our owners will remember for the rest of their 

lives and we intend to ensure that we put the 

proper planning in place to achieve that. Th ere 

isn’t anyone better qualifi ed than Debbie and 

Eddie to support our owners on this adventure. 

(Although I think when they volunteered to do 

this, they dreamed of sailing around with the 

fl eet – reality has set in, that being in each 

location ahead of the fi rst yacht, and leaving 

aft er the last, will mean two years of hotels and 

airlines. I am grateful that their experience and 

enthusiasm will make this work and I’m sure the 

fl eet will help them enjoy it too!)” 

Speakers at the May seminar included Nigel 

Calder who provided an entertaining and 

informative insight into long distance cruising 

and professional meteorologist, Chris Tibbs 

who has 250,000nm to his credit, including 

three circumnavigations, one as skipper for 

the BT Global Challenge. Representatives from 

Pantaenius, MailASail, Icom, Raymarine, Dolphin 

Sails, Vortec Marine and “Tomo” from Medical 

Services Off shore (MSOS) all highlighted just 

some of the things owners need to consider 

when contemplating a world voyage. Both MSOS 

and Chris have been retained by Oyster to help 

provide some of the ‘special services’ that 

Oyster plans to bring to the Rally to refl ect the 

standards of service expected by our owners. 

We are delighted that Yellowbrick, one of the 

world’s largest satellite-based tracking providers 

will be supporting the Oyster Rally and will 

fi t trackers to each yacht in the fl eet, whilst 

Musto has been selected to provide a range 

of rally merchandise. 

Th e second seminar for participants will be held 

over the weekend of 17-18 September in the 

beautiful setting of Beaulieu, in the New Forest, 

just outside Southampton. Th e programme will 

include a presentation about the Galapagos 

Islands by Ricardo Arenas and Yvonne Mortola, 

of Servi Galapagos, who have been retained by 

Oyster to provide all the services required for 

the Oyster fl eet’s visit to the islands. A dinner on 

the Saturday evening will be held amongst the 

exhibits in the National Motor Museum, a unique 

event to which all owners are warmly invited, 

and is not to be missed. 

For more information see our World Rally 

website at: www.oysterworldrally.com 

or contact Debbie Johnson at: 

debbie.johnson@oystermarine.com 

Owners not taking part in the world rally 

seminar, who would like to book for the 

dinner only should contact Jacqui Kotze: 

jacqui.kotze@oystermarine.com 

Oyster World Rally Trade Partners confi rmed to date: 

Dolphin Sails, Formula BV, Lewmar, Musto, Pantaenius, 

Pelagos Yachts, Raymarine, Reckmann, Yellowbrick

FOUR DOORS. 

FOUR SEATS. 

FOR TEST DRIVING NOW. 

THE NEW FOUR DOOR ASTON MARTIN RAPIDE 

For a priority test drive please visit 

www.astonmartin.com/oyster 

Official government fuel consumption figures in MPG (Litres per 100km) for the Aston Martin Rapide: 

Urban 12.5 (22.6), Extra Urban 27.1 (10.4), Combined 19.0 (14.9). CO 2 emissions: 355 g/km 

SUMMER 2011 27

28 


OWNER PROFILE – MARIUSZ KOPER 

MARIUSZ 

KOPER 

FROM PUBLISHER 

TO ADVENTURER 

Mariusz Koper, one of Poland’s most successful publishers, has 

a lot to thank Lech Wałęsa for. Mariusz was just 19 when the 

Wałęsa led Solidarity strike at the Lenin shipyard in Gdańsk 

broke the yoke of Communist power that had stunted growth in 

Poland since the Russian take-over at the end of World War II. 

BY BARRY PICKTHALL 

SUMMER 2011 29

30 

Th e son of an agricultural co-operative manager, 

Mariusz Koper was brought up in the central town of 

Inowroclaw, 200km from the Baltic Sea. Pocket money 

was earned working in a co-operative orchard, and he 

might well have followed his father handling apples, 

rather than Apple Macs had the Solidarity uprising not 

changed the course of Polish history in 1989. 

He was lucky in other ways too, in that his mother was a 

teacher specialising in history and literature, which gave 

the young Mariusz a far broader view of life. 

“My fi rst trip outside the Iron Curtain was when I was 

11. I went to Denmark and it really opened my eyes to 

the world.” Mariusz recalls. “I had been fascinated by 

geography and travel ever since primary school, but like 

most children in those days, travel was limited to a fi nger 

on a map and reading about heroes in adventure novels.“ 

At high school, the 6ft 4in Koper joined the MKS 

Kasprowicz basketball team and got a fi rst taste of 

watersports, paddling kayaks and sailing the local Omega 

class keelboats on a nearby lake. At college, he was 

fascinated by science fi ction and new technology and 

decided to major in Computer Science. “My fi rst job was 

as a programmer and systems designer and within four 

years I was head of research and development. At the 

time, Poland was still under martial law and subjected 

to a worldwide embargo, but I managed to smuggle in 

electronic parts from the Far East and set up Titan SA, 

with three friends. It was one of the fi rst soft ware 

companies in Poland.” 

In 1988, at the height of the Communist collapse, Mariusz, 

then 27, took the opportunity to emigrate to Canada 

where, with his girlfriend, he set up the jewellery house 

Maya Ghall and developed an international business 

designing costume jewellery and selling to the best 

boutiques in Toronto, Montreal, New York, London 

and Paris. 

Four years later, when Poland was mid-way through a 

transformation from Communist to free-market economy, 

Mariusz returned home to help his parents establish 

themselves as educational publishers. At the time, the 

home market was dominated by the state-owned 

publisher WSIP which was reacting slowly to the changing 

world and broadening expectations of teachers. 


“My fi rst job was as a programmer and systems designer and within four 

years I was head of research and development. At the time, Poland was still 

under martial law and subjected to a worldwide embargo, but I managed 

to smuggle in electronic parts from the Far East and set up Titan SA, with 

three friends. It was one of the fi rst soft ware companies in Poland.” 

Mariusz brought with him the latest Apple Mac desktop 

publishing technology and quickly surpassed the staid 

products from their monopolistic opposition with 

attractive layouts and modern teaching methods. 

Starting with a series of science exercise books, the 

aptly named Nowa Era (New Era) publishing house sold 

more than one million books in its fi rst year. In 1994, 

the company launched a series of biology textbooks, 

which further undermined the state monopoly, and fi ve 

years later, was ranked the fi ft h largest educational 

publisher in Poland. 

In 1999, educational reform in Poland brought fresh 

opportunities and led to Nowa Era becoming a national 

leader in science publishing. It was a remarkable 

achievement and to celebrate Mariusz Koper took his 

entire 32-man team to Egypt to broaden their minds. 

“I believe in people. A good team that respects and 

grows together can do more than one made up from 

the best recruits that are focused on themselves.” He says. 

Th ree years later, the Nowa Era founder began a series 

of acquisitions, starting with his sister’s publishing house 

Arka. Th is was followed by the oldest Polish cartographer 

PPWK, one of the major private competitors Rozak and 

Vulcan, which specialised in management systems for 

schools and local authorities. 

He was just as interested in publishing co-editions and 

began a partnership with Cambridge University Press 

and the Boston based American publisher Heinle to 

introduce westernised management manuals and 

teaching resources. 

By 2007, the group had grown to 500 employees, 

and to celebrate their 15th anniversary, Koper took 

them back to Egypt once more, having already held 

integrating meetings in Tenerife, Cuba, the Dominican 

Republic and Mexico. “Competitors couldn’t believe that 

the whole company would be rewarded instead of 

simply the top management.” Says Mariusz who realised 

at an early stage that success is dependant on all your 

staff and not just the few. 

By then, Nowa Era’s products and services were as 

diverse as its travel, taking in books, CD-ROMs, and 

other electronic teaching and learning resources, maps, 

atlases, charts, audio tapes and educational fi lms.


“I believe in people. A good team that 

respects and grows together can do 

more than one made up from the best 

recruits that are focused on themselves.” 

Th e business had grown from a one-man operation to 

become the market-leader with sales of almost 15 million 

books a year. 

In 2007, Koper agreed to sell out his controlling interest in 

Nowa Era to the Finnish publishing house Sanoma WSOY, 

but continued to act as CEO until the end of 2010. 

“One factor that contributed to the rapid development 

of Nowa Era was living between Toronto and Warsaw 

and commuting between the two. My time in Canada 

gave me a fresh perspective and opened my eyes to 

new publishing ideas at a time of huge changes within 

the industry. It also gave me the opportunity to develop 

a second passion – sailing.” 

SUMMER 2011 31

32 


“Th e whole circumnavigation could be done 

only because of my friends who helped 

me to run the company and my family 

who supported my dream.”

Mariusz re-kindled his boyhood interest in 1995, setting 

sail on Lake Ontario aboard school boats from Humber 

College in Toronto. A year later, he took the family for 

their fi rst cruise aboard a charter yacht when his fourth 

daughter Th ea was just 14 months old. 

A year later he expanded his horizons by joining a charter 

crew on an adventure sail from Auckland across the 

Pacifi c to Tahiti. Th e voyage ended in a 60 knot storm, 

but far from putting him off , he then embarked on a race 

above the 66th parallel to Spitzbergen. 

It was time to buy a yacht. Mariusz fi rst came across an 

Oyster 485 at the Annapolis Boat Show, but then fi nalised 

on the design aft er several visits to the Hamburg Show. 

Katharsis was handed over in September 2001 and Mariusz 

immediately set sail for the Mediterranean, reaching 

Gibraltar in November that year. His dream was to 

cruise round the world, and aft er a series of voyages 

around the Aegean, Koper and his crew fi nally set out 

across the Atlantic bound for Brazil in January 2003. 

“Th e whole circumnavigation could be done only because 

of my friends who helped me to run the company and 

my family who supported my dream. My sister Roma, 

who was co-owner of Nowa Era became my voyage 

partner. Rotating crew included some of Nowa Era staff 


who could have a chance to taste what blue water 

sailing is all about.” 

Th e following year Mariusz spent his spare time cruising 

the Caribbean, taking part in Oyster’s British Virgin 

Islands Regatta with his Canadian wife Peggy and their 

young family. Th e yacht and her crew then sat out 

Hurricane Ivan in Grenada before heading south to 

Panama and a three-month cruise through the Pacifi c 

to New Zealand. 

In 2005, the Kopers sailed on to Brisbane, Fiji, Vanuatu 

and New Caledonia. Th ey returned to Australia the 

following year to visit the Great Barrier Reef, then 

headed north to Bali, Singapore and Phuket. 

Katharsis remained in Th ailand for two years, hosting 

the family for short cruises while Mariusz focused on 

Nowa Era and the education reforms being carried 

out in Poland. It was not until 2009 that he fi nally found 

time to complete the circumnavigation, returning via 

the Maldives, and Suez to tie the knot back in Athens 

that September. 

“Th e last part of the odyssey was very stressful. Th e Gulf 

of Aden was awash with pirates and once, when visibility 

was limited by a sand storm, they approached Katharsis 

only to be scared away by the approach of a navy ship. 

SUMMER 2011 33

34 


“One skipper said that you will return as a diff erent person from 

Antarctica and I have to agree with that. Th is vast and ice-bound 

land is full of life and reminds us how vulnerable we are.”

For most people it is diffi cult to follow their dreams because 

of ties they have on land. I fulfi lled my dreams because of 

my determination and the support of my family and friends. 

I managed to make a circumnavigation and reach the top 

business level at the same time. It was the most intensive 

and exciting time in my life so far.” Mariusz recalls. 

By then Katharsis II, a new Oyster 72, was already launched 

with a fresh focus to visit the icy wastes of Antarctica. 

“For me, sailing has always been a mixture of challenge 

and pleasure. One of the biggest challenges has been 

to cross the stormy and poorly charted waters of the 

Antarctic. By contrast, one of the biggest pleasures has 

been to have my six children all on board at the same 

time, which was why I purchased a bigger Oyster!” 

Th ey set out on the 2009 ARC, and competed in the 

Oyster BVI Regatta in 2010 before heading through 

the Panama Canal for a three-week stay in Galapagos. 

Mariusz and two crew then took on the Pacifi c in one 

14-day voyage to Fatu Hiva to spend a month cruising 

the Marquesas Islands. September and October last year 

were spent diving with sharks in Rangiroa and Bora Bora 

before returning eastwards via Tahiti and Easter Island to 

round Cape Horn on January 7th this year. 

Aft er meeting with his sister and parents in Ushuaia, Mariusz 

set sail for a 3-week voyage down to Antarctica, crossing a 

stormy Drake’s Passage to visit Henryk Arctowski, the Polish 

Antarctic Base in Academy Bay on King George Island. 

Aft er three days at the Polish Station, Katharsis II continued 

south stopping at Greenwich, Livingstone and Deception 

islands. Th e Antarctic Peninsula was reached near Cape 

Murray but they continued on to Paradise Bay. Aft er visits to 

the Gonzales Chilean Base, British Port Lockroy Base and 

the Ukrainian Vernadsky Base furthest south, they made the 

decision to attempt to sail into the Antarctic Circle. 

“Yachts rarely pass Vernadsky Station. We were discouraged 

to sail further south by an experienced polar skipper 

because of the amount of ice that season. Th e weather 

was very unstable and the ice fl ow could change its direction 

without any warning, blocking you in shallow waters. But 

being just 120 miles from the Antarctic Circle, I couldn’t 

resist the temptation of going further. Halfway, the ice 

really stopped us. It looked like the end of the trip south 

but aft er backing off I managed to fi nd a clear path along 

the south side of Dodman Island. We survived a storm in 

Mutton Cove, one of very few shelters there and the 

next day on February 10th we sailed through the Antarctic 

Circle. It was a great feeling of achievement.” 

“It was the most diffi cult trip so far. It was a huge challenge 

for me as skipper but also for the boat and its entire 

crew. One skipper said that you will return as a diff erent 

person from Antarctica and I have to agree with that. 

Th is vast and ice-bound land is full of life and reminds us 

how vulnerable we are.” 

Katharsis II returned to cruise around Southern Patagonia 

and up the Brazilian coast to fi nish in Rio de Janeiro at 

the end of May. 

Photos: Mariusz Koper, Wojtek Urbanek/PPL, Nowa Era 


SUMMER 2011 35

36 


AN INSIDE LOOK 

AT THE OYSTER 625 

LAUNCHED EARLIER THIS YEAR, THE FIRST OF THE INNOVATIVE, 

NEW OYSTER 625s IS A SUPERB EXAMPLE OF CONTEMPORARY 

STYLING, BOTH ABOVE AND BELOW DECKS. 

Oyster 625-01, Blue Jeannie, was shown at 

Oyster’s Private View in St Katharine Docks in 

London in May, and although the yacht is yet to be 

shown at a boat show, she has already attracted 

much acclaim and has recently been nominated 

for a European Yacht of the Year award. 

Despite her generous size, the Oyster 625 is 

set up for easy, short-handed sailing for those 

owners who prefer to sail without crew. 

However, with an interior option that allows for 

a forepeak layout for a full-time crew member, 

giving the potential of fi ve cabins onboard, 

combined with her spacious, fl ush aft deck – the 

perfect spot for sun lounging or entertaining – 

the 625 is as well suited to occasional charter as 

she is for comfortable family sailing. 

A fresh look at interior design and detailing 

has given the accommodation a clean, 

contemporary feel with new joinery, upholstery 

design, shower rooms and hardware. Together 

with Oyster's choice of interior timbers and 

fi nishes, the Oyster 625 allows owners to create 

a really stunning onboard living environment. 

Th e spacious saloon is fi tted with triple 'seascape' 

vertical windows, which fi ll the saloon with light 

and give a fantastic view over the water while 

seated below deck, a real superyacht feature. 

Th e accommodation features two generous guest 

cabins, each with its own head and shower, a 

sumptuous aft owner's suite, which is full beam 

and has private access to the aft deck and a 

fourth cabin that can be confi gured as a 

workshop, guest cabin or a children's cabin with 

access from the master cabin. Th e linear galley 

on the 625 off ers signifi cantly more storage than 

on previous models with space for a full size 

washer/dryer and dishwasher as well as the 

standard front-opening fridge and freezer. 

Available with a Standard, Shoal or SuperShoal 

keel, the 625 can be confi gured to meet every 

owners’ cruising requirements. 

Th e new Oyster 625 will make her boat show 

debut at the Southampton Boat Show and will also 

be on display at the Cannes and Genoa Shows, 

where she is sure to attract a lot of attention. 

For an appointment to view please contact our 

sales team at: yachts@oystermarine.com or 

call us on +44 (0)1473 695 005. 

Blue Jeannie is available for charter from 

Oyster Charter. For more information 

please contact Molly Marston at 

molly.marston@oystermarine.com

AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE OYSTER 625 

SUMMER 2011 37

38 


AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE OYSTER 625 

THE SPACIOUS SALOON IS FITTED WITH TRIPLE 'SEASCAPE' VERTICAL WINDOWS, 

WHICH FILL THE SALOON WITH LIGHT AND GIVE A FANTASTIC VIEW OVER THE WATER. 

OYSTER 625. DIMENSIONS 

Length overall (including pulpit) 19.37m 63' 7" 

Length of hull 19.03m 62' 5" 

Length of waterline 17.24m 56' 7" 

Beam 5.44m 17' 10" 

Draft HPB keel (standard) 2.80m 9' 2" 

Draft HPB keel (shoal) 2.15m 7' 1" 

Standard rig and spar type Semi-fractional sloop with fully battened main 

Available rig options In-mast furling, cutter and double headsail rigs 

Ballast keel type High Performance Bulb (HPB) 

Displacement (standard keel) 33,500 kgs 73,854 lbs 

Typical engine Volvo D4-180 132kW (180hp) 

Photos: Anthony Cullen, Mike Jones 

Standard layout 

Optional layout 

SUMMER 2011 39

40 


Miss Tippy 

Oyster 56, Miss Tippy. Cultural extravaganza through 

Asia and then tragedy. Th e Norton Family continues their 

circumnavigation with the Blue Water Rally. 

By Brian and Sheila Norton, Oyster 56, Miss Tippy

Aft er a trip to the outback in camper vans, we departed 

Darwin later than other rally boats as we stayed with a 

friend whose starter motor had broken. In the event this 

proved lucky, since most of the other boats had to motor 

for the entire three day voyage to Kupang in Indonesia. 

We picked up some squalls and fi nally had a wonderful 

broad reach, which drove us along at 8 to 9 knots for 

the last day. It was an exciting way to arrive in Asia! 

We anchored outside the town of Kupang, which was 

bursting with life. Th ere were some derelict and bullet 

pocked buildings following the Timor War but it was 

now peaceful apart from the incessant gurgle of mopeds 

and motorbikes that dominate the roads in Indonesia. 

Upon arrival we were soon met by an unoffi cial looking 

Quarantine Offi cer. He was a warm, smiley character 

with a bushy moustache and deep wrinkles around his 

eyes. He wore what appeared to be an army surplus 

jacket with many pockets in which he could stow the 

odd small bottle of whiskey. We were shocked when 

he carefully placed his empty coke can in the sea as we 

were taking him back on shore in the dinghy. Th is was 

our fi rst indication of a huge litter problem in Indonesia. 

Once ashore to complete the check-in process we 

discovered that there was a problem with customs 

clearance. Aft er much deliberation we were told that 

we had to leave Kupang before sunrise or have our 

boats impounded. It was a great shame, since we had 

been welcomed by local dignitaries with a lavish feast 

OWNER REPORT – MISS TIPPY 

on the night of our arrival and had spent a lovely day 

touring the area meeting local children. 

We departed at dawn feeling nervous about getting 

arrested somewhere in Indonesian waters before we 

could get formal customs clearance in Bali. Th is constraint 

curtailed our planned trip through the Spice Islands, 

as we had to be careful which islands we visited. 

Luckily we were sailing with friends who had worked 

and lived in Indonesia previously. We followed them 

to the island of Sumba as part of a group of four boats. 

“Aft er much deliberation we were told 

that we had to leave Kupang before 

sunrise or have our boats impounded.” 

We had no pilotage information and our electronic charts 

were completely inaccurate as we approached the town 

in Nangamessi Bay. We arrived fi rst and managed to get 

into a shallow anchorage and then send waypoints to our 

friends. Unfortunately one of the yachts cut the corner 

and managed to impale themselves on a wreck which 

itself was on a reef. We went back out to help them 

while the sun was dwindling but were helpless due to 

the depth of our keel. With frantically waving arms and 

pointing we somehow managed to communicate with 

SUMMER 2011 41

42 

a couple of local fi shing boats that roared off to help. 

Aft er much bumping and grinding our friends were 

fi nally pulled free on a rising tide and were soon safely 

anchored, having a well earned beer and debriefi ng us all. 

Once settled down we hired a Bemo (a small van) and 

two guides, Jimmy and Amaa, to take us on a tour of this 

rarely visited island. We were blown away during our two 

days there aft er visiting bustling markets, a traditional 

village and weavers where they handmade the highly 

decorative Ikat textiles. Wherever we went children 

mobbed us and giggled as our own children chatted with 

them and shared small gift s of sweets, pens or balloons. 

Even the adults got in on the act and wanted to be 

photographed with our blonde-haired children for luck. 

Aft er our whirlwind tour of Sumba we sailed to Rinca. 

Th is is a beautiful island next to the more famous and 

more visited island of Komodo. Here we went diving 

on some small reefs and then dinghied ashore to seek 

out some Komodo dragons. Several locals alerted us 

that the dragons we approached on the beach were 

hungry and angry. We rapidly retreated to watch them 

from the relative safety of our dinghy as Freddie 

informed us that bacteria in their saliva causes a slow 

agonising death if they bite you! 

We went to Gili Lawa Laut to the North of Komodo to 

visit the famous dive sites of Castle and Crystal Rocks. 

We had to time our passage carefully as tides rip 

between the islands. Aft er a couple of days of diving 


and chilling-out by the beach we set off again past 

Sumbawa towards Lombok. We encountered a vast 

fl eet of small open fi shing boats and had to dodge 

nets during the night passages but arrived unscathed 

at an anchorage in a remote spot on the North West 

of Lombok. Several fi shermen visited us at anchor and 

we went into the local village with them to buy some 

provisions. Lombok is a Muslim island and people were 

more reserved here. Despite this we had a lovely time 

and enjoyed sitting at anchor at night listening to the 

melodic wails from competing minarets at prayer time. 

“Wherever we went children mobbed 

us and giggled as our own children 

chatted with them and shared small 

gift s of sweets, pens or balloons.” 

From here it was a short hop to Bali. En route we stopped 

at a small island called Gili Air. Diving operations abound 

and we met a great team from Ocean 5 and in particular 

a young Welshman called Nathan who helped Charlie, 

Freddie and Annie achieve their PADI dive qualifi cations. 

Aft er a night out for Halloween we left Gili Air for Bali. 

Bali marina is in a sad state of disrepair and contradicted 

our image of Bali as a beautiful holiday destination. It was 

a bit depressing to be moored up to dishevelled concrete


SUMMER 2011 43

44 

pontoons amidst pollution from litter and plastic. 

However, aft er sorting out our customs clearance with 

the appropriate ‘payment’ we ventured away from the 

marina and found some of the beauty that Bali is famous 

for. We travelled inland to Ubud, went white water raft ing, 

cycled through paddy fi elds and ate spicy Indonesian 

food while sitting cross-legged in local warungs. 

Our next passage took us 350 miles north to the 

Kalimantan province in Borneo. Th is province is still 

part of Indonesia but has a very diff erent feel to it. 

We arrived in the morning and travelled 50 miles up 

past a headland into a muddy river, which meandered 

15 miles to the town of Kumai. Th e big attraction here 

is the Orangutan Sanctuary in the jungle. We hired 

a riverboat (a klotok), which took us and another family 

up ever narrowing tributaries as we delved deeper and 

deeper into the jungle. Th e riverbank was alive with 

wildlife. We saw kingfi shers, hornbills, proboscis monkeys 

and the occasional orangutan rattling the trees as we 

ambled slowly upriver. 

Sadly the spread of palm oil plantations, as well as 

damage from illegal logging and mining activity, is 

fast destroying the natural habitat for the human-like 

orangutan. Over 10 million hectares of jungle have 

been devastated and the population of the ‘people 

from the trees’ has dwindled from half a million to 

about 20,000. Aft er a days trip we visited the fi rst 

feeding station deep in the heart of the Borneo jungle 


and met a number of these lovely creatures. We slept 

beneath mosquito nets on the open decks of the Klotok 

and then went trekking through the swampy jungle 

picking up a number of leeches on the way! Th e kids 

even invented a new game to see how many leeches 

each of them could carry. Th e winner, Freddie, managed 

three! Sheila also scared every animal within 10 miles 

when she screamed aft er being bitten by fi re ants. 

On the way back our guide took us to the village 

where he had been born. We wandered among the 

simple houses built on stilts above fetid marshy water 

and pondered how tough it must be to live in this part 

of the world. We passed a father and son swimming in 

the murky water between two levees on our way to

the school. Here we met the headmaster and found 

that despite their humble existence they were extremely 

committed to education. We met conscientious, 

well-behaved children turned out in pristine uniforms 

working diligently on their sums! 

A guy who had slept in our cockpit to protect Miss Tippy 

was relieved when we returned after our two-day 

trip. He had obviously been lost for things to do as 

we found a number of animal fi gures modelled from 

clothes pegs scattered around the deck! Th en we left 

to a chorus of prayer calls from local mosques while 

marvelling at the huge ‘offi ce block’ like buildings that 

housed thousands of swallows, which produced birds’ 

nests for consumption in China. 

A three-day sail took us to Nongsa Point marina on 

Batam opposite Singapore. We stayed there a couple 

of days before crossing the narrow straits of Singapore. 

To say the straits are busy is an understatement. In fact 

there were so many signals from ships on the AIS that 

the chart plotter malfunctioned. Full throttle was needed 

as we ran the gauntlet between the shipping traffi c. 

Wealthy Singapore offers a stark contrast to the 

relatively poor Indonesia, which is only a few miles away. 

Awe inspiring architecture, pristine streets and shopping 

malls galore left us reeling as we tried to cope with city 

life once more. Checking out of Singapore was the most 

effi cient process we had encountered anywhere on our 

world trip. We just left the marina and met a customs 

and immigration boat out in the harbour, which took our 

papers in a net on a pole, processed them and handed 

them back to us within minutes. 

From Singapore we sailed up the Malacca Straits to 

Malaysia. Once notorious for piracy this stretch of water 

is now relatively safe. Winds were light but we have 

found, to our delight, that Miss Tippy manages to make 


the most of light winds and allows us to continue sailing 

when others have to motor. We enjoyed a lovely gentle 

sail to Port Klang. Kuala Lumpar was a short train ride 

from the port so we took the opportunity to visit the 

Petronas Towers and immerse ourselves in city life again. 

Th ere was much regeneration occurring on the route 

towards the capital and you got a sense of fast paced 

development here. 

Aft er another jolt of city life we sailed up the coast to the 

small island of Pulau Payar where we went diving for a 

few days before moving onto Langkawi. We encountered 

massive fi shing fl eets (of up to 100 trawlers) during day 

and night and had to keep a careful watch at all times to 

avoid nets. It was saddening to see the litter left behind 

by these fl eets. We saw hundreds if not thousands of 

plastic water bottles and other detritus in the water and 

saw fi shermen picking more plastic bags from their nets 

than fi sh! 

In Langkawi we met some other families sailing around 

the world and got our fi rst hint of problems ahead when 

a couple we met suggested that we shouldn’t be taking 

children through the Gulf of Aden. At the time we just 

dismissed this as a bit of scaremongering. 

Our last stop in Malaysia was at a small group of islands 

known as the Butang group. We enjoyed some diving 

there and then ventured north onwards through the 

beautiful islands of Th ailand. We have sailed charter 

boats in this region before so we had a bit of a holiday 

and spent our time relaxing on beaches, swimming and 

diving rather than exploring. 

We had to get to the Yacht Haven marina in Phuket 

to meet up for a rally briefi ng by early December. 

We spent a week there and got to know a number of 

new boats who were joining the rally including Quest, 

SUMMER 2011 45

46 

Saildance (an Oyster 62), and Journey. We also said 

goodbye to the Oyster 47, Moonshadow who had 

planned to leave the rally at that point. Here we started 

to plan for our trip through the Red Sea and formed the 

small groups who would sail together in formation 

when we hit the Gulf of Aden. 

“Miss Tippy shrugged off the treacherous 

conditions in her familiar style. Several 

boats that were following us by a day or 

so were not so lucky and were caught out 

as the depression escalated into a tropical 

storm with winds of up to 65 knots.” 

Aft er a haul-out and anti-fouling we visited James Bond 

island and a fl oating village before heading to Phi Phi 

island for Christmas. Immediately aft er Christmas 

we managed to sneak in a few days of diving in the 

beautiful crystal clear waters of the Similan Islands north 

of Th ailand before following the rally fl eet to Sri Lanka. 

Th e route to Sri Lanka took us about 1,000 miles across 

the Bay of Bengal. We were slightly North of the main 

fl eet and experienced diff erent weather to everyone 


else. We gradually became aware that we were heading 

into a tropical depression and got stuck in 35-40 knot 

headwinds for the last couple of days before we got into 

Galle. Miss Tippy shrugged off the treacherous conditions 

in her now familiar style. Several boats that were following 

us by a day or so were not so lucky and were caught out 

as the depression escalated into a tropical storm with 

winds of up to 65 knots. Th ankfully all survived to tell 

the tale but some of the yachts were damaged. 

Sri Lanka was wonderful. We immediately met tuk-tuk 

drivers outside the port gates who doubled up as 

fi xers who would help us with just about anything we 

needed. We got to know a number of these guys as 

friends while we stayed there and visited some local 

homes. Th ese are very resilient people who have 

survived not only a war with the Tamil Tigers but also 

the devastation of the Tsunami in 2005. Most people 

had a personal tale of tragedy to tell but they had all 

picked up the pieces and approached life with a 

positive attitude that was uplift ing to see. 

We took a tour inland visiting ancient mountain-top 

ruins, temples and a variety of towns. Our highlight 

was a 7km trek up Adam’s Peak in the highlands near 

to sprawling tea plantations. Th e locals believe that this 

is the place that Adam or Buddha fi rst set foot on the 

earth and a temple has been built at the pinnacle of the

mountain to celebrate this. It is a sacred place and many 

thousands of Sri Lankans make a pilgrimage there. 

We merged with barefooted pilgrims of all ages and 

struggled our way up the mountain in the early hours of 

the morning to arrive at the peak before sunrise. Watching 

the sun emerge from behind mist covered mountains 

while listening to local music from Buddhist monks 

was an incredibly spiritual and inspiring experience. 

In Sri Lanka we got an indication of growing piracy 

problems. A reporter contacted one of our fl eet to 

ask what we thought about the escalating piracy in 

the Indian Ocean. Dockside meetings were hastily 

arranged to discuss the situation and people began 

to undertake their own research. It became clear that 

Somali pirates’ tactics had changed and they were now 

able to operate thousands of miles from their shores by 

using mother ships, which had themselves been pirated. 

Pirate attacks were appearing with increasing frequency, 

not just in the Gulf of Aden, but also all the way across 

the Indian Ocean. 

Th e passage to India was short but thrilling. In the 

gap between Sri Lanka and the bottom of India we 

had 25 knot headwinds and large, frequent waves. 

Again we were thankful for the solid construction of 

our Oyster, which allowed us to plough comfortably 

through the oncoming seas. Th e winds rapidly declined 

as we passed the southern tip of India and sailed up 

the coast in the lee of the land. Many small fi shing 

boats approached us asking for cigarettes, food or 

drink. While we didn’t have cigarettes aboard we were 

happy to indulge these requests as far as we could 

and found the fi shermen to be thankful and friendly. 

In Cochin we faced a lengthy check-in process to 

clear customs and immigration before we could start 

exploring. At Bolgatty marina we found ourselves 

to be a local tourist attraction since this is currently 

the only marina in India. Indian tourists would come 

round on tour boats and would cheer and wave when 

we acknowledged them. Here we met Nasser who 


was our local Mr Fixit. He helped us organise some 

repairs we needed and generally helped us fi nd our 

way around. Again we became friends and went to 

his house for a lovely lunch. He lived in Fort Cochin 

among humble surroundings but his family were every 

bit the gracious hosts. Th ey explained how their family of 

eight used to live in a place measuring about eight feet 

wide. It is humbling to discover that over 40% of India’s 

population of more than a billion still live with their 

families in one-room homes. Despite this one got 

a strong sense of the fast paced development that 

is oft en described in the media these days. 

Fort Cochin itself was a beautiful city with many historical 

buildings and the hustle and bustle you would expect 

from India. Th e colourful saris worn by the ladies were 

particularly beautiful in the bright sunshine and tempted 

many of the ladies on the rally, including our daughters 

to invest in some local clothing! 

“It is humbling to discover that over 

40% of India’s population of more 

than a billion still live with their 

families in one-room homes.” 

While in Cochin we gathered more information about 

the escalating piracy risk as well as the unrest, which 

had just emerged in Egypt. At one point we discussed 

whether Sheila and the children should leave the boat 

while we passed through these increasingly dangerous 

waters, but no-one wanted to leave Miss Tippy nor 

compromise their circumnavigation having got so far. 

In the end the rally changed its route fairly drastically 

to travel an additional 700 miles up the Indian Coast 

past Goa and to Mumbai before crossing to Oman. 

Th is route seemed to avoid the highest concentration 

of pirate attacks that had been occurring. 

We travelled in the company of a small group of boats 

up the coast of India since some attacks were coming 

quite close to the shore. We were relieved when we 

got to the safety of the hazy port in Mumbai. Our visit 

to Mumbai was a bonus, as we had never expected 

to come this far north. Th ere was a vibrant and eclectic 

culture here. We enjoyed visiting local museums and 

an art festival frequented by trendy young middle class 

Indians. We drove along Marine Drive and pondered 

about the multi-million dollar houses in Malabar Hill 

that were just a stone’s throw from some of the crushing 

poverty that India is stereotypically known for. A visit 

to a small museum at Gandhi’s house was both 

educational and inspirational. 

Our trip to Mumbai would not have been complete 

however, without a trip to Dharavi and the slum made 

famous by the fi lm ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Our guide had 

an uncle who lived there and he helped us to feel a bit 

SUMMER 2011 47

48 

more comfortable as we hesitantly entered this alien 

world. In the slum we found ramshackle housing, saw 

young boys wading in a fi lthy river trawling with their 

hands for anything recyclable among the rubbish, and 

tried to avoid stepping into open sewers (Sheila was 

not successful in this and went knee-deep into a sewer 

losing a shoe!). 

Despite the obvious hardships we also got a strong 

sense of community in the area and found a vibrant 

mini-economy here. Having been saddened by the 

plastic litter that seems to pervade Asia the sight of 

so many recycling businesses gives some hope for the 

future. People gathered round us as we stopped for a 

sweet drink from squeezed sugar beet and local boys 

even invited us to join a game of cricket being played 

in the narrow streets. We left with great respect for the 

hard-working families and strong communities that had 

emerged amidst such adversity. 

Th e time came for us to leave Mumbai or jeopardise 

the dates for our planned trip through the Gulf of Aden. 

We were jumpy when we departed but soon got even 

more afraid when we received a report that night of an 

attack 30 miles off the coast of Pakistan and directly on 

our proposed route. We diverted our course and travelled 

through congested oil fi elds while being on high alert. 


Light winds prevailed and we motor-sailed in formation 

with fi ve other boats. Th e next night we saw an oil tanker 

gliding past us in the moonlight without any navigation 

lights on. We reported this spooky sight to the authorities 

that then contacted them and later advised us that there 

was no problem as they were merely travelling unlit to 

avoid pirates! 

On our second day out we heard the unthinkable. 

One of the rally boats, Quest, had been seen by a 

Danish helicopter towing a skiff and appeared to have 

been pirated. Our vigilance and nervousness escalated 

and we took evasive action a number of times when we 

saw targets approaching on our radars. Th ankfully nothing 

manifested itself as an attack. Tragically the night before 

we arrived at the Oman coast we heard from UKMTO 

that all aboard Quest had been killed. 

We arrived in Salalah, Oman fairly shattered aft er what 

had been the most tiring and emotionally draining trip of 

the past few years. We decided to fl y the children home 

and were intending to carry on as a husband and wife 

team until further reports emerged including rumours of 

another yacht being pirated with children aboard. Th ese 

rumours sadly turned out to be true and, aft er further 

information gathering, all but one yacht took the advice 

of various military forces and other authorities not to 

proceed. As we write, Miss Tippy is in Oman awaiting 

shipment to the Mediterranean from which we will 

continue our voyages. 

Our hearts go out to the families of those on board 

Quest as well as all of those from the Danish yacht, 

Ing who are still in captivity. Our circumnavigation has 

undoubtedly been marred by these tragedies. We have 

learned so much, visited so many wonderful places, 

overcome so many challenges and met so many lovely 

people over the past two years. We will not allow this 

minority of ruthless, unscrupulous pirates to overwhelm 

all the positive memories of, what has undoubtedly been, 

one of the best experiences of our lives. 

Photos: Th e Norton Family 

Read Miss Tippy’s story on the family’s blog at 

www.rock2rock.co.uk

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SUMMER 2011 49

50 

Oyster 100-01 hit the water on June 27th 2011 

and the new owner and her son wielded the 

axe, which cut the string, released the pendulum, 

swung the champagne… and named the yacht 

Sarafi n. God bless her and all who sail in her! 

It was a great day for Oyster, the team of 

international superyacht specialists, designers, 

and the many craft smen and suppliers who 

have all been involved in her build. 

Th e Oyster team has done a really good job, 

particularly our Superyacht Project Coordinator, 

Hamish Burgess-Simpson, and we are really 

proud that, at the same time, we’ve had the 


OYSTER 

SUPERYACHT 

UPDATE 

Our fi rst press release announcing the Oyster Superyacht project was way back in April 2007. It’s amazing to 

refl ect on the four years of hard work since then and to remember that when the exciting news was fi rst 

announced, our partners – RMK Marine in Turkey – had yet to start building the sophisticated composite 

facility and fi t-out building in which we now build the Oyster Superyachts. 

energy and enthusiasm to design and develop 

the new Oyster 575, 625, 725 and Oyster 885. 

Th e new Oyster 100 brings a unique package 

to the 100-foot marketplace by cleverly fi lling 

the gap between the increasing trend towards 

less comfortable, light and ultra light production 

off erings, focused more on the race circuit than 

long distance cruising and, at the other end 

of the time and cost scale, one-off projects. 

Whilst benefi ting from the best aspects of 

a series production design, e.g. composite 

hull and deck, proven sailing performance, 

common engineering, tried and tested systems,

the new Oyster 100 also off ers many of the 

best aspects of a high-end custom built 

superyacht. A fl exibly mounted interior minimises 

sound and vibration, one of the twin matched 

generators will run continuously providing 

air management 24/7, continuous 110/220V 

and a hydraulic ring main. A wide range of 

customisation enables each owner to choose 

their own interior timber, fl ooring, bulkhead 

fi nishes, fi xtures, fi ttings and furnishings. 

Sarafi n has stunning high gloss walnut joinery 

work contrasting with light fabric bulkheads 

and upholstery. Th e new Oyster 100 could 

be described as more of a small ship than 

a large yacht. 

We studied the international superyacht market 

from 100ft up to 200ft and realised that there 

were a number of attractive fl ybridge designs 

of 160ft plus available from diff erent naval 

architects and shipyards, but very little below 

this size. We concluded that a fl ybridge design 

of between 120ft and 130ft would be ideal if 

combined series production engineering with 

Lloyds 100 A1 and full MCA, LY2 coding and 

thus would fi ll a gap in the market (as we 

believe our Oyster 100 also does). Our fi rst 

objective was to design a slightly higher than 

normal superstructure. Th is enabled all the 

SUPERYACHT UPDATE 

Another fi rst for a production yacht of this size 

is full Lloyds 100 A1 classifi cation giving every 

owner huge confi dence in the standard of 

construction, equipment quality and will help 

underwrite future resale value. Th is exceptional 

yacht will appeal to the owner who wants 

the best but does not have either the time 

or experience to embark on a time consuming 

one off project. 

Commissioning is now under way to prepare 

Sarafi n for her sail trials and press launch before 

she departs Turkey for a season in the Caribbean. 

Oyster 100-02 is now well into the fi t out phase 

and will be launched in Spring 2012. 

As if all this is not enough to keep the yard fully occupied, the fi rst of the Oyster 125s is moulded and 

progressing well. Th e Oyster 125 is off ered in three very diff erent confi gurations, fi rst in build 

is the stunning Oyster 125 Flybridge. 

daytime living area to be in one huge upper 

saloon area of the size more normally found 

in a signifi cantly larger yacht of approximately 

150ft plus. Th is upper saloon off ers a lounge, 

bar and dining area all with a full 360 degree 

panoramic view. Th is superstructure also 

incorporates a fl ybridge upper deck with a 

lounge area, refrigerator and wet bar, twin 

helm positions, and a large sunbathing area, 

whilst cleverly providing shelter from the sun 

over the outside dining area. 

Oyster 125/01 will be launched in Summer 2012 

and premieres at the 2012 Monaco Boat Show. 

For more information about the Oyster Superyachts please 

contact Murray Aitken: murray.aitken@oystermarine.com 

SUMMER 2011 51

52 


UHURU’S 

‘SOUTHERN 

ADVENTURE’ 

I can truly say that the Southern leg of our adventure is why UHURU was built. 

I remember walking into Oyster in Ipswich for the fi rst meeting with Mike Taylor, 

our Project Manager, back in the summer of 2006. I very grandly handed him 

one sheet of paper with the following words on: 

NAME: UHURU (SWAHILI FOR FREEDOM) 

1. She must be capable of surviving in both Equatorial and Antarctic conditions. 

2. She must be able to be sailed very short-handed, possibly solo in friendly waters. 

3. We will need maximum fuel and water capacity, for extended passages. 

4. Quality engineering, reliability, redundancy and safety are my priorities. 

BY STEVE POWELL, OYSTER 62, UHURU

OWNER REPORT – UHURU 

SUMMER 2011 53

54 


“We tend to ignore the old adage that “Gentlemen only 

sail downwind”; we prefer “Sailors go where they want.”

Mike looked at my list of requirements and gave me 

a sideways look saying “It’s unusual for new owners 

to know the name of their boat this early” and then 

promptly stuck it in a draw as if to say, “as for the rest, 

all our boats can do that”… well we were about to fi nd 

out if that was true. 

My plan was to depart from Grenada around about the 

1st October and start heading south down the east coast 

of South America. Visiting Guyana, Suriname, Devil’s Island, 

French Guiana, Brazil, and Uruguay before heading 

down to the Falkland Islands for Christmas. 

A journey of approximately 6,500nm, the fi rst 2,000 of 

which was up wind and against the prevailing current, 

not an unusual situation for UHURU. We tend to 

ignore the old adage that “Gentlemen only sail 

downwind”; we prefer “Sailors go where they want”. 

Th e journey down was both eventful and enjoyable, 

we had toyed with hurricane ‘Otto’, gone up a rainforest 

river, slugged it out against the wind and current for 

nearly 3,000 miles, been chased by ‘pirates’ (or possibly 

innocent fi shermen, who knows), crossed the equator, 

been hit by a whale, visited amongst others Devil’s Island, 

Salvador, Bouzios, Rio and fi nally crossed from Punte del 

Este, Uruguay to Port Stanley whilst getting lashed by 

three separate gales. 

Christmas and New Year in Port Stanley was a joy, singing 

carols under the Whale Bone Arch and many a lively 

evening in the Victory pub, just like home. Th e locals 

were very friendly and helpful and took a genuine 

interest in what we were planning, but mainly we were 

there to do the fi nal preparations for heading south. 


PREPARATIONS 

Th e preparations had been plentiful, and had started 

with the build of the boat. Conscious of the fact that 

I had never sailed to Antarctica before, or any high 

latitudes for that matter, and that taking a glass fi bre 

boat down there came with its own set of risks, I took on 

Richard Haworth of High Latitudes as a consultant on the 

build from the early stages. I explained that I didn’t want 

to build an icebreaker, but wanted to make sure that she 

would be safe in those waters. His input was invaluable 

and covered many areas of the build and outfi tting, 

but was centred on a simple philosophy. Where possible, 

on all critical systems, have a backup of everything. 

Two autopilots, installed and ready, two raw water 

inlet systems, two separate Racor Fuel fi lter systems, 

pre-heater on the water-making system, two heating 

systems, re-enforcement on all key areas of the sail, 

extra high cut for good visibility and deep-reefi ng, 

double bolt ropes on all sails, double leach lines on main 

and genoa, plus stitched in sail hanks up the luff of the 

genoa and staysail, hydraulic windlass and extra weight 

ground tackle, and so on, the list wasn’t endless but 

certainly extensive. 

When it came to outfi tting her it all started again, two 

tenders, two outboard engines, three anchors, two 

eight-man life raft s, two EPIRBS, two full sets of safety 

equipment and grab bags, two communication systems, 

diving equipment, 400m of fl oating line for tying off to 

rocks, two ice poles, etc, etc. 

Th e spares and tools list was endless, everything from 

a spare propeller, bolted under one of the bunks, to 

mountains of spare fi lters and pumps, every critical 

component had to be covered. 

SUMMER 2011 55

56 

Th e spares list ran to fi ve A4 pages and the tools list ran 

another two pages in addition to the extensive range 

of tools we already carried, including sledgehammers, 

crowbars, and a machete! At times I wondered what we 

were getting into. 

By the time we had loaded everything it was a wonder 

she could sail. But she did, and well. 

Our fi nal preparations in Port Stanley included rigging a 

double-glazing system for all the windows, hatches and 

port lights to reduce condensation. Th is was done with a 

mixture of perspex, dual lock, gaff er tape and cling fi lm, 

not very elegant, but eff ective. We didn’t have any 

condensation problems throughout the trip. We then bolted, 

screwed or lashed everything down. We were ready! 

My crew for the next month were to be Chris Durham, 

(1st mate and engineer), Richard Haworth, (ice guide, 

diver and mountaineer), my brother Mike Powell, 

(photographer, diver and mountaineer) and Alistair ‘Buzz’ 

Keck (sailor and good friend) who came on as a last 


minute stand in when unfortunately David and Tamsin 

Kidwell, owners of the Oyster 435, Twice Eleven had to 

fl y home from Stanley aft er a family bereavement. 

LEAVING PORT STANLEY 

It was all now down to the weather. Having read all the 

recommended texts on crossing the Southern Oceans, 

I was understandably apprehensive. Th e Drake Passage 

has a well-earned reputation. But I have been using a 

combination of daily weather reports from Chris Tibbs, on 

the challenging sections, and ‘Clearpoint’, a downloadable 

subscription forecasting system based on Grib fi les that 

has proved to be remarkably accurate so far. Th e helpful 

thing I have found down here is that the weather systems 

are so well defi ned that it is relatively easy to passage 

plan. Providing you are fl exible with your departure date 

and are willing to wait, fi nding a suitable gap between 

fronts isn’t that hard. Th e trick then is to make sure you 

keep to the plan, don’t ‘dilly dally’ out there, and use the

engine if necessary to maintain your planned 

mileage. And, of course, keep an eye on the 

forecasts because it can change in a heartbeat. 

We left Port Stanley early on the 4th January in 

near perfect conditions. Our fi rst 48 hours were 

fantastic, 25 knots out of the NW, just aft of the 

beam and moderate seas. Everyone was well 

and getting plenty of sleep. Chris discovered 

early on just how cold the water is by getting 

a good dowsing while up forward setting a 

preventer line. 

We saw our fi rst wandering albatross within hours 

of leaving Stanley, very impressive. Apparently 

they mate for life and only meet the wife once 

every two years on the same patch of land on 

one of the sub-Antarctic islands, aft er a bit of 

‘slap and tickle’ they hatch their chicks together, 

then both head off again, separately, fl ying 

around the southern oceans feeding for the next 

two years. Sounds like a sailor’s life to me! 


BECALMED IN THE SOUTHERN 

OCEANS... WHAT’S THAT ALL ABOUT! 

Aft er two days of absolutely perfect sailing, 

20-30 knots north-west, just aft of the beam, 

and moderate seas, we were then becalmed! 

Winds dropped to 2-3 knots. Who would 

have thought, we never expected this one. 

So the engine went on and we motored along 

playing sports trivia cards. 

We did have a taste of the southern oceans later 

that night with 5-metre plus swells coming in 

from the west, and took quite a lot of water over 

the bow. But other than that it was a beautiful 

night that never really got dark, we had what 

looked like a permanent dawn on the horizon 

directly south of us. 

Th e last 24 hours before getting into South 

Shetland Islands, were more like what we had 

expected, cold, wet and ugly. Aft er being 

effectively becalmed in the middle of the 

Southern Ocean, the weather turned on us as 

35-40 knots of wind from the SSW (on the nose) 

straight off the Antarctic mainland, bitterly cold, 

with 5-6 metre seas. Everyone was very stoic 

and remembered our nation’s seafaring traditions. 

Well... they didn’t whinge too much! And we got 

through it well. 

As we sailed into Deception Island through the 

Boyd Straights, escorted by squadrons of cape 

petrels, we saw our fi rst iceberg, a huge majestic 

looking thing, which had us all up and excited. 

We dropped anchor in the middle of Deception 

Island, a fl ooded volcano that last erupted in 

1970. Never a dull moment really. 

SUMMER 2011 57

58 

RUNNING OUT OF SUPERLATIVES. 

I knew months ago when I started using words like, 

fantastic, incredible, perfect, unbelievable and amazing 

in my blog that I would eventually come South and 

run out of superlatives. Well, it happened. 

Our arrival in Antarctica was just ‘astonishing’; we spent 

the fi rst day at anchor in Deception Island. We managed 

a few very important maintenance jobs in the morning 

then spent the aft ernoon on the beach with the 

penguins. Yes, there are beaches, all be it black lava 

sand, and the penguins love it because the hot spring 

water seeping out of the still active volcano gives a 

water line of hot water for about 18 inches out. 

We set out very early the next morning in near-perfect 

conditions, sunshine and wind. Th e moment we came 

out of Deception Island, through Neptune’s Bellows, the 

aptly named gap into the volcano, we were greeted by 

whales and penguins. Penguins swimming are hilarious, 

they jump like dolphins, but it’s more of a little hop out of 

the water, then every few minutes they all stop, pop their 

heads up to check where they are going. Th en off they 

go again, ‘hopping’ across the ocean. 

Th e rest of the day we were entertained by whales. 

And icebergs – there were hundreds of them, and nasty 

little ‘growlers’, which are large chunks of ice, oft en 

weighing several tons that have broken off an iceberg 

and are fl oating just on the surface and very diffi cult 

to see, anyone of which could easily rip the bottom 

out of UHURU. Which is a rather sobering thought 

while you are on watch, and tends to focus the mind. 

We spent a lot of time pinching ourselves; we just could 

not believe this place, Antarctica was truly out of this 


world. It was universally agreed that it doesn’t matter how 

much we try we will never be able to explain what it’s 

really like. Even Mike’s great pictures cannot come close 

to explaining what it’s really like. How do you adequately 

describe the feeling of sailing along under a deep blue 

sky, with the wind whistling through the rigging, little 

penguins ‘hopping’ alongside, birds circling constantly, 

whales popping up every now and then, all with the ‘ever 

present danger of growlers’. And I don’t care who you 

are, every now and then that very deep and dark thought 

will creep up on you. ‘We are at the end of the world 

down here, and if anything goes wrong…’ Well let’s not 

fi nish that thought, but I am sure everyone who has ever 

come down here must have had it. 

BACK IN TIME… 

Our next stop was Enterprise Island where we raft ed 

up to an old sunken factory whaling boat, called 

The Governoren, which caught fi re back in the 1930s. 

To try and save it they were going to run it aground, 

but before it could hit the shore they ran into a shallow 

rock bar. The stern sunk and there it still sits today. 

Th is is remote, really remote, we get the feeling that 

we have gone back in time here as everywhere you look 

there are reminders of a bygone era. Whaling was 

massive down here in the early 1900s, and the whalers 

established supply bases all around Antarctica. Th is is 

one of them. 

Edging our way in stern fi rst to a narrow and shallow gap 

between the wreck and a rocky ice wall was testing at best. 

But once we had lines across to the wreck we found it to 

be a very secure berth, if a little noisy from the screaming 

Arctic terns that have taken over the ship’s boilers.

Right behind us was a glacier wall, which 

immediately became the object of much interest 

to brother Mike and Rich. No sooner had we tied 

off our last line than out came the climbing gear 

and off they went. It seemed like only minutes 

later and they were halfway up this ice wall. 

It was here that we harvested our fi rst crop of 

1,000 year old, Antarctic ice, straight off the 

bergs. It made our early evening gin and tonics 

go with a zing. 

Th e next day we spent exploring the area, 

discovering old wooden water supply boats and 

bollards that had been painstakingly chiselled 

into the rock. We also had our fi rst Antarctic 

dive, on the wreck – cold but very exciting. 


WORDS, WORDS, WORDS… 

Words cannot possibly begin to describe Friday, 

14th January 2011, we set off from Enterprise 

Island at 05.00, with a plan to stop at a couple 

of spots on the way to Port Lockroy. From that 

point on it all became rather surreal. Th e weather 

was perfect, blue skies and little white fl uff y 

clouds. A strong and stable high had settled over 

the peninsular. 

We started off with the usual escort of penguins 

and terns, and then we had a full display from a 

pod of humpback whales. As we eased our way 

into Orne Harbour a pair of crabeater seals 

obliged by posing on a berg right next to us. 

“I knew months ago when I started using words like, fantastic, 

incredible, perfect, unbelievable, amazing, in my blog, that I 

would eventually come south and run out of superlatives.” 

Mike, Buzz and Chris then went ashore to climb 

Spigots Peak to photograph the penguins and 

get a picture of UHURU creeping through the 

ice in Orne Harbour. From there they had the 

most spectacular views of Orne Harbour and 

the Gerlache Straits. 

As we left Orne Harbour we came across a 

leopard seal basking in the sun having just 

fi nished a snack, evidenced by the blood still on 

his chin. Th en a large pod of orcas (killer whales) 

followed us for about 30 minutes as we gently 

cruised down the Gerlache Straits towards Port 

Lockroy. By this time there was a very distinct 

holiday atmosphere onboard, we were running 

around the boat snapping pictures here and 

there, at the wildlife, at the scenery, at each 

other, like kids in a sweet shop. 

So please excuse me if this gets a little bit over 

the top! But this is the reward you get for pushing 

it all out there, those bitterly cold nights, scary 

seas and long, lonely watches, eventually lead 

to the ultimate winter wonderland; Antarctica in 

all her glory. 

SUMMER 2011 59

60 

PORT LOCKROY AND PICO LUIGI 

On arriving in Th under Bay, Port Lockroy, the 

climbing team immediately set about planning 

the ascent of Pico Luigi, a 1,530m peak that 

looms over Port Lockroy and the Seven Sisters. 

Armed with alpine skis, ice axes, miles of rope 

and a couple of day’s supplies they set off at 

04.30 the next morning. 

Meanwhile we went exploring ‘Base A’, Port 

Lockroy (pronounced: Lo-ckroy). Th is base was 

established in 1944 by a secret British military 

expedition, code-named ‘Operation Tabarin’, 

to monitor German movements in the Antarctic 

and provided weather information. They 

established a number of small bases all around 

the Antarctic Peninsula. 

Aft er the war the base was used by the Falkland 

Islands Dependencies Survey for weather 

research and the important early studies of 

the ionosphere. Th e base closed in 1962 and 

fell into disrepair. In 1994 the site was identifi ed 

as a key Antarctic historical site and restoration 

began in 1996. Since then the restoration work 

has continued by volunteers who come out 

and spend the whole summer season on this 

tiny island. 

Th is year there was a team of four glamorous 

young ladies led by Nikki from Surrey. Th ey 

arrived on site in November and their fi rst job 

was to dig the huts out of the snow, which was 

a full metre above the roof – tough ladies! Th ey 

spend the summer clearing snow, monitoring the 

penguin population, restoring the buildings, and 

welcoming visitors to the wonderful museum 

that they have created here. Th eir only support 


is visiting expedition ships and passing yachts, 

they don’t even have a small RIB to run around in, 

they are literally trapped on this small island for 

fi ve months. Idyllic on a sunny day like this, but 

you can imagine it’s not always like this and must 

be quite harsh at times. 

Th e penguins wander all over the base, creating 

little footpaths as they go. You can never tire of 

watching penguins; they are hilarious, and very, 

very cute. 

Th e base museum is a fascinating insight into an 

era where ‘men were men’ and survived horrifi c 

conditions, with two jars of Marmite and a pair 

of woolly mittens. It has been beautifully 

restored in all its details and the families of the 

original occupants have donated many of the 

artefacts. All the rooms have been laid out 

exactly as they were back in the late 1940s, 

and the kitchen features all your old favourites 

from tins of corned beef to Camp Coff ee and 

Marmite. All of it original, dug out from the old 

store hut and preserved in the cold. 

But one of the most intriguing recent discoveries 

has been a number of paintings of glamorous pin 

ups of the era hidden underneath a coat of paint. 

Th ese were only discovered last year when the 

covering paint started to peel. Many of these 

paintings were painted on doors, which were used 

as shutters during the winter. Local legend has it 

that on seeing these paintings outside the huts 

Argentinian fi sherman assumed it was a British 

brothel in the middle of Antarctica. Resourceful 

lot the Brits! It is believed that they were painted 

over by the artist as he left the base, to avoid 

embarrassment to the following team. 

At about three o’clock in the aft ernoon while we 

were on the base chatting with the girls about 

the museum and its artefacts, well that was our 

excuse, we received our fi rst radio communication 

from the climbing team saying that they had 

reached the summit and could just make out the 

base as a tiny speck. In amongst much cheering 

and celebrations we invited everyone over for 

drinks that night aft er supper to help celebrate 

Mike and Rich’s achievement, including some guys 

from a Brazilian yacht anchored close by. It took 

Mike and Rich another six hours to descend. 

We got lots of interesting local insights and 

had a very unexpected, and enjoyable evening, 

fi nishing sometime in the early hours. But as it is 

pretty much daylight all-night nobody was really 

sure what time it fi nished, the only indicator was 

the size of the hangovers the next morning, or 

was it aft ernoon? 

THE LEMAIRE CHANNEL 

AND PORT CHARCOT 

As we headed further south the ice got thicker 

and the going got slower, but all the time the 

spectacular scenery kept us spellbound. Mike 

and Rich dissected every peak as a possible 

challenge one day. I spent my whole time 

dodging growlers and trying to fi nd clear routes 

through the ice. Th e occasional heavy thump of 

ice hitting the bow reminded us all of how 

potentially perilous this endeavour was. 

We successfully navigated the Lemaire Passage, 

aka ‘Kodak Alley’, one of the most spectacular 

scenic spots in the world, but the weather was

closing in. We anchored that night in Port 

Charcot, site of the fi rst expedition to winter 

over in Antarctica lead by Jean-Baptiste Charcot, 

a Frenchman, in 1903. The wind changed 

constantly that night and we had to change 

our anchorage. We fi nally settled into a small 

sheltered cut, with shorelines out to rocks. But 

despite that, bergs started to move during the 

night and the sight of Rich and Buzz at three 

o’clock in the morning in their thermal long johns 

using the tender to push large ‘growlers’ out of 

our anchorage would have been comical, were 

it not so serious. 

I had been monitoring the weather forecasts 

closely over the last few days and all the signs 

were that there was a big weather front coming 

in. We had had the most incredible weather so 

far for our trip but it was all about to change. 

Choices had to be made, and they were, as 

always never simple, but in a nutshell; leave 

Antarctica immediately and try and beat the 

front across or wait until it passes through. 

Th e risks of waiting until it passed through were 

sitting for possibly fi ve or six days in Antarctica 

in bad weather with all the associated risks of 

shift ing ice and a fi breglass boat, and also using 

up our vital diesel reserves. Followed by a very 

rough passage in the big seas that follow a front 

like that, with the risk of a lot of growlers on the 

loose in those seas. 

Or leave now and miss a few days of our planned 

trip in Antarctica and get across before the front 

kicks in. However, if it sped up or we don’t make 

the daily mileage I planned we risk getting a 


good kicking around the Horn. I guessed that 

would be likely anyway. 

So I reviewed the situation again at 06.00 and 

woke everyone up at 07.00 to tell them that we 

were leaving in two hours. Not the most popular 

decision I’ve made, but one all agreed with when 

the options were explained. 

We headed out through a very challenging 

un-surveyed section of rock and ice to exit 

through the Nimrod Passage then north back 

across the Drake Passage. 

We rounded the Horn three and a half days 

later in 30 knots of wind from the north-east, 

and headed directly to a safe anchorage in Porto 

William. Nine hours later, a 50-knot plus north 

westerly swept through the area, with 10 metre 

seas around the Horn, but we were happily 

having a beer or two in the ‘Micalvi’. 

It had been a fantastic trip across to the 

Antarctic Peninsula, a little shorter than we 

had planned but safe, no one got hurt, and 

the only damage we sustained to UHURU was 

a lost Windex aft er it got caught up with the 

masthead burgee, and a ‘pecked’ through 

outhaul button cover. Not bad really, we also 

managed to get down to 65 degrees South, 

which although is no record, was no mean 

achievement for a glass fi bre hull. 

Was it worth it? All the months, no years, of 

preparation... all the agonizing and doubts, and, 

of course, the cost. 

Every moment... every sleepless night... worth 

every penny! 

For more information on High Latitudes visit 

www.highlatitudes.com 

Photos: Mike Powell/www.mikepowellphoto.com 

SUMMER 2011 61

62 

UHURU 

AT WORK, REST & PLAY. 

As we left Antarctica and sailed north for the Horn, the 

atmosphere onboard was understandably subdued. 

Yes, I thought, aft er all that work, preparation and eff ort 

we have been to Antarctica, it’s over. It’s done. It’s fi nished. 

It’s in the past. But it was fun; in fact it was more than fun. 

Th en I started thinking about all the ‘little’ things that 

somehow got missed in the excitement of the ‘big’ things. 

Th e simple act of maintaining the boat and us on a day-today 

basis required a lot more work and eff ort than normal. 

1. 

3. 

1. Laundry day on UHURU, Mike 

editing pictures and Chris in the 

bilges, checking the engine fi lters 

2. Rich and Chris stripping the 

windlass in Deception Island 

3. Mike carrying out the daily task 

of crushing the tin cans. Everything 

we took in with us had to come 

out with us, so waste management 

was very important 

We had a lot of laughs, at each other, at ourselves 

and sometimes at the world, but mostly at penguins. 

Mike working with penguins on Spigots Peak and 

some penguins with UHURU in the background 

But the worst and best of the bird world was the 

Sheathbill, a little mischievous white bird, that made 

a mess all over the boat on our last night, but somehow 

in the process managed to turn on our windvane 

auto pilot, which requires two buttons to be held 

down simultaneously. So we spent most of the night 

‘sailing’ to the wind, at anchor. Th ey also managed to peck 

through the waterproof cover on the outhaul button. 

2. 


Chris surfi ng a small berg 

Our resident dare devil/comedian, Chris kept us in fi ts 

with his antics. But Chris really pushed it all out there 

when he decided that he would leap off the spreaders 

into the freezing Antarctic Ocean. Th e cold hit him like 

a sledgehammer; you’ve never seen anyone swim back 

to the boat so fast. Apparently there was no pain, just 

instant total numbness. Th e fact that shortly aft er recovering 

him we came across a Leopard seal basking on a small 

berg didn’t phase him at all. I suspect his Mum might 

have had something to say about it! 

Chris’s valiant attempt at giving both himself 

and his mother a heart attack

Talking about the cold, I guess it’s confession time. Family 

and friends had been asking the question in almost 

every email, “how cold is it?” Well unfortunately, we had 

no idea, because despite the hoards of extra equipment 

we had loaded onboard for this trip, the Skipper, yours 

truly, forgot to pack a thermometer! 

We knew it was cold, but we just didn’t know how cold! 

Best guess is that on average it’s about zero to +1 degree, 

but the wind chill can drop that to minus 20 to 30 in 

a heartbeat. Just a gentle sailing breeze dropped the 

temperature dramatically. In the picture above I am 

wearing seven layers! Merino wool long johns and 

top, fl eece under shirt, full-length Windstopper thermal 

long johns, full-length Gore-Tex fl eece romper suit, 

Windstopper thermal blouse, big fl eece, and a full 

HPX Ocean suit, plus lining gloves, wrist warmers, 

a pair of ski gloves and mittens over the top, a neck 

warmer, balaclava and two woolly hats, three pairs of 

thermal socks and thermal wellies. Oh, and a life jacket. 

Th e Michelin Man has got nothing on me! 

But the real cold came when we went diving! We managed 

a couple of dives while we were down there, that was 

enough, believe me. Once on the wreck in Enterprise Bay 

and then on some old whalebones in Th under Bay, Port 

Lockroy. I enjoyed both but the cold just ate into you. 

We all prepare to go diving on the wreck in Enterprise Bay 

We head out to an old whaling area in Thunder Bay that is reputed to be 

covered in whalebones. Three very cold guys prepare to go down 

And whale bones we found, loads of them, but the 

visibility wasn’t that great. This is at about 18 metres 


All in all the guys had a great time, they did things they 

never thought possible, and discovered a part of the 

world that you only see on the BBC. 

Buzz found a boat park in the middle of an iceberg, 

and learnt how to fend off ice fl ows 

Mike climbed up everything he could see to bring us great pictures. 

And then he ran or skied down the rest! 

Rich guided us safely to some of the most beautiful anchorages in the world. 

And taught us a lot while doing it 

As for me, I had one of the most relaxed and enjoyable 

trips ever, I knew we were prepared and all our problems 

were small ones. 

So I spent a lot of time just feeling smug... 

SUMMER 2011 63

64 

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Oyster 46 











OYSTER FLEET AND AT THE BOAT SHOWS 

THE OYSTER 

EXPERIENCE 

STARTS RIGHT 

HERE. 

As we approach the Autumn boat show season, 

we extend a very warm welcome to you, our owners, 

customers and show visitors, to view some of the 

newest Oysters afl oat 

As usual we will be operating an appointment system to enable as 

many visitors as possible to view our yachts. Whilst we do try to 

ensure everyone who wishes to get on board can do so, we do 

get extremely busy so please contact us to book a boarding 

time ahead of your visit to the show so you won’t be disappointed. 

Please visit the Events section of our website where you can 

fi nd more details about each boat show and you can also make 

an appointment to view our yachts by completing the online 

Boarding Pass request form. If you prefer, you can of course 

simply call our sales team. 

HISWA In-Water 



Cannes 



Newport 

Brokerage Show 


Southampton 


Oyster 575 and 625 

Oyster Brokerage 

Autumn Show, 

Southampton 


UK/EUROPEAN SHOWS 

UK Offi ce: +44 (0)1473 695 005 

US SHOWS 

US Offi ce: +1 401 846 7400 

Email us at: yachts@oystermarine.com 

Visit us online: www.oystermarine.com 

Genoa 



Annapolis 

Sailboat Show 



Hamburg 

29 October – 6 November 

Oyster 54 or 575 

Oyster Private View, 

Palma 


Oyster 46, 54, 575, 655 and 72 

SUMMER 2011 65

66 


TWIN RUDDERS 

FOR BLUE WATER CRUISING 

...another leading idea from Oyster! 

“Twin rudders have been around for a long time and we’ve used them on 

several Oysters where we’ve fi tted shallow draft keels or centreboards. Another 

manufacturer uses them as props to stop their yachts falling over when they 

beach and, as Rob points out, race yachts regularly use them. What interested 

me was the opportunity of fi nding a step change for Oyster based on scientifi c 

tank testing data, balanced with some CFD rig testing. It was exciting to fi nd 

such convincing results that Oyster can take a market-leading stance and now 

off er a fully engineered option across the range.” David Tydeman 

BY ROB HUMPHREYS

Having been a proponent of twin rudders for 

well over a decade, Rob Humphreys Design has 

a wealth of experience with the arrangement 

through a range of boat types, from the rather 

esoteric world of Open 60s and Volvo 70s 

through to moderately heavy cruising yachts. 

Our knowledge of what to do and how to do it 

has been partly theoretical, partly intuitive and 

– through feedback from our boats – partly 

empirical. However, it is only very recently that 

we have had the opportunity to really quantify 

the benefi ts. Th is came through an exhaustive 

tank testing session on behalf of the new Oyster 885, 

which was commissioned by Oyster on the basis 

it would not only benefi t the development of 

the 885 but also the rest of the Oyster range. 

In the early design brief discussions last year on 

the Oyster “PC” as it was code-named, the 

Oyster New Product Development team and 

I sat down and ran through their ideas for how 

this new yacht should fi t into the range. Th e 

conclusion was a yacht with moderate beam, 

balancing the requirements of interior volume 

with boat speed, a mast further aft to provide 

a powerful blade jib for easy upwind sailing, 

and room for four owner/guest cabins in a hull 

length of “no more than 20 millimetres short of 

the LY2 MCA 24 metre rule”. David Tydeman’s 

naval architecture background quickly helped 

me persuade him that twin rudders were the 

way to go! 

It was clear that this was going to be a bit of a 

sea change for Oyster and I was pleased that 

David was keen to push this forward and also 

to support this breakthrough with a proper 

budget for tank testing. We all felt it would 

be helpful to have tangible reference information 

for those owners trying to understand the shift 

from a skeg-rudder to the twin rudder form for 

this exciting new model. 

In fact our testing session set out to do more 

than just this because we also used the 

opportunity to let the spade rudder have its say, 

just for some form of completeness. We have 

oft en been asked why Oyster has tended to 

steer clear of spade rudders and the answer 

has more to do with potential vulnerability than 

any disrespect for its potential qualities. As any 

Oyster owner knows, a blue-water cruising 

yacht has to be accomplished in a number of 

diff erent ways, and one of the lower profi le 

requirements has to be an ability to slide 

backwards against a Mediterranean harbour 

wall without necessarily endangering the 

steering gear. One paradox of success for 

TWIN RUDDERS 

CFD analysis of the sailplan 

“From our perspective, 

twin rudders represent a huge 

benefi t and Oyster owners will 

really appreciate this development 

too as soon as they have the 

wheel at their fi ngertips.” 

Oyster is that with so many boats out there, 

if it is possible to do something then it has 

usually been tried. In this case, with three 

SuperShoal twin rudder Oysters already on the 

water, the expression ‘tried and tested’ comes 

to mind. A spade rudder, whatever its qualities 

in other respects, is not quite as bomb-proof as 

a rudder hung off a full-depth skeg, but again 

David’s racing and technical background has 

helped to push the decisions forward. 

In our tank testing we were focusing our attention 

on a fully-pressed up set of sailing conditions, 

with the boat heeled over to 20 degrees and 

sailing at nine knots, with a variety of leeway 

angles and load conditions. Separately we had 

commissioned North Sails to run their proprietary 

CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) panel code 

‘Flow’, to determine the exact three-dimensional 

centres of pressure that are relevant to Oysters, 

so that we could keep an eye on what was 

happening to the balance of the boats. 

We tested a lot of other things as well, but the 

rudder testing was most interesting and was 

totally supportive of all that we had learnt to 

be true in the fi eld. For a given side force and 

leeway angle the skeg rudder and the spade 

rudder were in a roughly similar ballpark, 

whereas the twin-rudder equivalent was in 

another world altogether. For example, with the 

twin rudders set to just two degrees to the fl ow, 

the spade rudder needed to be at over six for 

an equivalent moment, and the skeg-hung 

rudder at eight – all for the same yaw moment. 

Put another way, the leeward twin rudder provided 

four times as much force than a skeg rudder! 

Much of the distinction comes from the fact that 

the twin rudders are operating in clean water 

whereas centreline rudders – of whatever 

denomination – are operating in a disturbed 

second-hand fl ow coming off the keel. Th e result 

is a much more satisfying steering experience 

and at the same time a signifi cant reduction in 

resistance – so more speed. 

From our perspective, twin rudders represent 

a huge benefi t and Oyster owners will really 

appreciate this development too as soon as they 

have the wheel at their fi ngertips. But what’s 

also interesting is that the system fares a lot 

better in terms of potential reliability, especially 

against the spade rudder. Th e blades are 

signifi cantly smaller and more lightly loaded, 

and the span is considerably shorter, making it 

almost impossible to damage the steering gear 

when reversing into a quay. And of course, with 

two rudders rather than one, there is an obvious 

increase in the level of redundancy. Unlike some 

twin-rudder installations, the arrangement we 

have for Oyster means that even assuming the 

worst-case loss of one rudder it would still be 

possible to sail the boat on the compromised 

tack, albeit with reduced canvas. 

All in all we learnt nothing new in a qualitative 

sense; but in quantitative terms it was certainly 

an eye-opener, not just for me but also for the 

Wolfson Unit who had not previously run such 

a benchmarking comparison. 

With twin rudder installations already in action on 

Oyster 82s and an Oyster 655, and now specifi ed 

as standard on the new Oyster 885, in addition to 

being available on the SuperShoal versions of the 

54, 575 and 625, we see their use spreading 

through to the standard keel yachts. Watch this 

space for the next new model! 

Photos: Mike Jones / waterlinemedia.com 

SUMMER 2011 67

Live in 

68 


C U 

Golden Gate is an Oyster 62 owned by Ole Vagner and crewed by 

Kris and Gunilla Bewert. It’s always interesting to talk about future plans. 

Living and working on a yacht is never dull, the possibilities to see diff erent 

places around the world through your work is a way of life for us. 

Aft er having spent a year and a half in the Mediterranean, we crossed 

the Atlantic again with the ARC in November 2010. Not sure exactly what 

lay ahead aft er St Lucia, we sat talking on one of the windless days at sea… 

BY GUNILLA BEWERT (CHEF/STEWARDESS AND ROCK’N’ROLL MANAGER)

B A 

“We are going to Cuba,” announced Ole. 

We looked at each other and replied, “Are we?” 

“Yes, with A-Band”, said Ole. 

Th at was how it started. A-Band is a band playing classic 

rock ’n’ roll, Ole is the bass guitarist. Th e band have been on 

board Golden Gate twice before, once in the Caribbean 

and once in Greece and we have managed to organise gigs 

for them in diff erent places along the sailing routes. Cuba 

was now the new place on the horizon and Ole asked us 

to organise it all, certainly a challenge worth the name. 

Oyster 62, GOLDEN GATE 

Where do we start? We gathered information on Cuba 

and where we could sail. With Golden Gate’s draft of 

2.7 metres our options were quite limited and we had to 

search the charts for harbours, marinas and anchorages. 

Th e only pilot books seemed to be from around 1999 

and not up-to-date. Online we found out that more 

information would be published in a pilot book when 

the USA lift s the embargo. Th at could take a while!... 

A-Band wanted to sail on the south coast so we 

focused on places there. 

SUMMER 2011 69

70 

Aft er some searching we came across Placido 

Sanchez at Mega Yacht Services and, even 

though we normally don’t need to use agencies, 

for this trip we found it more than helpful to 

have a person on the inside to help us with the 

organising. A-Band also had a contact, a music 

producer in Havana and between the two of 

them we managed to book four concerts, two 

in Havana, one in Trinidad and one in Cienfuegos. 

Being Cuba, this required the band to have 

cultural visas instead of tourist visas and the 

music producer in Havana applied for those 

on our behalf. 

Cienfuegos lays almost 1100nm from St Maarten 

and was the place we chose as our port of entry. 

As we arrived in late May there were not many, 

in fact hardly any, cruising yachts around. Having 

sent all the ship’s documents and crew lists to 

Placido we arrived aft er a six-day passage and 

had the entire range of offi cials waiting for us. 

We had to anchor off the marina fi rst, lower 

the tender and go into the dock to pick up the 

doctor and the immigration offi cer who came 

back out to the boat with Kris. While planning 

the passage from St Maarten we had made note 

of several ports of refuge should we need to 

divert. Th is was never necessary as the weather 

was fi ne and the boat behaved well, something 

we were very glad of when we learned of all 

the questions on our arrival. Th e doctor asked if 

we had stopped in the Dominican Republic and 

since the answer was “no” we were clear. When 

we asked why, he answered that there was 

cholera on Hispaniola and a stop there would 

have meant we would have to be in quarantine 

for several days and not allowed ashore. 


“FIDEL CASTRO PREVIOUSLY BANNED THE BEATLES FROM CUBA, BUT 

ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF JOHN LENNON’S DEATH, IN 2000, 

A STATUE OF HIM WAS UNVEILED IN THE PRESENCE OF FIDEL.” 

When the form was completed we had to lower 

the Q-fl ag immediately to show the people 

ashore we were healthy. We could then dock 

the boat and go through the rest of the inward 

clearance procedure, it took four hours but 

everyone was very nice and friendly. All the 

offi cials, nine of them, required a soda in order 

to do the work. Only the drugs sniff er dog didn’t! 

We were glad we had stocked up in St Maarten. 

Ole and the band arrived in Havana on a Sunday 

evening and, staying at Hotel Nacional, were 

keen to try the mojitos and Cohibas (cigars) at 

the hotel’s bar. Th e Hotel Nacional opened in the 

1930s and is famous for all the prominent guests 

who have stayed there over the years and their 

terrace bar is the place to be seen. Kris and I 

had rented a car and drove to Havana to greet 

A-Band and make sure all went well. Apart from 

a lost suitcase, which we couldn’t blame on the 

Cubans, everyone was happy. 

Fidel Castro previously banned the Beatles from 

Cuba, but on the 20th anniversary of John 

Lennon’s death, in 2000, a statue of him was 

unveiled in the presence of Fidel. Th e statue 

sits in Parque Lennon and there is a club called 

Submarino Amarillo (Yellow Submarine) that 

recently opened next to the park. What better 

place for A-Band to play in Havana, where the 

people like to rock! Th e fi rst concert took place 

on a Tuesday night and the club was packed 

with happy people. A-Band started with the 

song ‘Unchain my Heart’ by Joe Cocker and 

the audience were with them right from the 

start, raving until they left the stage an hour 

and a half later. It was a great success and true 

evidence that music brings people together. 

A-Band departed on a bus tour to diff erent places 

of interest for a few days while we went back to 

Golden Gate to make her ready for their arrival. 

Th e Harbour Master came by and asked if the 

trip had been good and made sure all was fi ne 

with the boat. Th e kindness of the offi cials is 

worth mentioning, especially aft er a few seasons 

in the Caribbean. We found the Cubans to be 

very honest and hardworking people. No one 

asked us for money, they did however ask for 

gift s of diff erent kinds. One bicycle taxi driver 

asked if we had soap to spare. We had read of 

the need for soap, shampoo and such articles 

and had stocked up with extra, although we 

weren’t exactly walking around with soap in 

our bags. It’s very expensive for the Cubans, 

only to be found in the so-called CUC stores. 

Cuba has two currencies, the peso and the 

Cuban convertible. Th e people get paid in 

pesos and there are 24 pesos to one CUC. 

Th at is something to remember when buying 

fruit and vegetables in the markets where the 

counting is fast and knowing a little Spanish is 

very important for a trip to Cuba. 

Costa Sur Club hosted A-Band’s concert in 

Cienfuegos together with the local band 

‘Los Moddyz’. It’s an open-air scene and with the 

daily rain shower we were somewhat concerned 

if it would work. Luckily, despite a few early 

showers the heavy rain went elsewhere. It was 

another great evening and the local band even 

invited A-Band’s singer, Lasse, up on stage to sing 

along with them to the beat of Duran Duran’s 

‘Shout’. When we talked to the locals, they were 

very appreciative to have the opportunity to see 

and hear a band from outside Cuba.

OWNER REPORT – GOLDEN GATE 

SUMMER 2011 71

72 

inCuba! 

DO’S & DON’TS 

DO’S 

◎ Brush up on your Spanish, it’s just as crucial 

to know some while in Cuba, as English is 

good to know when in England. 

◎ Plan your trip. Th e best pilot book is still 

Nigel Calder’s ‘Cuba – A Cruising Guide’. 

Ashore we found the ‘MOON Cuba 

Guide Book (2010)’ by Christopher P. Baker 

very helpful. 

◎ Bring all the spares you need, or think you 

might need. Cuba is not on the FedEx route 

and even if there are DHL offi ces here it’s 

diffi cult to have anything sent there. 

◎ Buy all the food you need at your last port 

of call. Sure, the Cubans eat too… but 

many things are just not obtainable. 

Fruit and vegetables are good but think 

tropical, very good pineapples and mangos 

but no apples or grapes. Bake your own 

bread and if you’re into cheese and 

yoghurt, bring that too. Havana has a 

better selection than in the rural parts 

of the country. 

◎ Bring Euros for cash exchange into the 

Cuban CUC. Th e USD gets a 10% 

surcharge on top of the rate. 

DON’TS 

◎ Buy lobster from a back door freezer; 

take my word for it… Th e restaurants serve 

good lobsters; they’re a better choice. 

◎ Get agitated by the extensive paperwork. 

Th e offi cials are only doing their job, and 

with a smile it can be a fun experience 

as well. 

◎ Invite a Cuban onboard, it’s not permitted. 

Only offi cials carry the special license to 

come aboard. 

◎ Buy cigars on the street. Th ey are illegal 

to buy, fake and taste thereaft er. You get 

what you pay for. 

◎ Go to Cuba for their cuisine, it doesn’t 

exist… try the Ropa Vieja (Old Clothes) 

dish at a good restaurant, it’s worth a 

try and surprisingly good. Best we had 

was at Dona Eutimia near the Plaza de 

la Catedral in Havana. 


“CUBA IS A DELIGHTFUL COUNTRY TO VISIT. THE FRIENDLINESS OF 

THE PEOPLE AND THE ATMOSPHERE ALL AROUND IS LIKE BEING 

TRANSFERRED BACK TO THE 1960s.”

Th e day aft er the concert, we fi led the paperwork 

for our new crew of eight and with that taken 

care of we could cast off and sail to the islands. 

Th e nearest to Cienfuegos, heading west, is a 

little speck of an island called Guano del Este. 

It has a lighthouse with two lighthouse keepers 

and some derelict buildings, that’s it! Th e younger 

part of A-Band took the tender and got a tour 

of the lighthouse with some great views as 

a reward. 

Cayo Largo was next on our agenda and we had 

a great sail there with winds of about 20-25 

knots all the way. Playa Sirena is considered one 

of the best beaches in Cuba and we anchored 

off and enjoyed stunning views. Aft er some 

research with the echo sounder we found 

out we could go a little further up into more 

protected waters. Th ere is a marina there and 

the channel is dredged to 4 metres. Several 

of the marinas on the south coast of Cuba are 

named Marina Marlin and this was another one. 

Th e government owns them all and we had to 

do an inward clearance with three offi cials on 

the boat. Only four hours later, as we went into 

the marina, we had to see yet another offi cial for 

what reason we never understood. Cayo Largo 

is a tourist island and if you want to experience 

Cuba this is not the place to go. However, if you 

want great diving and snorkelling, swimming with 

dolphins, pretty beaches and to have a leisurely 

time, this is a great spot to be. Th e marina is in 

El Pueblo, which is the little village where the 

locals who work on the island live. Th ey work 

OWNER REPORT – GOLDEN GATE 

for 20 days, and then they have 10 days off when 

they go home to their families on the mainland or 

Isla de Juventud where some of them live. 

We all went diving and snorkelling on the reef 

just outside the marina with the dive company. 

It was a shallow dive with plenty of coral and 

fi sh. We got to see a half-grown turtle, and at 

the end of the dive a nurse shark was lurking in 

the coral not wanting to be disturbed. It was 

very exciting to see a shark in its natural habitat, 

something to cherish and write home about. 

Th e show must go on though and aft er fi ve days 

onboard it was time for Ole and A-Band to go 

back to Havana again. Th ey fl ew from the small 

airport on Cayo Largo; it’s a short 30 minute 

fl ight, which was very convenient. In Havana they 

had one more concert at Submarino Amarillo 

before they fl ew home to Denmark with many 

new memories. 

As for Golden Gate, we planned to sail from 

Cayo Largo straight to Marina Hemingway near 

Havana, in one go. It was a bit of a concern as 

there was a low forming in the Caribbean basin 

that could have developed into a tropical storm. 

At the time it produced fresh easterly winds on 

the north coast of Cuba. We took advice from 

Commander Weather to give us a good forecast 

and when they said the winds would subside to 

10 knots we left Cayo Largo. Sailing along the 

south coast was dreamlike; with the wind from 

the aft we made good speed. Rounding the 

western end of Cuba however turned out to be 

quite a challenge. We never saw the 10 knots, 

we got 30-35 knots on the nose the entire way 

along the north coast and, together with a 

counter current from the Gulf Stream, we had 

a very long and slow trip heading east. 56 hours 

and 370nm aft er leaving Cayo Largo we entered 

Marina Hemingway, a good protected marina. 

Again we were expected, as Placido had booked 

us a berth. Th is did not however make the 

paperwork any easier, there were even more 

papers to fi ll out in Havana than we had on the 

south coast. 

Once past the paper exercises, Cuba is a 

delightful country to visit. Th e friendliness of the 

people and the atmosphere all around is like 

being transferred back to the 1960s. Th e old 

American cars are still running and they’re a joy 

to watch. Th e most common car for the Cubans 

to own is a Lada, we saw eight passengers in 

one, so they must hold together pretty well! 

Public transport is a problem; there are just 

not enough buses so people are hitch-hiking 

everywhere. Imagine having to do that to go 

to work every morning, no wonder shops and 

businesses never open on time! With plenty to 

see and do, and a culture scene very diff erent 

from the rest of the Caribbean we have enjoyed 

our weeks in Cuba tremendously. Th e Spanish 

poet Federico Garcia Lorca once wrote, “If I get 

lost, look for me in Cuba”. We now know why. 

SUMMER 2011 73

74 

HETAIROS 


CLASSIC YACHT REFIT & REPAIR | SUPERYACHT FIT OUT | SUPERYACHT REFIT & REPAIR 

CUSTOM NEW BUILD | PROJECT MANAGEMENT | DESIGN & ENGINEERING | OYSTER YACHT BUILDERS 

Hetairos is a 43m (142ft ) wooden, Bruce King 

designed ketch built by Abeking and Rasmussen 

in 1992. Hetairos is well known on the racing 

and cruising circuits, and a little unusual in that 

she has a fully retracting centreboard. She spent 

the winter with SYS in the refi t hall. 

SYS’s engineering team was kept busy with the 

removal of the centreboard and servicing of the 

beautifully designed control mechanism – all in 

bronze. Years of extensive cruising, and latterly 

some racing, had exacted its toll, but the 

fundamentals of the system remained sound. 

Having removed all the components from 

the keel box, including the 6.5 tonne, 7.5 metre 

long centreboard, and serviced the two 

30 tonne hydraulic rams and control system, 

she has returned to the water as good as new. 

Other work on the yacht included service work 

to the rudder, winches and windlass, and a 

thorough service of the main engine, shaft and 

propeller plus some additional shipwright and 

joinery work. Aft er a repaint of the topsides and 

the 45m main and 36m mizzen and spars, plus 

an overhaul of the rig, she emerged gleaming in 

her new livery of jet black with gold cavita line 

and gold details on the trailboards.

SEA LION 

Sea Lion, the 21m (67ft ) Abeking and Rasmussen 

yawl, built in 1953, left the yard in July aft er her 

extensive rebuild. As she sailed towards the 

Needles on her way down the Channel, she 

looked splendid and back in her element. 

With gleaming new brightwork and fi ttings, 

new frames, bronze fl oors and mahogany 

hull skin, new deck and coachroof, all new 

equipment and machinery, plus all new interior 

WINDSOR BELLE 

Windsor Belle, is a 20.7m (68ft ) 1901 Steam 

Launch, which arrived at SYS in April for structural 

repairs to the hull and replacement of her steam 

engine and boiler. Th e SYS team of shipwrights 

and joiners set to work replacing the beam 

shelves, some areas of hull and deck planking 

and the arch board across the transom, fi tting 

splines to the topsides, recaulking the seams 

SOUTHAMPTON YACHT SERVICES 

joinery, electrics and plumbing, she is ready 

to face the next 50 years. Th e opportunity was 

taken to add some innovative new features and 

update her systems, and to install additional 

equipment and services into the hull, whilst 

preserving her classic appearance, thus making 

her easier to live aboard and enjoy. Earlier 

stages of the rebuild were reported on in issues 

70 and 71 of Oyster News. 

and re-varnishing the hull and deckhouse. New 

engine bearers are being fi tted and the tanks, 

plumbing and wiring upgraded. She is being 

fi tted with a rebuilt triple expansion engine, 

boiler and ancillary steam equipment by SYS 

engineers under the direction of a specialist 

steam engineer. Aft er trials in August she will 

return to the tranquil waters of the River Th ames. 

SMALL WORKS – REPAIRS, REFITS, OVERHAULS 

AND MAINTENANCE 

Th e Small Works team at Southampton Yacht 

Services is dedicated to providing the same 

standard of care and craft smanship when looking 

aft er Oyster yachts, as when they were built. Th e 

team has access to all the build information and 

design specifi cations, plus the full range of facilities 

and skills at the yard, and in some cases has access 

to the people who originally built the yacht. 

Whatever your query, please give the team 

a call on +44 (0)23 8033 5266 or email 

mattm@southamptonyachtservices.co.uk. 

For Oyster Customer Service and Support 

related questions please email: 

paul.bennett@oystermarine.com 

For further information please contact: Tel: +44 (0)23 8033 5266 

Email: enquiry@southamptonyachtservices.co.uk www.southamptonyachtservices.co.uk 

PIERS WILSON RETIRES 

As many of our 

readers will know, 

Piers Wilson retired 

in July aft er over 

30 years leading 

SYS as Managing 

Director. Piers started 

the company in 1980 

and has guided the 

business through 

three decades of yacht building, always keeping 

clients and the SYS team happy. Over that time 

the yard has produced a range of exemplary 

refi ts on yachts including Altair, Belle Aventure, 

Ticonderoga, Thendara, Velsheda, Ilona of 

Kylesku, Mari-Cha III, Bystander, Merrymaid, 

Alinda V, and Sea Lion, plus numerous smaller 

refi t projects on classic motor and sailing 

yachts. In the early days, SYS became known 

for building one off wood epoxy yachts such 

as Gemervescence, Craftsman’s Art and Rocio. 

Since 1990, SYS has built more than 65 Oysters, 

comprising the larger models from 60ft upwards. 

In July the yard held a summer garden party to 

say thank you to Piers, but not goodbye, as he 

has agreed to remain close to the business as a 

specialist to advise on custom new build and 

refi t projects, we all look forward to continuing 

to work with him. 

NEW OYSTER MODELS 

SYS completed the fi rst stunning new Oyster 625 

in April and is now nearing completion of the 

second yacht, which will be on show at the 

Southampton Boat Show in September. 

In August the yard starts work on the new 

Oyster 885, which has been in development 

since mid 2010. Th e team at SYS, including our 

designers and yacht builders, has been busy 

since the start of the year on detailed design 

and production engineering of this new yacht 

to ensure that when all the elements of design 

and construction are brought together, the 

result is another superb Oyster. Th e results 

that are emerging are spectacular, and 

everyone is looking forward to getting 885s 

hull #1 and #2 into the build hall and 

commencing work on them. 

SUMMER 2011 75

76 


Crossin g 

The Arabian Sea 

When you have sailed over four thousand miles through pirate infested seas, been 

chased out of anchorages by African, gun toting military boats, survived engine 

failures, fi erce currents and strong winds and are sixty miles from your destination, 

you don’t expect the Indian Navy to T-bone your yacht! 

BY LIZ CLEERE AND JAMIE FURLONG, OYSTER 435 ESPER

SUMMER 2011 77

78 

Salalah should have been where our convoy 

ended, but the pirates hadn’t fi nished with 

us yet. As we prepared to leave, a call came 

through from the UKMTO to tell us a ship had 

been hijacked 30 miles off the coast of Oman, 

bang in the middle of our proposed route. 

We were asked to stay for a few more days 

while they investigated the danger. 

With no further attacks occurring in the vicinity, 

and an intense Omani naval presence, we took 

the decision to head out of Salalah on 5th April. 

Th e taskforce requested we stay together until 

well away from the danger zone. Once again 

we sailed together in convoy, checking in with 

the taskforce every six hours, maintaining radio 

silence and using minimal navigation lights. 

Before taking the plunge eastwards, we spent 

another night at anchor in a pristine bay. 

Ras al Hallaniyah, part of the Kuria Muria Islands, 

lies 125 miles north of Salalah. Knowing this 

would be our last chance to enjoy the deserted 

shores of Oman, we spent the day snorkelling 

and beachcombing among the white sands, 

beneath the dramatic red rock of this barren 

coast. We relished a few hours of unadulterated 


“The con voy, ha vin g served its purpose in gettin g us sa fel y throu gh 

pira te-ridden seas, broke up when we reached sa fer wa ters. 

E ver y skipp er was on ce more master of his own destin y.” 

fun before the familiar threats of piracy, storms 

and equipment failure forced their way back 

into the forefront of our minds. 

Despite these underlying concerns, Jamie and 

I were eager to begin life on the open water. 

Since leaving Turkey we had been anticipating 

the crossing as one of the highlights of the Rally. 

We headed north, still in formation, early the 

following morning. Th e convoy, having served 

its purpose in getting us safely through pirateridden 

seas, broke up when we reached safer 

waters. Every skipper was once more master 

of his own destiny. 

Some of the faster yachts disappeared over the 

horizon quickly. We kept up the radio ‘net’ twice 

a day – once in the morning and again in the 

evening. Between the group we had enough SSB 

and VHF power for messages and bulletins to be 

relayed back and forth across the Arabian Sea. 

For security reasons we did not give our positions 

over the air, instead we announced our distance 

and direction from previously agreed waypoints. 

Th e net gave us a chance to pool weather 

information and to pick up the latest advice 

from the taskforce. 

Aft er a couple of days of freedom and light 

winds, the group began to hallucinate. Jamie 

was the fi rst to see phantoms on the radar screen, 

always dead ahead. We strained our eyes in the 

darkness, but saw nothing. Soon Roam II reported 

the phenomenon: a clear blip, dead ahead, but 

nothing in the water. When Dan of Still Dreaming 

reported the same apparition our imaginations 

ran riot. What was out there, so solid on the radar 

screen but so well camoufl aged in the water? 

Next time the ghost appeared Dan was ready. 

Night vision goggles in hand, he strode to the 

front of his yacht and peered into the middle 

distance. No boat. But hovering in the air, just 

above the sea was a helicopter. It seemed that 

even out here our military friends were keeping 

an eye on us. 

Within moments of leaving the convoy we 

caught our biggest fi sh yet, a bright blue dorado 

(aka mahi-mahi or dolphin-fi sh). It was skinned, 

fi lleted and put in the fridge within minutes, 

while Millie gorged herself on the left overs. 

It is one of the tastiest fi sh in the sea and very 

plentiful; we dined well over the next few days, 

aft er which we moved on to tuna. Th is positive 

start to our independence, boosted by half

decent winds, augured well 

for the crossing. We sat back 

and relaxed as Esper slowly 

made her way across the 

rolling ocean. 

A pattern soon emerges when 

you are at sea. On Esper we 

have no strict system, instead 

we take our watches when 

the time suits both of us, 

maintaining a minimum of 

three hours. Jamie is a night 

owl, preferring to cruise 

through the blackness, trimming the sails. He will 

happily stay awake from evening till the wee 

small hours, while I sleep for England below. I am 

a lark, it works well. I start to fl ag by 22.00 hours 

when I scuttle off to bed, leaving Jamie alone in 

the cockpit. 

We have discovered that letting the person on 

watch make the decision about when to fi nish 

works best for us, allowing the other person to 

sleep without waiting for the alarm going off . 

Jamie starts to fl ag around 03.00 hours and will 

rouse me carefully, but no matter how gentle the 

awakening we are both programmed to spring 

into action as soon as our eyes open. We’ll check 

the radar, paper charts, digital display and AIS 

together before heading our separate ways, 

Jamie leaving me with the same mantra – “Keep 

a 360 degree lookout. Stay in the cockpit. Come 

and get me if you are worried about anything.” 

We keep up our energy levels through the night 

by eating little and oft en. Heating up a bowl of 

noodles when coming on watch takes just enough 

time to let our night vision kick in. Th e cockpit at 

night is a cosy place, illuminated only by the moon 

OWNER REPORT – ESPER 

and dimmed dashboard lights. Sometimes we 

might listen to audio books, but neither of us listens 

to music, preferring the sound of the boat and 

the sea. 

For the fi rst couple of hours I am on full alert, 

scanning for lights and hazards. I’ll assiduously 

clamber up and down the companionway 

checking the instruments and the horizon. On a 

good night the boat creaks as the rigging does 

its job and the sails are taut in the warm, steady 

breeze. Th e air of the Arabian Sea is hot and, 

when you are alone with your thoughts, it is easy 

to nod off in the darkness. To keep awake I’ll do 

sit-ups in the cockpit, check the radar and AIS 

more frequently and try to identify the stars. 

With no light pollution in the middle of the ocean 

the night sky is spectacular. It was a joy to watch 

Scorpius emerge on the horizon and crawl across 

the heavens – home to my favourite star, the fi ery 

red Antares. I never tire of peering over the side 

to watch a stream of brilliant tiny galaxies refl ected 

in the phosphorescence of Esper’s wake. 

Dawn is a special time for any yachtsman. As the 

weak light reveals the horizon, the world emerges 

from shades of grey to bursts 

of Turneresque pinks and 

oranges. Dolphins, already 

on the hunt, come to play 

in Esper’s bow waves at 

daybreak, happiness incarnate. 

Th e calm didn’t last long. 

On the third day over the 

radio we heard Mary’s 

frightened voice from 

Still Dreaming. “Rally boats! 

Rally boats! Can anyone hear 

me? We are being followed! 

It’s a big dhow. Can anyone assist?” 

Th eir yacht was not visible, but she was coming 

across loud and clear. Th e fear in Mary’s voice 

was palpable as she tried to explain to Jamie 

what was happening. “Th ey have come 

alongside. Dan has gone out to talk to them. 

Th ey passed us and then turned round and 

came back. Th ere are lots of men shouting 

at Dan. I don’t know what to do.” 

“Describe everything you can see and tell me 

where you are.” “Th ere’s lots of shouting. 

Th ey are so close!” 

Jamie did his best to keep Mary calm and asked 

her to describe what she could see. We tried 

to work out where she was as the position she 

had given made no sense. Aft er a tense few 

minutes while we listened to Mary, and some 

tremendous shouting in the background, she 

stopped transmitting. Fearing the worst we 

waited by the VHF, calling them again and again. 

Eventually a relieved Dan came on to tell us that 

the men in the dhow had simply been curious 

and had wanted to say hello. Th is was a timely 

reminder that we should continue to expect 

the unexpected. 

SUMMER 2011 79

80 

We soon slipped back into our 

routine, but it became tougher 

as the wind dropped, the seas 

got lumpy, and our autopilot – 

which had been problematic 

since Egypt – really began to 

play up. What had started out 

as an occasional loss of power 

had transformed into regular 

lengthy periods of no autopilot 

at all. Th e conditions meant 

motoring, so on went the 

engine and once again we 

were hand steering, the pain 

of which was compounded 

by an increasingly stiff wheel. 

Jamie spent the best part of 

the next two days with his head 

in the engine or the lazarette. 

He checked the alternator 

regulator, the steering cables 

and the rudder. Th e jury 

remained out on whether the 

alternator regulator was at 

fault or if it was an electronic/ 

computer problem. Th e rudder 

turned out to be fi ne. We had 

already checked the cables in 

Egypt, but they had stiff ened 

again, so Jamie loosened them 

and the steering became easier. 

I spent six unbroken hours on 

the helm and was eventually 

forced to go to bed with a 

frozen back. 

Some hours later I was back 

on watch. To my astonishment 

Jamie had balanced the boat 

and Esper’s windvane steering 

system had taken over helming 

duties. I nearly cried from 

relief. We were motor-sailing, 

but there was just enough 

wind for our wonderful 

Windpilot Pacifi c Plus to work. We had no 

autopilot for the rest of the trip, but with this 

new-found ability there were fewer occasions 

we would have to steer by hand. 

We took a moment in the middle of our journey 

across the Arabian Sea to mark the occasion and 

to toast Jamie’s 15,000th mile. A weak vodka 

and tonic and half a beer later, we resumed our 

jobs, but decided that from now on we would 

take more time out to simply sit together and 

enjoy the sailing, rather than running from task 

to task. 

As we headed towards Mumbai the shipping 

traffi c steadily increased. With the aid of AIS we 

were easily able to work out which vessels were 


on a collision course and which could be quickly 

discounted. Having a transponder meant we 

knew we were clearly visible to those ships 

equipped with AIS. On the few occasions 

we made radio contact to alert them to our 

presence they had already seen us. But even 

the brilliance of AIS could not prevent what 

happened next. 

Roughly 60 miles from our fi nal destination we, 

along with Roam II, were skirting the Neelam 

Heera and Ratna oilfi elds along Direction Bank. 

Terry called us to warn us they had been 

boarded by the Indian Navy, who had arrived 

on an aged fi shing boat demanding to see ships 

papers and any stocks of alcohol on board. 

Having gone through the 

niceties the gentleman in 

charge took a bottle of gin for 

his troubles. We kept a lookout 

for said fi shing boat and an 

hour later a heavy wooden 

tub, ringed with old car tyres, 

headed straight towards us. 

“I have been hailing you for 

the last 20 minutes on Channel 

05. Why do you not respond?” 

shouted an angry looking naval 

type. “We are not listening on 

05, we have Channel 16 open,” 

was Jamie’s reasonable reply. 

“Call me now on 05!” came 

the command. 

Since we were in earshot and 

already having a conversation 

it seemed superfl uous to talk 

on the VHF, but Jamie dutifully 

went below to try Channel 05. 

Th e crew took this as their cue 

to grin and wave at me. Th e 

helmsman was mesmerised 

and – presumably interpreting 

my shouts and gesticulations 

to back off as a sign of 

encouragement – steered the 

boat in the direction he was 

looking, straight at me. 

Just as Jamie was about to 

come up and point out to the 

naval man that Channel 05 is a 

duplex channel so he couldn’t 

be heard, there was a sickening 

crunch. Th e fi shing vessel drove 

into the side of Esper, smashing 

the toe rail and bending a 

stanchion. Jamie fl ew up the 

companionway without 

touching the sides and began 

cursing. Th ere was a stand-off 

for 10 minutes while Jamie 

refused to show Petty Officer Ali Kumar 

any paperwork until he had seen insurance 

documents and been given a promise to pay for 

our repairs. PO Kumar denied all responsibility 

and told him to stop swearing. 

“I’m not swearing at you, I’m swearing at the 

situation.” Misunderstanding what Jamie had said, 

PO Kumar looked concerned. “We are not trying 

to scare you.” 

Luckily this linguistic mix-up defused the situation 

and, registering Jamie’s outright refusal to allow 

him on board, they backed off and let us on our 

way. Some time later Jamie wrote about this 

incident on our blog and was contacted by 

VAdm Pradeep Chauhan of the Indian Navy.

Log 

Whilst asserting that he was writing unoffi cially 

he was kind enough to show some sympathy 

towards our experience and promised that 

those responsible would be “investigated.” 

We were never reimbursed for the damage. 

Th e fi nal 24 hours motoring into Mumbai was 

arduous and fraught with obstacles, allowing 

us no sleep. Every inch of ocean was covered 

in fi shing boats or nets. At night we were 

surrounded by lights of all colours and 

combinations, fl ashing or static and utterly 

meaningless to us. During the day we gave up 

trying to dodge the nets, so we put the boat in 

neutral and glided over them. It was a pity we 

had not stumbled on this successful tactic earlier. 

Arriving in Mumbai had the adrenalin rushing 

as this wondrous city assaulted our senses from 

all sides. Despite some diffi cult moments we 

had made it across almost a thousand miles 

of ocean. We anchored in the shadow of 

the Gateway of India in water resembling 

Mulligatawny soup. We gazed at the exotic 

skyline and then, aft er 36 hours without rest, 

fell asleep, dreaming of the comfort awaiting 

us at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. 

Liz recently won The Telegraph weekly travel 

writing competition and has just reached the 

fi nal of the Independent on Sunday/Bradt Travel 

Writing Competition. You can read her article, 

‘Searching for Mermaids’, on-line at: 

www.bradtguides.com/travelwriting 

Read more about Liz and Jamie’s adventures 

with Esper on their website, where you can 

also download podcasts every Friday. Go to 

www.followtheboat.com 

Date From To Distance 

05/04/10 Salalah, 

Oman 

07/04/10 Ras al 

Hallaniyah 

Ras al Hallaniyah, Oman 

(17 31.55N 055 59.42E) 

OWNER REPORT – ESPER 

125 

Mumbai, India 990 

Leg total 1115 

USEFUL INFORMATION 

Insurance? 

Each rally member had a diff erent tale to tell. We knew boats with 

expensive policies for every eventuality and some with no insurance at all. 

We contacted all the brokers we could fi nd about our planned voyage. 

We were surprised by the diff erent responses: 

• 

No kind of policy outside the Mediterranean. 

Cover only for Egypt. 

Varying premiums from country to country, within a single policy. 

Cover only if the yacht is part of a rally. 

No cover if the yacht is part of a rally. 

No cover for single yachtsmen. 

No cover without a minimum of three crew. 

Cover for two crew only – providing the yacht has a windvane 

steering system, which is regarded as crew. Unlike an autopilot, 

which relies on battery power. 

VHF Hell 

We hadn’t anticipated the ever-present jibber jabber on the VHF 

radio. Many blue-water cruisers will have heard lone voices over 

the airways at night pining for “Maaario-o-o” and the derogatory 

chanting of “Filipino mon-key!” Th is was nothing compared to the 

bombardment of sound that accompanied us from Oman to India. 

Every channel was alive, including 16, with conversation too X-rated 

to repeat here. For most of the voyage we kept Channel 16 on low 

and relied on digital selective calling to contact fellow rally members. 

As we came closer to the Indian coastline it was worse, with all 

channels blocked by local fi shermen shouting into their radios. 

Vasco da Gama Rally 

Th e fi ft h Vasco Da Gama Rally left Cochin in January. At the time of 

writing all yachts are safely in the northern Red Sea. Despite the 

increase of piracy, and widening tentacles of the Somali pirates, 

Lo safely took his rally on a northerly passage through the Arabian 

Sea. Minimising the risks, and armed with the latest information, the 

rally hugged the coasts of India and Oman, keeping in daily contact 

with maritime safety agencies. 

Prior to joining his rallies, Lo makes it clear that participants must 

have the necessary knowledge and experience to get there on 

their own. He also stresses that each skipper is responsible for the 

safety of their own crew and must have a sea-worthy vessel. 

You can fi nd out more about the last fi ve rallies on his website: 

www.vascodagamarally.nl 

Photos: Jamie Furlong 

SUMMER 2011 81

82 


ENGINEERING THE PERFECT PARTNERSHIP 

WHEN OYSTER ANNOUNCED THEIR NEW SUPERYACHT PROJECTS, THE LEWMAR TEAM WERE EAGER 

TO BE INVOLVED. WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN DESIGNING AND MANUFACTURING CONTROL 

SOLUTIONS FOR THE RACING AND CUSTOM YACHT MARKET, THE LEWMAR TEAM WERE KEEN TO 

APPLY ALL THEIR KNOWLEDGE TO THE LATEST OYSTER. 

Recent superyacht designs have increasingly 

called for a combination of the beautiful, sleek 

lines of a classic yacht and the performance of 

a weight-critical racing yacht. Each new demand 

on space and use poses a diff erent challenge 

for the equipment design engineer focused on 

striking a balance between aesthetics, weight, 

and performance. Simply put, the equipment 

on a 21st Century superyacht needs to be as 

light as possible, deliver superior performance, 

and look stunning. 

For the Lewmar Design Engineers in Havant, UK, 

a wealth of experience combined with strong 

relationships with naval architects, shipyards, 

and captains puts them in a good position 

to understand how to achieve this balance. 

Working with the Oyster Design Offi ce and 

the team at RMK Marine, Lewmar have tailored 

a range of marine equipment to complement 

the Dubois design ethos of the Oyster 100 and 

the Oyster 125. Hardware, for example, is a 

prominent piece of equipment, with blocks 

permanently in sight on the mast, boom, and 

deck. Th e strength of each block is of the utmost 

importance, as they work with the high loads of 

halyards and sheets. Working in a 3D CAD 

design programme, the Lewmar Designer 

explored taking a block back to its bare bones, 

sculpting out excess material. Th e result is a 

skeletal block which draws its resilience from its 

design and the inherent strength of the material 

from which it is made. Th e skeletal block’s ability 

to maintain a high level of performance when 

subjected to load is tested with the latest Finite 

Element Analysis (FEA) soft ware, which assesses 

the impact of stress and load over time. 

Further opportunity for testing takes place 

during the design to manufacture process, 

as the blocks are machined and assembled at 

the Lewmar Factory on the South Coast of the 

UK. Th e fi nished product is a sleek, minimalistic 

block that complements the styling of the 

Oyster’s deck and spars, while also providing 

the strength and performance required of 

high-performance equipment. In addition, 

the requirement that the yachts attain full 

Lloyds 100A1 classifi cation has resulted in a 

set of bespoke, low-profi le genoa cars that 

clear the lifeline by the requisite amount whilst 

complementing the sleek styling of the blocks. 

Th e design trend for clean, uncluttered lines 

has resulted in innovative ways to clear the 

decks of excess equipment and sheets. 

Each of the Oyster Superyacht models

features a set of captive winches. Recognising 

the need to strike a balance between concealing 

equipment below decks without compromising 

on available living space, Lewmar have designed 

a uniquely compact Captive Winch. Storing the 

line on a lightweight carbon drum adjacent to 

the main aluminium pulling drum reduces the 

need for the large space needed for a single 

drum winch, while also removing the load from 

the stored rope. Th e result is a compact, 

lightweight, high-performance captive winch 

which embraces cutting-edge technology. 

Indeed, the latest advances in rope manufacture 

have posed new challenges for the Captive 

Winch system. Th e core of modern ropes goes 

hard under load and when the soft outer is held 

against a standard sheave, there is potential 

for damage to the rope. Th e Lewmar Design 

Engineers have developed a sheave with a ‘V’ 

groove. Th e ‘V’ sheave features a carefully 

selected angle that compresses the rope outer 

and the inner core together, while simultaneously 

spreading the load over the two sides of the 

rope. Th e result is a fi rm grip which does not 

damage the increasingly expensive rope. 

With the ability to be concealed in small 

spaces below the deck, the Captive Winch 

provides an unobtrusive, lightweight, sail 

control solution with heavyweight performance. 

ENGINEERING THE PERFECT PARTNERSHIP 

Once the sails have been furled, the owner 

wants to be able to moor up eff ortlessly, be 

it mooring stern-to or dropping the anchor. 

A 125 foot yacht is a large boat to manoeuvre, 

the captain demands precise control at all times, 

and superyacht anchoring equipment needs 

to be powerful enough to deliver it. Yet this 

equipment is only required when mooring, 

and should not detract from the use and 

performance of the yacht the rest of the time. 

To overcome this challenge, Lewmar have 

developed a Retracting Swing Th ruster. A 

standard vertical retracting thruster is stored 

within a tunnel in the hull and slides down when 

deployed. Th e reach of the thruster and the 

space available for its storage are linked and 

defi ne the maximum length of the thruster arm 

which, in turn, aff ects the performance of the 

thruster. Rather than storing the unit vertically 

in the hull, the Retracting Swing Th ruster arm 

folds up into a shallow recess in the hull. Th e 

length of the arm is increased and, with less 

vertical storage required, the unit can be installed 

further forward providing more accurate control. 

In addition, the Oyster 125 features a pair of 

V10 Vertical Windlasses, which are mounted 

down below to maintain the fl ush look on deck. 

With a maximum pull of 5 tonnes, the V10 and 

V12 are the newest additions to the Lewmar 

Vertical Windlass range, extending the anchor 

control solution to boats up to 165 feet in 

length. Th e investment cast stainless steel 

V10 deck unit is lightweight and has an 

innovative mobile brake ring which can be 

moved by increments of 30 degrees to ensure 

that it is always in the optimum position for 

control. Should the unit be installed on deck, 

the stylish windlass can be installed in a 

position that complements the lines of the 

deck without compromising on performance. 

While Lewmar have worked closely with the 

Oyster Design Team to develop the best 

control solutions, one aim has always been 

paramount. Whether under sail or motoring, 

the owner of an Oyster Superyacht is off ered 

eff ortless, superior control, enhancing the 

ultimate Oyster sailing experience. 

Southmoor Lane, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 1JJ UK 

T: +44 (0)23 9247 1 841 

www.lewmar.com 

SUMMER 2011 83

84 

by LOUAY HABIB 


OYSTER CHARTER 

THE 

TASTE of 

an OYSTER 

Peter Harding has a long-standing career in the fi nancial 

services sector and leads the advisory division of St James 

Wealth Management, the award-winning fi rm with funds 

under management amounting to £28 billion. 

Away from the offi ce, Peter is a proud family 

man and together with his wife Susie, they have 

three very active children. Th e Harding family 

has always loved to sail and Peter’s passion has 

also led him to take part in three transatlantic 

races, including an epic 5,000-mile race from 

France to Mexico in 2010. All three races were 

undertaken with just Peter and a co-skipper. 

Sailing two-handed, on a high performance race 

boat, with freeze-dried food for sustenance and 

weeks of sleepless nights is a far cry from an 

Oyster yacht charter. 

Peter and Susie Harding, together with their 

three young sons, Henry, Freddie and Hugo, 

enjoyed a fabulous time cruising the Grenadines 

aboard the Oyster 655, Lush, arriving in 

Grenada just before the start of Oyster’s 

annual Caribbean Regatta. Th eir timing was 

perfect, as having enjoyed some family time, 

Peter was invited to stay on as crew for the 

regatta, as Peter explains. 

“We have been taking sailing holidays as a 

family for over 10 years and to begin with we 

started with bareboat trips with some of the 

well-known charter companies. Over the years, 

I came to realise that if you want to do it properly, 

have a skipper and a cook and go for one of the 

best boats on the market. Th is can still be a bit 

hit and miss, as even with luxury boats you 

cannot take the arrangement for granted. But 

chartering with Oyster direct, you get excellent 

service and you know what you are going to get 

rather than using a fi rm that you don’t know 

much about. 

I have been chartering Oysters for the last fi ve 

years and I have never been disappointed. 

Th e results have always been the same, an up 

market holiday with facilities akin to a fi ve star 

hotel on the water. When I am with my wife 

and children, I want something that is as 

good as home and Oysters are extremely 

comfortable yachts. 

Peter and Susie’s children are aged 6, 8 and 13. 

Keeping three highly energetic boys busy with 

activities was very high on the agenda and the 

holiday on board Lush provided them with all 

they could ask for. 

SUMMER 2011 85

86 

“Th e boys absolutely loved Lush, especially all 

the toys!” Laughed Peter. “Th ey spent a lot of 

time enjoying sailing the dinghy, water-skiing, 

wakeboarding and tubing and when they 

weren’t on the water, they were in it, snorkelling 

around reefs spotting tropical fi sh. Th ey also 

loved the fact that they were waking up in a 

diff erent place every day. Every morning there 

was a new place to explore. Th e boys were 


never bored, which can happen if you stay 

in a hotel or villa, the trip to Grenada was 

a great adventure for them.” 

Lush has three luxury guest cabins, that 

meant there was plenty of accommodation 

for the Hardings and the crew, which was 

an important factor to the success of the 

charter, as Peter details. 

“With two highly experienced people on board 

who can sail and really know the boat, you can 

do as much or as little as you want. You know 

that you are in a safe pair of hands. Safety is a 

primary concern to us and an Oyster is extremely 

well designed and meticulously built. Problems 

are extremely rare but even if something isn’t 

working as it should, the level of Oyster’s 

worldwide service and support is outstanding.

If you have a bareboat charter, you are doing 

it all yourself and the truth is that the standard 

of yacht is nowhere near as good as an Oyster. 

Even if you have chartered the boat before, you 

have no idea what condition it will be in when 

you arrive and the level of service is highly 

unlikely to come close to that which is provided 

by Oyster. 

OYSTER CHARTER 

I love to sail, but it is also nice to have some 

time-out on board with the family and once 

in a while let someone else do the sailing and 

the clearing up behind you. Th e crew on Lush 

recognised that and were highly skilled in 

providing just the right amount of assistance, 

whenever it was required. Also the crew knew 

the location extremely well and took us to some 

of the best places. My wife, Susie, found it very 

relaxing, she would rather spend the day in 

casual clothes and not worry about dressing 

up for dinner, as you would in a hotel and 

the kids just loved spending the holiday in 

swimming trunks.” 

Whilst Peter has chartered Oyster yachts before, 

the Oyster Regatta in Grenada was the fi rst time 

he had come to an organised Oyster event. Peter 

found that combining a family holiday with the 

regatta itself, worked extremely well. 

“Our leisure time is very important to us. 

Th e Oyster Regatta was professionally managed 

and when you have committed your precious 

time to an event, a well-run event is vital to its 

success. Grenada is a wonderful location and 

the ambience at the Oyster Regatta was superb. 

Th e racing was very well organised and whilst 

I love spending time with my wife and children, 

it was great to meet other people in the evening 

at some outstanding parties. Th e Oyster family 

comes from all walks of life but all have 

something in common, sailing. Aft er a day spent 

yachting in a beautiful location, on a great boat, 

it was very pleasing to spend time with a friendly 

group of people with interesting stories to tell. 

Th e Oyster team put in extensive research into 

the event programme and chose some 

spectacular venues for fabulous dinner parties.” 

Oyster Yachts are famous throughout the world. 

For nearly 40 years, the Oyster marque has 

established itself as the very best in world-class 

cruising yachts. Th is factor carries advantages 

beyond the luxury of just sailing and chartering 

an Oyster and, for Peter Harding, makes a lot 

of sense: 

“It is great to come to a marina or a bay and to 

appreciate that people are looking at the yacht. 

An Oyster is distinctive, it has a presence. It is a 

yacht that people instantly recognise. Oyster, as 

a company, is very well-founded, there is a great 

degree of pedigree there. Attention to detail is as 

important to me as it is to Oyster. You are dealing 

with a respected company and you know what 

you are going to get. For a start you know that 

the yacht is going to be there. It will be in perfect 

condition, ready and waiting for you. From the 

moment we were met at the airport and taken 

straight to the boat, my family and I were made 

to feel very special. 

Our time on board Lush was a memorable 

one, especially the pleasure it gave our children, 

snorkelling and water-skiing. Th e thrill each 

morning, as we explored somewhere new was 

ours to savour. A real adventure for us all and 

chartering an Oyster is a very practical way 

of having a great holiday. If like us, you have 

children still at school, you may only be able to 

use a yacht for a few weeks a year, so for us at 

the moment it makes more sense to charter than 

buy a yacht. What is more, you can charter an 

Oyster just about anywhere in the world and at 

any time of the year and aft er the trip, you can 

just walk away with happy memories.” 

Peter Harding was talking to Louay Habib at 

the Oyster Regatta in Grenada, April 2011. 

For more information about 

Oyster Yacht Charter please contact 

Molly Marston on +1 401 846 7400, 

email molly.marston@oystermarine.com 

or visit www.oystercharter.com 

Photos: Harding family, An Lambrechts 

SUMMER 2011 87

88 

THE 

25 th 

ARC 

Congratulations to Mike Freeman and his 

Oyster 575 crew on Can Do Too. Finishing 

third in Class A, they were fi rst among the 

19-strong Oyster fl eet to complete the 3,000 

mile Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) from 

Las Palmas to Rodney Bay, St Lucia – not bad 

for a maiden voyage! 

Th ree cheers also go to Alan and Sue Brook and 

their equally new Oyster 56 Sulana for fi nishing 

second in Class B, and to David Edwards and 

his crew on the Oyster 46 NaughtyNes, for 

their second placing in Class F and winning the 

Oyster Trophy for fi rst Oyster to fi nish on ARC 

Handicap. Not to be outdone, James Blazeby’s 

Oyster 45 Apparition, a veteran of several ARCs, 

fi nished fourth in Class H and Siri Ros, Elizabeth 

Rowntree’s Oyster 485 took sixth place in Class F. 

Th is, the 25th ARC event organised by the World 

Cruising Club did not exactly go to plan. “Where 

are the Trade Winds?” came the bleat from just 

about every one of the 233 yachts. Instead, those 


1 9 O Y S T E R S. 3 , 0 0 0 M I L E S. 

O N E U N F O R G E T T A B L E 

who chose the shortest great circle route north 

found themselves beating uncomfortably into 

head winds, while those that went south found 

little wind at all. 

For one honeymooning couple, the winds – or 

lack of them – were secondary to the adventure. 

John and Laura Salmon decided a sea voyage was 

just what was required to start life together and 

bought the Oyster Lightwave 395 Rainmaker, 

on which to undertake the crossing. 

“Our trip across the Atlantic was very enjoyable.” 

says Laura. “Th e preparation was the most arduous 

part, but the support we received from the Oyster 

Service Team was amazing. Th ey came aboard in 

Las Palmas and surveyed the rig, electronics, engine, 

gas system, batteries, bilges and winches and gave 

us a full report at the end. Th is was a real boon. 

We were quite resolute in not using our engine, 

so a few days were spent sitting on a sea that 

looked more like a milky sheet than the building 

waves we expected. 

E X P E R I E N C E.

Th ere were mixed emotions when we fi nally 

sighted St Lucia on the 24th day. Certainly, there 

was the excitement of arriving somewhere new, 

but there was also the knowledge that all too 

soon the adventure would be over. We all had 

a great time, great food, great company… and 

great starlit nights.” 

Deborah and Guy Tolson aboard Lady of Avalon, 

were equally impressed. “Th e Oyster Service and 

Support Team checked all the essential systems, 

changed the tri-colour bulbs up the mast and got 

our AIS working for us – an incredible free service.” 

For Andreas Zimmermann on the Oyster 53 

Dragonfl y, the voyage became one of recovery. 

Th e German had bought her in 2009 specifi cally 

to take part in the ARC, but was then diagnosed 

with cancer. “I thought I would have to forget my 

dream, but a few weeks aft er surgery, I decided 

that I could still do the voyage providing I could 

continue with the chemotherapy. I needed 

a doctor on board – I found him with an 

advertisement! He came from Vienna and it 

was a pleasure for both of us.” One last-minute 

problem on Dragonfl y, uncovered by the 

Oyster service team, was a damaged shroud. 

“We couldn’t get it replaced in Las Palmas and I 

thought we wouldn’t be able to start, but Oyster’s 

Eddie Scougall organised for a replacement to 

be fl own out from England and everything was 

fi xed within four days!” recalled Andreas with 

appreciation at the fi nish. 

For Alan Brook, and his wife Sue, who has played 

a major part in the Oyster story, this was also a 

maiden voyage, the fi rst stage of an ambitious 

round the world retirement cruise aboard their new 

Oyster 56 Sulana. As they sailed into the setting sun 

on the fi rst night, they had covered 50 of the 2,900 

miles, with a plan to sail 500 miles south to pick 

up the Trade Winds. How would it work out? 

Deborah and Guy Tolson aboard Lady of Avalon 

were treated to their fi rst dolphin sighting on Day 2 

while fi shing for tuna, but the focus on Sulana, 

was very much on speed. “We logged 183 miles 

during our fi rst day and are now romping along 

under colourful spinnaker in 15 knots of breeze 

with a school of dolphins for company diving 

around her bow and quarter wave.” wrote Alan. 

But Day 3 brought a change in the wind and a 

forecast for calms ahead. Sulana was one of the 

fi rst to suff er. “Th e wind dropped away to nothing 

in the early hours of this morning and we have 

been struggling all day to make any headway. 

We are 180 miles off shore and it would seem that 

boats up to 100 miles nearer the African coast 

THE 25TH ARC 

have held a breeze and kept sailing south, so our 

reported 17th position in fl eet yesterday is but a 

memory.” Alan Brook added to the log. Not to 

be outdone, the entire crew went for a swim. 

“Th e water is remarkably warm, but it felt odd 

swimming in a pool several miles deep.” 

Day 5 – 26th November – was Th anksgiving Day, 

which the Neki crew celebrated in style. “Mike 

and Tater cooked a superb Th anksgiving Day 

meal. It was almost a traditional meal but 

provisioning in Las Palmas denied us some of the 

traditional staples. We had an 8lb Turkey cooked 

in the oven, homemade stuffi ng, roasted carrots, 

potatoes, celery and garlic, corn on the cob, hot 

bread and wine. Th e weather lightened up in the 

aft ernoon so we had a nice peaceful dinner in the 

cockpit. But we had to do without the cranberry 

sauce and pumpkin pie!” complained John Noble. 

Neki, was left totally becalmed for eight hours, 

and the crew on Lady of Avalon quickly became 

fed up. Th e only bright spot was catching a 6lb 

yellow fi n tuna to provide fi llets for lunch. 

Straight aft er, they furled sails and fi red up the 

engine to push them towards the Cape Verde 

Islands. Th e NaughtyNes crew soon followed 

suit and contented themselves with rod and line. 

“We have two budding fi shermen, one that can 

fi sh and one that is on L plates. So far several 

big strikes and one decent fi sh caught and eaten 

for dinner. On the fi rst day we hooked a massive 

dorado but aft er a good fi ght, Paul lost him, which 

was probably just as well. It would have been way 

too much for the four of us and probably diffi cult 

to get on board. We are however well armed 

with soy and wasabi and expect to catch fi sh 

regularly.” Th e Edwards’ crew reported. 

Th e Siri Ros crew were also enjoying outside 

entertainment. “Dolphins have been swimming 

around the bow. You can even hear their calls; 

a kind of squeaky sound. We are trying to make 

the best of the calm conditions; we had a lovely 

evening last night, with a candle-lit dinner served 

in the best dining room in the world; good wine, 

panoramic views and a clear night sky with a 

fantastic presentation of the stars and planets 

accompanied by a few tracks from Pavarotti and 

‘Flight of the Concord’.” Liz Rowntree reported. 

Shaya Moya, one of those to have taken an 

inshore course, was still surfi ng along with a 

following sea down the west coast of Africa at 

6.5 knots. “We have just received our expert 

weather briefi ng, and guess what the best 

corridor for wind was to the Islands?” reported 

Dave. “I would have liked to say it was a perfectly 

“Where are the Trade Winds?” 

came the bleat from just about 

every one of the 233 yachts. 

BY BARRY PICKTHALL 

SUMMER 2011 89

90 

executed plan but the one fl aw to this is we are 

surrounded by yachts, normally much slower 

than us. But I am sure, given our expert positioning 

and constant fi ddling with the rig, we will overhaul 

the others.” 

Th ey were asking the same question on Sulana. 

“Mixed fortunes in the night, the good reaching 

breeze continued until the early hours – and then 

we were in the doldrums again. Finally it fi lled in 

from the NNE and we made a tactical decision; 

instead of continuing south to reach the fabled 

Trade Winds, we have turned west on to a great 

circle course for St Lucia. Th e Trades seem to be 

further south and pretty weak anyway and not 

worth the extra distance. We are likely to face 

head winds in a couple of days and if that sends 

us a bit more south then so be it. At least every 

mile will now be off the distance to run to the 

fi nish – 2,200 miles to go...” 

"Th ey saw a small pod of dolphins 

swimming towards us. One of them 

swum right under our bow, popped 

its head up and grinned, not once, 

but twice, to show off the large 

tuna it had in its mouth. Talk about 

rubbing it in!" 

Luck fi nally ran out for Shaya Moya along with the 

wind. “Who on earth said the Atlantic was going 

to be diffi cult? We have decided to switch on the 

engine and will probably stick with it for the next 

12 hours or so. Th e challenges of life on board 

have changed. Navigation now consists of pointing 

the bow in the right direction and pressing the 

autopilot button. Th e major strategic decisions 


consist of whether to have tea and what time 

lunch will be!” reported First Mate, Dave. 

On 2nd December, the decision taken onboard 

Dragonfl y, to motor through the calms now carried 

consequences. “Back in Las Palmas, we only took 

on 400 litres of diesel in order to save weight. 

We didn’t think there would be so little wind and 

I also underestimated how oft en we would need 

to run the generator. Everything on the yacht 

needs electricity – lights, navigation, self steering, 

winches, furling, water pumps, toilet. Soon our 

diesel supplies had dwindled. Our AIS system 

showed a Greek tanker on a similar course. We 

radioed the ship and the Captain agreed to stop 

and give us a barrel of fuel. An hour later this 

giant tanker stopped beside us. We launched 

the RIB and collected this black and dirty broth. 

Not long aft er, our fi lters were blocked – but 

at least we had bought enough spares back in 

Las Palmas to see us through to the fi nish!” 

Onboard Sulana, the mystery of why they were 

not catching their fair share of fi sh became clear. 

“Th is morning, James and Fi were on watch when 

they saw a small pod of dolphins swimming 

towards us. One of them swum right under 

our bow, popped its head up and grinned, 

not once, but twice, to show off the large tuna 

it had in its mouth. Talk about rubbing it in!” 

Alan Brook recorded. 

Th e change to head winds inevitably led to 

a few ‘casualties’. One was Nigel, the cook 

aboard NaughtyNes. “He went down almost 

immediately with quite bad seasickness. Meals 

have become the more usual ship’s fare using the 

random contents of tins most close to hand. It will 

probably be a day or two before Nigel is ready to 

start cooking again and the rest of us are grateful 

for a few days without peppers!” wrote Deborah. 

Th ere were moans from Neki too: “We have 

been hoping for wind and we got our wish. It is 

just not from the direction we asked for. Th e 

wind is Force 7 (approximately 25 knots) from 

the southwest. We are currently beating into the 

wind making good time but it is a rough, wet, ride.” 

By Day 9, Sulana was 25th overall and 3rd in 

class. “Just maybe, our long term plans are 

working out OK.” Alan Brook noted. “Yesterday 

was bad, wet and windy, with nobody really 

enjoying it, except, of course, Sulana. All our 

grand plans went down the pan when the 

weather fi les came in. Th ere is a depression 

building in front of us, which will give us more 

headwinds for the foreseeable future. Ben’s 

string of fancy smoothies for our cocktail hour, 

are keeping morale high. Tonight we had 

'Windward Bashers', with a pineapple and 

passion fruit base. His previous extravagant 

titles have included: Dirty Banana, French Maid, 

Pacifi c Poulet and Mullered Mango!” 

Onboard Shaya Moya, the fi ckle winds further 

south had prompted the crew to switch on their 

engine. “You can’t do much with a 40 tonne 

yacht in 4 knots of wind. However, we also know 

that Sulana, has not switched on their engine at 

all since they have an ambition to 'sail' across 

the Atlantic. Th ey are currently well over 100 miles 

behind us on a similar course, and on adjusted 

times, could still beat us by a good margin.” 

reported Dave. 

Flying fi sh were the hot topic on NaughtyNes; 

“One fl ew through the main cabin window and 

landed directly on Nick’s laptop while he was 

using it!” reported Nigel who was just as amazed 

by the night time phosphorescence in the sea. 

“Lots of fl ashing lights in the water when it is 

disturbed by dolphins, which leave a trail of 

lights behind them – science fi ction!” 

NaughtyNes now had good winds and was 

sailing on a direct course towards St Lucia, but 

life on Siri Ros was not so great. Th ey too were

"By Day 13, the ARC organisers 

decided to move the prize-giving 

back a few days, fearing that no 

one would be there in time. 

'What about moving Christmas 

too?' came the response." 

facing strong headwinds, and three of their 

number had succumbed to seasickness, which 

led to a change of course south once more in 

search of the elusive Trade Winds and a more 

comfortable ride. Th e crew announced one 

medical triumph… “A new blend of wine with 

antidiuretic properties for the more elderly 

crew members using wines containing grapes 

from the Pinot Noir range. We have named it… 

PI NO MORE!” 

Th e Lady of Avalon crew was also searching for 

those elusive Trade Winds and by Day 10 was 

south of the Cape Verde Islands. “Last night 

was spent dodging squalls and thunderstorms, 

which while spectacular, did mean that we looked 

like drowned rats during much of the night shift .” 

Having spent the previous night chasing their 

tails in a fl at calm, Sulana fi nally picked up the 

beginnings of a new breeze from the SE direction 

at the start to Day 11 “Oh joy! Off we go again 

with a gentle genoa reach, on a south-westerly 

heading. We still need to get further south to 

avoid the eff ects of the large depression, to the 

north-west ahead of us, but at least we now 

have a breeze to give us a fi ghting chance to 

get where we need to be.” reported Brook. 

“Dragonfl y further south, is looking very good 

indeed, but then she has motored a bit, so that 

may help us, if we don’t give in before the fi nish!” 

100 miles behind, Lady of Avalon also found 

the Trades but found little to celebrate in the 

forecast off ering further head winds until the 

end of the week. 

Th e news was not greeted well aboard 

Shaya Moya. “Imagine our dismay to read the 

weather report this morning which is predicting 

another low developing mid Atlantic Wednesday/ 

Th ursday. Th is will further delay the Trades fi lling 

in as normal. So more beating against the wind 

for this week. Our tactics remain the same; 


SUMMER 2011 91

92 

make our way westward as much as possible 

without going too far north. 

Living on board has taken on a new meaning 

with the boat healing at 20-30°. One has to 

move around crab-like holding on for dear life.” 

To raise spirits, Sulana held a ‘halfway celebration 

Hawaiian party’, with music, a conga around the 

cockpit and aft deck, topped off with a glass of 

pink fi zz and a delicious meal of lightly grilled 

marlin in a hoi sin sauce. 

By Day 13, the ARC organisers decided to move 

the prize-giving back a few days, fearing that 

no one would be there in time. “What about 

moving Christmas too?” came the response 

from Lady of Avalon. 

By Day 14, Sulana and others to the south, fi nally 

found the Trade Winds. “We are bowling along 

at 8.5 knots straight for St Lucia!” a delighted 

Alan Brook recorded with little more than 

1,000 miles to the fi nish. 

By Day 16 when Siri Ros was 1,131 miles out, 

disaster struck. “Our spinnaker was torn apart 

last night. Lutz and Denise have spent the day 

with needle and thread trying to repair the 

damage. It is a long and tedious job that will most 

likely take several days.” reported Liz, but added 

on a lighter note, “We have discovered, that 

another boat has caught a 1.5 metre long tuna 

and several dorado using a squid lure. We are 

now trailing a hook with a Marigold washing-up 

glove attached, which looks absolutely delicious 

and a little bit like a squid!” 

Th e following day, the Sulana crew recorded their 

best day’s run – 214 miles, but it all ended in tears. 

“We made the fatal error of trying to snuff the 

kite down in our spinnaker squeezer in 25 knots 

of true wind.” Alan wrote in his blog. 

Th ey suff ered the same on NaughtyNes. “Real fun 

and games last night, the wind came up with 


the spinnaker out, and continued to increase 

beyond the designated limit of the sail. Speed 

over ground maxed at 11.1 knots! At 05.15 it was 

all hands on deck to take down the spinnaker, 

but to our horror, it wrapped around the foresail 

and got really knotted up, we had to leave it 

fl apping until day break.” 

Shaya Moya covered 196nm that day, but not 

without incident. “We had some ‘issues’ with a 

spinnaker retrieval system yesterday. It’s rather 

disconcerting to see steam coming from your 

gloves as the sheets are running through your 

hands despite your best eff orts to arrest their 

progress.” recorded Dave. 

“We are bowling along at 8.5 knots 

straight for St Lucia!” a delighted 

Alan Brook recorded with little more 

than 1,000 miles to the fi nish. 

Onboard Siri Ros with 699 miles to run, the 

Marigold glove trailing astern suddenly attracted 

too much attention… “We caught an absolutely 

enormous fi sh – 100kg+ – but it got away with our 

line, steel trace, lure, Marigold, and all our hopes 

and dreams. All that’s left is some line, the fi shing 

reel handle and our tattered emotions. No more 

of Denise’s delicious fi sh pie!“ Liz wrote in the log. 

Mike Freeman and his crew on the Oyster 575 

Can Do Too headed the cruising fl eet into 

Rodney Bay having taken the shortest rhum 

line route across the Atlantic – their prize for 

enduring the worst of the head winds, taking 

3rd place on handicap in Class A. 

Th e following day, both Neki and Apollonia had 

St Lucia in their sights. Apollonia fi nished a scant 

13 minutes behind us aft er 18+ days at sea. 

“Remarkable!” wrote Neki’s skipper John Noble, 

adding: “Th e crew of Neki had a fantastic time! 

It has been an incredible experience… It was 

exciting, boring, tedious, eventful, educational 

and introspective. All of us missed our families 

tremendously and we are all deeply appreciative 

of the sacrifi ces they made to allow us the privilege 

of going on this adventure… It was a trip I will 

cherish for the rest of my life.” 

Two days later, Lady of Avalon and Siri Ros got 

to within a short distance of St Lucia only to run 

out of wind. “So close, yet so far. Can’t believe 

it… No wind… It just died and we are making 

very slow progress,” wailed Liz, before attention 

turned towards helping a Norwegian ARC yacht, 

with a young child onboard that had run out of 

fuel. “Aft er checking our own fuel supply we 

decided that we could spare a 25 litre drum of 

diesel and waited three hours for the Norwegians 

to catch up.“ reported Liz. Th e Siri Ros crew were 

rewarded with a goody bag fi lled with wine, 

sweets, biscuits and nibbles and resumed their 

course to St Lucia, drinking and munching away 

to become the fi rst lady skippered yacht to fi nish. 

When Shaya Moya also fi nished, First Mate Dave 

summed up the feelings best. “We are handed 

a rum cocktail and a case of freezing cold beer. 

Welcome to St Lucia! Now is the time for 

self-congratulation, hugs and high fi ves all round. 

Aft er the band had moved on in readiness for 

the next arrival, we sat quietly refl ecting on 

what we had achieved. It seemed surreal that 

we had sailed here from Europe. We now have 

to wait until the prize-giving to know how we 

fi nally faired in the ‘rally’ but this genuinely 

is very much secondary to the sense of 

achievement we all personally feel. Everyone 

has their own stories about the barriers and 

challenges they had overcome to fi rstly be able 

to take part and also the adventures they had 

along the way.”

"Everyone has their own 

stories about the barriers and 

challenges they had overcome 

to fi rstly be able to take part 

and also the adventures they 

had along the way.” 


OYSTER ENTRANTS 

Sestina Michael Wilcznski Oyster Heritage GBR 

Rainmaker John Salmon Oyster 395 Lightwave GBR 

Apparition James Blazeby Oyster 45 GBR 

NaughtyNes David Edwards Oyster 46 GBR 

Lady of Avalon Deborah & Guy Tolson Oyster 46HP GBR 

Siri Ros Elisabeth Rowntree Oyster 485 GBR 

Dragonfl y Andreas Zimmermann Oyster 53 GER 

Surya Jac Janssen Oyster 54 BEL 

Sulana Alan & Sue Brook Oyster 56 GBR 

Shaya Moya Don Smyth Oyster 56 GBR 

On Liberty Rovinj LLP Oyster 575 GBR 

Endless One Axel Moorkens Oyster 575 MLT 

Can Do Too Mike Freeman Oyster 575 GBR 

Royal Leopard Oscar Konyukhov Oyster 61 RUS 

Golden Gate Krister Bewwert Oyster 62 DEN 

Neki John Noble Oyster 655 USA 

Sotto Vento Richard Smith Oyster 655 GBR 

Daena Maciej Slusarek Oyster 655 POL 

Apollonia Anthony Auger Oyster 70 GBR 

Photos: Ian Roman, Tim Wright, World Cruising Club and Oyster owners 

SUMMER 2011 93

94 

Tim Barker has sailed his Oyster 485 

Mina2 from the Arctic, around the 

Baltic and the Mediterranean, and is 

now heading south to the Antarctic. 

Th is is his account as he makes his way 

down the coast of Brazil to Uruguay. 

I had a couple of technical problems, which 

had left my Oyster 485, Mina 2 , temporarily 

immobilised in Paraty, a delightful old colonial 

town midway between Rio de Janeiro and 

São Paulo. Friends, Lawrence, Tom and Richard 

were to fl y in from the UK to join me for the next 

two weeks whilst we sailed 1,200 miles south 

to Uruguay. On their arrival at the marina, I 

embraced my three reprobate crew with tears 


Cap ta in Corcora n 

BY TIM BARKER, OYSTER 485 Mina 2 

in my eyes, mainly because buried in their 

overweight luggage were all the new spares 

necessary to get us back on the high seas again! 

Th e following morning I bade a tearful farewell 

to Maria, my wife, as she left for Buenos Aires to 

see her mother, whilst we were left to negotiate 

the long and dangerous passages south to 

Uruguay. It was going to be tough and probably 

quite unpleasant. 

I had split our trip down to Uruguay into seven 

passages ranging from a nice day sail of 50 

miles, up to a three-day passage of 450 miles 

between Porto Belo and Rio Grande. I had tried 

to select stopovers that would be of interest to 

my crew so that they would get to see a bit of 

Brazil as well as get some good sailing in. 

Our fi rst passage was an overnight sail of 

70 miles from Paraty down to Ilhabela, a very 

pretty island with massive mountains of volcanic 

rock covered with the ubiquitous rain forest and 

palm trees. Ilhabela is reputedly also home to 

the biggest colony of the dreaded borrachudo, 

a small insect with a big bite. You never see 

them coming and the fi rst thing you notice is 

a pin prick of blood. Th en the trouble starts. 

Th e itch is ten times as bad as a mosquito bite 

and they last ten times as long. 

Aft er a very pleasant 11-hour sail with the wind 

behind us, we picked up a mooring off the 

Yacht Club de Ilhabela, and even though it 

was only 07.30 my crew insisted we kept the 

age-old Mina 2 tradition of an ‘anchor nip’. As 

we sat drinking the early morning tonic, Tom 

yelped. Th ere was a tell-tale pin prick of blood 

on his arm. Th e fi rst of the borrachudos had 

arrived and we all dived for the cans of Deet.

Photos: Tim Barker 

OWNER REPORT – MINA 2 

SUMMER 2011 95

96 

Aft er a lazy day in Ilha Bela we set sail for the 

two-day 235-mile passage to São Francisco do 

Sul. Th is particular part of the coast is renowned 

for its lack of wind but we were lucky enough to 

have suffi cient breeze to sail most of the passage. 

But it remained cloudy and cool and once out of 

the sight of land it was, as Richard said, pretty 

much the same as sailing across Lyme Bay. It was 

pleasant enough though, nonetheless. 

São Francisco do Sul, ten miles up a wide river, 

is one of the oldest towns in Brazil. Settled in 

1660 by whalers from the Azores, many of the 

buildings, particularly on the seafront, are old 

and attractive reminders of the town’s colonial 

past. It has been designated a UNESCO World 

Heritage Site and the buildings are slowly being 

renovated. We arrived in torrential rain, anchored 

off the riverfront, going ashore for a long and 

rather good lunch of Moqueca (the local fi sh 

stew) to get out of the rain. 

We were now in the build up to Christmas and 

the very ‘green’ town council had adorned the 

riverfront with elaborate illuminated Christmas 

decorations cleverly fashioned from discarded 

plastic water bottles. Th ey included, rather 

incongruously in a place where the average 

temperature on Christmas day is about 30ºC, 

delightful little snowmen standing on beds of 

artifi cial snow. 

Th e crew had taken to caipirinhas in a big way 

on health grounds. A caipirinha is the Brazilian 

cocktail made from limes, sugar and cachaça, 

the local, incredibly potent fi rewater made from 

sugar cane. 


“If he’s a 68 year old, wh y doesn’t 

he beha ve like a 68 year old?” 

Tom, the dentist, said that in the quantities we 

were drinking, we would be provided with our 

fi ve-a-day; the sugar would provide us with 

all the energy we needed, and there would be 

little chance of contracting scurvy. Needless to 

say, we needed no further encouragement. 

Our visit to São Francisco do Sul was a pit stop 

and aft er our leisurely lunch and a walk round 

the wet town we motored back out of the river 

and sailed overnight to Porto Belo 70 miles south. 

Just aft er dawn, as we were motoring in 

windless conditions, I was awoken by the sounds 

of panic on deck. 

“N o - turn left. He’s 

indica tin g us to turn left.” 

“We can’t turn left or we’ll 

run in to his n et!” 

I was on deck in half a second to see a small 

fi shing boat about 50 metres away with a man 

jumping up and down and frantically waving his 

arms. He had a long net out of the back of the 

boat and had been slowly motoring in a large 

circle, closing the net and trapping the fi sh. 

Th e crew had successfully navigated us right into 

the middle of his net circle. Th is would be the 

fi sherman’s biggest catch ever! But eventually 

we found a small gap between the fi shing boat 

and the end of his net and shot out to freedom, 

much to everyone’s relief. 

We arrived in Porto Belo at 06.45, a delightful 

bbay 

with a number of beautiful anchorages, 

where we dropped the hook for another chilled 

out day. Tom and Lawrence had been sharing 

the bunk cabin and Tom, who is fastidious in 

matters of personal hygiene, had his day spoilt 

by discovering that he and Lawrence had 

identical underpants and had inadvertently been 

sharing a pair. Meanwhile Lawrence had been 

in a state of excitement. It was his 68th birthday. 

What a fuss! 

We had to start the previous night at 22.00 

(midnight UK time) by singing “Happy Birthday” 

several times, followed by “For he’s a jolly good 

fellow” and drinking toast aft er toast to his 

health and happiness. Th e following morning 

Lawrence was up early, bouncing around like 

Tigger and opening all his presents. Richard, 

in his usual grumpy mood aft er being woken 

prematurely said “If he’s a 68 year old, why 

doesn’t he behave like a 68 year old?” 

We were scheduled to leave for the long 

three-day, 450-mile leg down to Rio Grande 

at midday. But by late morning the skies opened 

and the rain was hammering down in biblical 

proportions, so we decided to hunker down and 

leave at fi rst light the following morning. 

Th e passage to Rio Grande was 450 miles long, 

not just because we like a long passage, but 

down this stretch of coast there are no safe 

havens at all, so if you get caught out in thick 

weather – probably blowing you onto the 

inhospitable shore – you really have nowhere 

to go. Th e four day forecast was that for the 

fi rst 18 hours we would be beating into a 

moderate wind, and thereaft er we would have 

the wind directly behind us. Not ideal, but it 

wasn’t threatening. 

Aft er six hours of motoring, the wind fi lled in, as 

promised, bang on the nose. We were expecting 

around 20 knots of wind. We got it, and it was 

quite pleasant. Th e wind picked up to 25 knots 

and it started getting a little wet and lumpy. 

Th e sky all around us turned grey, then black. 

Th e wind continued to strengthen and the sea 

got higher. By this time we were more than 

30 miles off shore. We reefed right down until 

a full gale was shrieking through the rigging, 

spray whipping horizontally across the deck.

Th e wind speed over the deck was gusting 

nearly 50 knots. One thing that Mina 2 is good 

at is shouldering her way into strong winds 

and big seas, but for all of us it was distinctly 

uncomfortable. I was becoming a little nervous. 

Th is hadn’t been forecast at all. What if it stayed 

like this? What if it got even worse? But we 

toughed it out and aft er a few hours the wind 

began to abate slowly. 

A consequence of these unexpected conditions 

was that none of the crew had felt inclined to 

drink any alcohol for 24 hours and they were 

now showing signs of withdrawal symptoms – 

crashing headaches, vomiting, and the shakes. 

Th e vomiting was actually suff ered by only one 

of the crew, and that may have had more to do 

with the sea conditions. But no names, not least 

because I’ve been paid quite a lot of money by 

Richard not to expose the suff erer’s identity. 

Th e following morning, conditions could not 

have been more diff erent. Th e wind had eased, 

the waves had subsided, the sun was shining 

and the wind had backed round to the east 

allowing us to romp merrily along on a beam 

reach. Perfect conditions – for the moment. 


Th e cherry on the cake was that we caught, 

what we thought to be, a large plump dorado, 

which would probably feed us for about three 

meals, starting at lunchtime. 

I had appointed Richard as ‘Entertainments Offi cer.‘ 

Due to a deep-seated insecurity he likes titles 

and took his responsibilities seriously. At home 

he’s very keen on Am Dram (or, in his case, Ham 

Dram) and he had brought along the score and 

libretto of HMS Pinafore for us to perform. I was 

lucky enough to be given the role of the Captain 

of the ship, Captain Corcoran. At rehearsals, 

all the crew sing jolly songs about what a good 

Captain I am, and give me three cheers. It’s 

brilliant – the only time I’m treated with any 

respect on board. Shame it’s all play-acting! 

We were now about 100 miles into the 450-mile 

passage – the one with no safe havens – nowhere 

to go if there was unexpected trouble! And 

unexpected trouble was on its way. I had picked 

up the latest forecast by satellite email and all 

of a sudden very strong southerly winds were 

being forecast to reach Rio Grande in a couple 

of days. Th ese southerlies sweep up from 

Argentina and are oft en preceded by the 

Admiral of 

the wa tch 

legendary Pampero; the killer wind that hits 

you like a mallet and with speeds up to 100 miles 

per hour. Th is coastline and the River Plate are 

strewn with wrecks, victims of the Pampero. 

Get caught up in one, and all you pray for is 

that you survive. 

When we received this news, we had reached 

the point of no return – there was no way we 

could fi ght our way back 100 miles against the 

strong winds and waves. So we were now 

rushing at the maximum possible speed with 

the wind right behind us in a desperate dash 

to get into Rio Grande before the front arrived. 

Th e boat was slewing around, surfi ng down the 

fronts of the waves at terrifi c speeds. We were 

rolling heavily and sleep was diffi cult. 

Over the two days and 22 hours we were 

screaming along for most of the time at 8 knots 

or more in big seas. Apart from the ghastly fi rst 

night when we were beating into a gale in 

heavy pounding seas, we had the wind from our 

side or behind us, so it wasn’t too wet. Th ere 

were some scary moments, but on balance it 

was an epic harum-scarum roller-coaster ride. 

Great fun. 

SUMMER 2011 97

98 

We stopped at Rio Grande for two reasons: fi rst, 

it was the only safe haven in 700 miles of coast, 

and secondly to go through the tortuous 

bureaucracy of clearing us and the boat out of 

Brazil. Aft er just three hours sleep (making, for 

me, a total of about fi ve hours sleep in two days) 

we all trudged off in the scorching heat to do 

the rounds of Immigration, Customs and Port 

Captain – all located at diametrically opposite 

ends of the town. Th e total exercise took more 

than fi ve hours. 

Once the front had passed through, the following 

aft ernoon we slipped our lines and set the sails. 

Th is was to be our last long passage of 250 

miles southwest to Punta Del Este in Uruguay. 

Th e forecast was for more moderate to fresh 

winds from the northeast. 

It was a beautiful evening gently sailing down 

the coast with the sun setting on our starboard 

bow. Aft er dark, we saw a bright light on the 

horizon – within minutes it was clear that, 

whatever it was, it was moving towards us very 

fast! We have a clever bit of kit on board, which 

told us that he was travelling at nearly 25 knots. 

We were doing nearly 10 knots. Our closing 

speed was close to 40 mph. Impact would be 

within fi ve minutes. By now we had a very strong 

following wind, big seas, poled out foresail and 


“We had en joyed grea t sailin g for more than 

1,000 miles, and ver y little motorin g. It had 

been a brillian t cruise.” 

strapped down mainsail, and we would not be 

able to react quickly enough to get out of their 

way. Th e kit also gave me the name of the 

vessel. It was my old friend MSC Musica, a 

rather upmarket cruise ship that I had come 

across many times at sea and in harbours 

throughout the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. 

We now had four minutes to impact. I called 

them on VHF radio. No response. Th e profi le 

was much bigger now and we could clearly see 

their large bow wave. Th ree minutes to impact, 

I called them again. Th is time the radio crackled 

back “Mina 2 this is MSC Musica, go ahead, 

over”. I explained that I was the tiny pinprick of 

light two miles dead ahead of him, and I had 

neither the time nor ability to get out of their 

way. “I see you and understand the situation. 

I am altering course to starboard now. I will pass 

you red to red, port to port”. A wave of relief 

came over me. His bow slowly turned away from 

us. I thanked the captain who wished us all a 

good cruise. Th e incident was over as he rushed 

past us less than half a mile away. It would have 

been ironic to have seen and admired the ship 

so many times before, and then to be run 

down by her. 

Punta del Este in Uruguay is the St Tropez of the 

South American Riviera. It is on a small peninsula 

on one side of which are the surfi ng waves of the 

South Atlantic and on the other the placid waters 

of the River Plate. Both sides are fringed with 

spectacular beaches of clean white sand 

stretching for several miles. But the crew had 

little time to enjoy this holiday paradise as they 

packed their bags, caught the fast ferry to 

Buenos Aires, 200 miles across the River Plate, 

and fl ew back home to the UK. 

In the two weeks that Richard, Lawrence and 

Tom were on board for the big push south, we 

had travelled from the tropics where the high 

mountains were covered with lush rain forest, 

from which came the sounds of parrots and 

monkeys, and the long sandy beaches were 

fringed with palm trees. In the sky above circled 

magnifi cent frigate birds and vultures. As we 

moved south they were replaced by petrels 

of every variety that swoop over and round the 

waves, their wingtips almost touching the water. 

Th e landscape along the southern Brazilian and 

Uruguayan coast is of low undulating hills. 

Yes, less dramatic but, in its own way, equally 

beautiful. I had been surprised at the relative 

strength of winds that meant we had enjoyed 

great sailing for more than 1,000 miles, and very 

little motoring. It had been a brilliant cruise. 

Tim’s account of their trip to Uruguay is adapted 

from his blog, which can be found at: 

www.blog.mailasail.com/mina2


SUMMER 2011 99

100 

OYSTER BROKERAGE 

AUTUMN BOAT SHOW 

Saxon Wharf, Southampton – 16-25 September 2011 


Oyster Brokerage off ers a wide range of luxury pre-owned Oyster yachts. 

Don’t miss the annual Oyster Brokerage Autumn Boat Show which runs at 

the same time as the PSP Southampton Boat Show. 

Saxon Wharf, Lower Brook Street, Southampton, SO14 5QF. 

16-25 September 2011, 10.00-18.00 daily. 

Also on berths M338 and M340 at the PSP Southampton Boat Show

2005 Oyster 72 Spirit of Montpelier 

OYSTER BROKERAGE – THE SPECIALISTS IN PRE- OWNED OYSTER YACHTS 

Originally specifi ed for the Chairman of Oyster, this is 

a very special high performance 72. Her fully battened 

mainsail and barely overlapping jib, cored interior 

joinery and soles and deep keel make her hard to beat. 

She retains comfortable cabins with a luxurious feel. 

£2,000,000 ex VAT 

Lying: West Med 

NEW LISTING 

Sistership 

2009 Oyster 54 Love 

Love is only the second Oyster 54 to hit the brokerage 

market. She has a fast hull, great living space and 

incorporates Oyster’s latest design and technology. 

Naturally Love has been well looked aft er and is only 

for sale to make way for the owner’s brand new Oyster. 

£775,000 ex VAT 


NEW LISTING 

1999 Oyster 485 Sound of Breagha 

Sound of Breagha is a wonderful example of a yacht 

which has received great maintenance, love and care. 

She is a very capable cruising yacht, easy to handle, 

and very rewarding to sail. Th e equipment list is very 

high. Owner is selling to upgrade to a larger Oyster. 

£350,000 VAT paid 

Lying: East Med 

2006 Oyster 46 Tramp 

Tramp is a great example of the Oyster 46. She is 

extremely well-maintained, and perfectly suited to 

short-handed long distance sailing. Her beautiful maple 

interior enhances the light and airy saloon. Owner is 

making way for a larger Oyster so keen to sell. 

£435,000 VAT paid 

Lying: UK East Coast 

Please see our website for the full range of yachts available through Oyster Brokerage. 

Oyster Brokerage Ltd: Fox’s Marina Ipswich Suff olk IP2 8SA UK 

T: +44 (0)1473 695100 F: +44 (0)1473 695120 E: brokerage@oystermarine.com 

Oyster Brokerage USA: Newport Shipyard One Washington Street Newport RI 02840 USA 

T: +1 401 846 7400 F: +1 401 846 7483 E: info@oystermarine.com 

SAIL | BROKERAGE | CHARTER | REFIT 

www.oysterbrokerage.com 

2007 Oyster 655 Acheron 

Beautiful Oyster 655 with eight berths in four cabins. 

She benefi ts from a hydraulic in-mast furling mainsail, 

cutter rig complete with twin hydraulic furling systems 

for both head sails. A very easily handled yacht that has 

been skipper maintained since her launch in 2007. 

£1,790,000 VAT Paid 


NEW LISTING 

2007 Oyster 53 Golden Pearl 

Th e g5 deck design of this Oyster 53 gives a sleek and 

modern look. Fully equipped with all the mod cons for 

long distance cruising, with an interior fi nished in classic 

teak for a warm and traditional feel. Accommodation for 

eight in four separate luxurious cabins, plus the saloon. 

£590,000 ex VAT 

Lying: Oyster UK 

Sistership 

2002 Oyster 62 Golden Gate 

Th is Oyster 62 excelled herself at the 2007 

Oyster Regatta in Valencia winning overall in Class 1 

and Concours d’Elégance Trophy. An exceptional 

example of this powerful, but easily handled, 

world cruiser. 

£1,195,000 VAT Paid 

Lying: Newport, RI. USA 

NEW LISTING 

2005 Oyster 49 Autumn Dream 

Autumn Dream is a stunning Oyster 49 fi nished with 

beautiful dark blue topsides. American light oak joinery 

provides a light and airy interior. Her extensive equipment 

list ensures ease of handling and superb performance. 

She has benefi ted from an ongoing care programme. 

£495,000 VAT Paid 

Lying: UK South East Coast 

1999 Oyster 42 Alpina 

Th e Oyster 42 is a compact but well-appointed and 

capable cruising yacht. Th e forward owner’s cabin with 

en suite is huge and very comfortable. Th e cockpit is 

also very large for a 42ft yacht. Alpina is a beautiful, 

well-maintained yacht. 

£195,000 VAT paid 

Lying: Oyster UK 

SUMMER 2011 101

GONE 

with the wind... 

PART TWO 

THE FRENCH POLYNESIAN ISLANDS TO VANUATU 

SOUTH WEST PACIFIC 

BY STEPHEN HYDE, OYSTER 56 A LADY

WHITE- SAND BEACHES, VIBRANT MARINE LIFE, 

LUSH VOLCANIC PEAKS AND A COLOURFUL HISTORY. 

THE WORLD ARC RALLY FINDS ITSELF IN PACIFIC PARADISE. 

THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS 

As part of the World ARC rally fl eet we enjoyed a period 

of free cruising during our visit to the French Polynesian 

Islands. For us, that was from the date of our arrival in 

Porto Ayora, Hiva Oa, on the 24th March 2010 until we all 

gathered ready to leave Bora Bora on the 13th May 2010. 

Th e Marquesas Islands are truly beautiful and, bizarrely, 

one of our lasting memories of the area are the cocks 

crowing all night, every night, Th ey became part of our 

daily choir in the background and, on land, they run wild all 

over these beautifully maintained and manicured islands. 

We spent a few days exploring the Island of Hiva Oa 

and visiting all the sacrifi cial sites, where they buried the 

skulls of their human prey or sacrifi ces amongst the 

roots of the adjacent Banyan trees. We also visited Paul 

Gauguin’s House and Museum and had dinner at the 

French operated Hanakee Pearl Lodge Hotel.

104 

A few days later, we headed 42 miles southeast to 

Fatu Hiva. We had a great sail, a very stiff breeze on 

the port side made for a very diff erent type of sailing 

to what we had become used to. We dropped anchor 

in ‘Th e Bay of Virgins’, a famously beautiful anchorage. 

A small group of us from four diff erent yachts booked 

dinner ashore, in what turned out to be a family home 

and one of the more interesting meals we experienced 

anywhere on the trip. Most of the food was raw marinated 

fi sh in coconut oil, with a variety of locally grown fruits, 

including the famous ‘bread fruit’. When dinner was 

fi nished, the owner, his wife and their children brought 

out their guitars and, with some of our own guitar players, 

gave us a great night’s entertainment. Refreshments 

consisted of homemade juices – no alcohol. It was 

defi nitely a night to remember. 

Th ree days later, we set sail again, north this time to Tahuata 

where we spent one night before moving on to Ua Pou, 

a very mountainous island, which proved to be very 

diff erent to the others in the group. It was Easter when 

we arrived and the churches of all denominations were 

clearly trying to out do each other when it came to church 

décor and singing. Th e choirs were simply wonderful! 

We discovered that church music and choirs got bigger 

and better as we sailed west through all the diff erent 

islands throughout the Pacifi c. If these choirs represent 

a taste of ‘Heaven’ then we want to go there, but just 

not right now... 

Aft er three nights in Ua Pou we headed north again to 

Nuka Hiva, this is one of the designated islands for 

clearing in or out of the Marquesas Islands, and as we 

were about to head southwest to the Tuamotus Islands, 

we needed clearance and to fi ll up with diesel. 

We spent a relaxing few days in Nuka Hiva and eventually 

sailed south on the 8th April. Th e weather for our three 

days at sea was simply perfect with a very light south 

easterly breeze and fl at sea. We slept on deck most 

nights and enjoyed gazing at all those twinkling little 

stars dancing out all night especially for us (well that’s 

what we thought at the time). 


TUAMOTU ISLANDS 

We had never heard of these islands or ‘archipelago’ 

(a total of 76 atolls or islands) until we arrived in the 

Marquesas Islands. We soon discovered that they are 

beautiful and well worth a visit. 

Th e fi rst island we chose to explore was Manihi. However, 

the cruising guides that we read on the way there very 

nearly put us off . Th e book said that the sand bar at the 

entrance was only 2 metres deep (we draw 2.5 metres) 

and the current through the narrow entrance was so 

strong that most yachts would not get inside the lagoon. 

However, we never had less than 2.5 metres under our 

keel and the maximum current we encountered was a 

mere 3 knots as we sailed into the lagoon before rolling 

up the sails. And, what an experience! Th is huge coral 

reef, covered in palm trees surrounding a big lagoon 

was just perfect. We motored over and dropped anchor 

outside the ‘Manihi Pearl Beach Resort’ where all the 

guest rooms stand on stilts in the deep blue waters of 

the lagoon. We really felt we had arrived in paradise. 

We had a number of cruising guides on board for the 

Pacifi c and the other oceans we planned to cross, but 

the Pacifi c in particular, as this was our fi rst long distance 

trip and in some respects was a venture into the

unknown for us. Th e books were a great support, but 

you have to make up your own mind about what to do 

and where to go. If we had taken the advice of the 

cruising guides, we would never have gone near Manihi 

and would have missed a near perfect paradise. Another 

thing the guides implied was that we would be devoured 

by mosquitoes and sand fl ies if we went ashore. In fact 

we hardly came across any of these pests and certainly 

not enough to bother us... if you want to see mosquitoes, 

then take a trip to Scotland in the autumn! 

Everyday we went swimming in paradise, always being 

mindful of the strong currents that fl ow through all these 

atolls. Th e coral heads were great for snorkelling and 

there were plenty of these, usually surrounded by 

hundreds of beautifully coloured fi sh. However, great 

care needed to be taken to avoid getting the anchor 

stuck in one. 

Our next stop was Rangiroa, another paradise where 

Donal and I took diving lessons. One evening we went 

ashore with some crews from some of the other rally 

yachts ashore, to a restaurant called ‘Les Relais de 

Josephine’, where we enjoyed an excellent meal of crab 

and lobster. However, it was as expensive as eating out 

in London. In fact, the whole of the French Polynesian 

Islands were very expensive. No wonder nearly all the 

cars on the islands are brand new! 

From Rangiroa, we sailed 45 miles or so south in a very 

fresh breeze to the Island of Tikehau. Navigating our 

way through Tikehau was tricky with all the shallow corals, 

but they had plenty of markers, which made life much 

easier. We eventually dropped anchor at dusk and 

admired the beautiful pink beach of Tikehau Pearl Lodge. 

We spent two nights at Tikehau, before sailing southwest 

to Papeete, the capital of Tahiti and a mere 188 miles away. 

We had 25 knots of wind on our port beam and it was 

a sheer pleasure to sit on the transom seat and soak up 

the silent power of our beautiful boat as she surged 

through the seas, with only the sound of the babbling 

water as it rushed out from under the transom. 

Papeete was the same as any other capital, but nonetheless, 

very enjoyable. We spent a couple of weeks in Tahiti 

whilst the boat was lift ed out, cleaned and antifouled. 

Donal looked aft er this task while Aileen and I spent a 

wonderful weekend in the Hilton Hotel on the adjoining 

OWNER REPORT – A LADY 

island of Morea. A wonderful lush green paradise island 

that I would highly recommend. 

It is worth mentioning that Aileen and I chartered a boat 

roughly 14 years ago and sailed around the Society 

Islands, therefore it was interesting to look at all the 

changes that have taken place since then. Back then we 

had felt it was the most expensive place in the world, 

now it is only as expensive as London or Paris! 

We departed Tahiti and sailed overnight to Raiatea, 

where we had entered A Lady in the Tahiti Pearl Regatta. 

Th e place was buzzing, full of excitement for the event. 

Unfortunately, a local boat, on loan to some French 

sailors for the event, caused some damage to A Lady, 

however this didn’t dampen our spirits and we enjoyed 

the few days racing and the prize-giving in Bora Bora. 

“It was a sheer pleasure to sit on the 

transom seat and soak up the silent 

power of our beautiful boat as she 

surged through the seas” 

We sailed onto Rarotonga in the Cook Islands and then 

to Niue. Th e one thing that will stick in our minds about 

Niue were the nights, the starry nights in the Pacifi c 

were spectacular, and in particular the Milky Way which 

was always a pleasure to study. On the way to Niue 

we had a full moon which shone down the mast like 

champagne fi zzing down the side of a glass. 

Niue was very interesting in that there was only a pier 

sticking out into the bay, so when we went ashore in the 

RIB, we had to use the crane on the pier to lift the RIB 

out of the water while we explored this interesting 

island. We enjoyed our brief stay, where we even 

managed a game of golf on what must have been the 

roughest golf course in the world! We also had some 

interesting food here, mostly marinated raw fi sh, it all 

tasted great and was really healthy, however we were 

disappointed to learn that these people do not live any 

longer than us Europeans, so much for a healthy diet! 

SUMMER 2011 105

106 

On the 4th June we arrived in Vava’u (Tonga) a perfect 

spinnaker run all the way. Our fi rst impressions of the main 

island... a very poor place and very untidy in comparison 

to the French Polynesian Islands or the Cook Islands. 

Th e island was the fi rst place we saw fruit bats, although 

they looked more like fl ying cats than bats and it was 

fascinating to watch them devour the fruit. Th is was one 

of the best cruising grounds we ever sailed, a sailor’s 

paradise, hundreds of small sandy islands surrounded by 

coral reefs, which made them very attractive anchorages 

for swimming, diving, snorkeling and generally relaxing. 

Of course, we had to be extra careful with navigation, 

as well as being a sailor’s paradise, it could easily turn 

into a sailor’s nightmare if one hit one of the thousands 

of corals scattered throughout the islands. 

We spent about 10 days in Vava’u and in some respects 

this was just not enough, however we did manage to 

stay overnight at six diff erent islands or locations, and 

we only explored a small portion of this beautiful place. 

Th ere was always a lovely cool trade wind blowing about 

20-25 knots day and night across and through the boat. 

Snorkelling in the corals here could be compared to 

fl oating through Gaudi’s cathedral in Barcelona in a 

vacuum… the gleaming and colourful corals, all set close 

to the surface in Prussian blue warm water, with all 

diff erent chambers of various sizes, together with 

thousands of equally colourful fi sh. 

We sadly had to say goodbye to this wonderful 

place and headed northwest towards Fiji, a distance of 

420 miles, the sailing was great as usual as we scooted 

along our merry way. However, we did get a fright early 

one morning as dawn broke, we could see the hulk of a 

ship sitting almost in front of us. It soon became obvious 

that this ship was sitting on a reef and, as we were 

sailing close by, we made a few alterations to the course 

to avoid meeting with the same fate. Th ey say about Fiji, 

that there are two types of boats here, the ones that hit 

a reef and sink, and the ones that are about to hit a reef 

and sink! 

Th e entrance to Savu Savu (the island we selected for 

our inward clearances) was very narrow and through 

a right angle bend surrounded by coral reefs on all 

sides. It was 22.00, pitch black with 46 knots blowing 

up our transom and breaking waves running along 

the decks. 


Everyone on board loved the excitement, except the 

skipper, who was having a nervous breakdown. We 

relied totally on the E120 and sure enough we got into 

the lagoon without a hitch. 

Eventually, as always, things have to come to an end and 

so the fl eet of 23 rally yachts set sail westwards towards 

a small island called Tanna in Vanuatu. Th is little island has 

one of the few live and active volcanoes in the world and, 

of course, we all had to go there at dusk one evening to 

view the fi reworks for ourselves – spectacular! 

Th e island was very defi nitely the poorest place we visited. 

We had a meal ashore one night, the food was the usual 

raw marinated fi sh, but this time it was served on 

banana leaves as plates and we used our fi ngers to do 

the eating. Dinner cost about one Euro each. It was so 

diff erent, that we really enjoyed the whole experience, 

before being led back the two miles to the harbour 

through the jungle by locals carrying fl aming torches to 

light the way. 

From Tanna, we sailed north to Port Villa. Th is seemed a 

popular spot and has the world’s only underwater post 

offi ce, (or rather a letterbox). We visited some beautiful 

resorts and restaurants here and fattened ourselves up 

ready for the next leg to Australia, a 1,200-mile trip.

YOU ARE NOW PRECISELY ONE 

MILLION MILES AWAY FROM WORK. 

Where will your imagination take you? To the end of the boardroom table? Or to the 

place of your dreams? Of course, how you get there is important. Perhaps you should 

consider one of the world’s fi nest yachts with proven performance and an unsurpassed 

build quality, designed to take you as far away from routine as possible. 

For more information please email molly.marston@oystermarine.com or visit us online. 

SAIL | BROKERAGE | CHARTER | REFIT 

www.oystercharter.com 

SUMMER 2011 107

108 

On their way... 

Oyster 575 Sophistikate 

Another new yacht planned with 

a circumnavigation in mind, 

Sophistikate is Richard and Angela 

Parkinson’s second new Oyster, 

replacing their Oyster 46 of the 

same name. 

Th ey will cross the Atlantic with the 

2011 ARC followed by a season in the 

Caribbean, before joining the Oyster 

World Rally fl eet, which will depart 

the Caribbean in January 2013. Fitted 

out in a very pale American Oak, 

Sophistikate has all the essentials 

required for a world cruise, including 

air-conditioning, watermaker and 

heating, plus a few luxuries such as 

an icemaker, dishwasher, underwater 

camera and lighting. 

Sophistikate has been built to an 

exceptionally high specifi cation and 

her owners took a great deal of 

interest in the build process and 

visited the yard many times during 

her build. She was on display at 

Oyster’s Private View in St Katharine 

Docks, where she was much admired. 


Oyster 575 Patrice 

Th e Oyster 575 Patrice is Joan and Ian Menzies’s 

fi rst Oyster, and will be based in Largs on 

Scotland’s west coast. Th eir berth in Largs is very 

tight, so Ian opted for a retractable stern thruster 

as well as the standard bowthruster, making 

manoeuvring simple. Patrice is also unusual in that 

she has hydraulic primary and mainsheet winches. 

Oyster 625 Rachel of London 

Owners Tony and Rachel Whitby have owned 

many yachts, their most recent being a 72' 

Sunseeker, which was the inspiration behind 

some of the detailing to be found on Rachel, in 

particular the blue spreader and cockpit lights, 

that really give the yacht a ‘wow’ factor. Equally 

striking is her bespoke interior. Styled by ‘Design 

Oyster 72 Infiniti 

Owned by Ken and Diana Randall, Infi niti was 

on show at the Oyster Private View in London. 

Her already beautiful interior was styled and 

accessorised specially for the event by the 

Interior Design Studio at Harrods and was 

much admired by visitors to the show. 

Following the show, Infi niti completed handover 

in Cherbourg before heading to the Mediterranean. 

She will make her fi rst transatlantic crossing in 

the autumn and will spend the winter cruising in 

the Caribbean. 

With some of the most beautiful cruising grounds 

anywhere in the world right on their doorstep, 

Patrice will mainly be used for cruising around the 

Firth of Clyde and surrounding Lochs, with some 

longer passages planned to the Outer Hebrides 

and Norway. 

Interiors’ a company Tony has worked with on 

many of his property developments, their expertise 

has resulted in a stunning Maple and Teak interior 

with plush leather upholstery and luxurious soft 

furnishings. With her sleek grey painted hull, 

chrome lines and black mast, Rachel really is 

a ‘super’ yacht in every sense of the word.

Oyster 625 Blue Jeannie 

Th e fi rst of the new Oyster 625s was launched in fi ne style 

during a party at Oyster’s annual Private View, held at 

St Katharine Docks in London. On a beautiful spring evening, 

owner John Bowley, for whom the new 625, Blue Jeannie, 

is his second Oyster, carried out the formalities with the 

traditional smashing of a bottle of champagne on her bow, 

assisted by his parents and family. Also present was Oyster 625 

designer Rob Humphreys and his wife Jo, who had styled the 

interior furnishings. Now on her way to the Mediterranean, 

Blue Jeannie has a busy charter season ahead of her, before 

she is displayed at the Cannes and Genoa Boats Shows. 

Blue Jeannie is available for charter from Oyster Charter. 

For more information please contact Molly Marston at 

molly.marston@oystermarine.com 

Oyster 82 Mathilda Sound 

Th e new Oyster 82, Mathilda Sound, departed 

Oyster’s Ipswich HQ for Malta with Will White 

from Oyster’s US offi ce on board as part of her 

delivery crew. Mathilda Sound has a Maple 

interior with Walnut soles and dark brown leather 

upholstery. With her dark blue hull she is a really 

stunning and contemporary new yacht. 

ON THEIR WAY 

Recently launched Oysters 


Serendipity 

Serendipity is owned 

by David Caukill and 

is his second new 

Oyster, his fi rst being 

an Oyster 46 of the 

same name. David 

will keep Serendipity 

on the south coast 

before heading south 

to the Canaries 

where she will be 

based until the start 

of the 2011 ARC. 

Following a season 

in the Caribbean, 

Serendipity will slowly make her way across the 

Pacifi c to New Zealand where she will join the 

Oyster World Rally fl eet for the second leg of 

the circumnavigation back to the Caribbean via 

South Africa and South America. 

Oyster 46 Callisto 

Callisto is the fi rst Oyster to be owned by the 

Voigt-Firon family from Austria, having previously 

owned a Halberg Rassy 43. Th e boat set sail 

from Ipswich to sail around the west coast of 

England and up to Scotland with Oyster’s Senior 

Commissioner, Mick Hart, on board as skipper. 

Th e family are looking forward to joining the 

Oyster World Rally fl eet in 2013, once they have 

gained more experience with their new yacht. 

Callisto is another superb example of 

an Oyster 46, with a beautiful Maple interior. 

SUMMER 2011 109

110 


We are grateful to our marine industry suppliers for not only helping us 

to build great yachts but also for supporting our events and regattas. 

Bespoke quality sails and 

canvas work, UK manufactured. 

Matthew Vincent 

T: +44 (0)1255 243 366 

E: sails@dolphin-sails.com 

www.dolphinsails.com 

Th e world leading provider 

of sailing clothing. 

Alistair Munro 

T: +44 (0)203 479 4615 

E: alistair@musto.com 

www.musto.com 

Th e world’s leading 

manufacturer in recreational 

marine electronics. 

Andy Davies 

T: +44 (0)23 9271 4700 

E: andy.davies@raymarine.com 

www.raymarine.com 

Performance Masts, 

Engineered to Perfection. 

T: +31 (0) 527 29 1989 

E: info@formula-marine.com 

www.formula-marine.com 

Optimal coverage for your yacht, 

your assets and your paid crew. 

John McCurdy, OBE 

T: +44 (0)1752 223 656 

E: info@pantaenius.co.uk 

www.pantaenius.co.uk 

Reefi ng systems 

and hydraulics. 

Marcus Schuldt 

T: +49 (0)41 013 849 27 

E: m.schuldt@reckmann.com 

www.reckmann.com 

Leading sailboat and 

powerboat hardware supplier 

for the leisure marine industry. 

Roger Cerrato 

T: +44 (0)23 9247 1841 

E: rcerrato@lewmar.com 

www.lewmar.com 

International yacht consultants 

specialising in yacht management. 

Declan O’Sullivan 

T: +44 (0)1624 819 867 

E: dos@pelagosyachts.com 

www.pelagosyachts.com 

Truly global satellite tracking 

for yachts and yacht races. 

T: +44 (0)845 619 8252 

E: sales@yellowbrick-tracking.com 

www.yellowbrick-tracking.com

Oyster Marine Ltd 

Tel: +44 (0)1473 688 888 

Sales Team: Tel: +44 (0)1473 695 005 

Customer Support: Tel: +44 (0)1473 690 198 

Email: yachts@oystermarine.com 

www.oystermarine.com 

Oyster Marine USA 

Oyster Brokerage USA 

Tel: +1 401 846 7400 

Email: info@oystermarine.com 

www.oystermarine.com 

Oyster Marine Germany 

Tel: +49 40 644 008 80 

Email: yachten@oystermarine.com 

www.oystermarine.de 

Oyster Representatives 

Oyster Marine in Asia 

Bart Kimman 

Tel: +852 2815 0404 

Email: bart.kimman@oystermarine.com 

Oyster Marine in Australia 

Michael Bell 

Tel: +61 (0)2 9997 7133 

Email: michael.bell@oystermarine.com 

Oyster Marine in Russia 

Oscar Konyukhov 

Tel: +7 925 771 29 91 

Email: oscar.konyukhov@oystermarine.com 

Oyster Marine in Ukraine 

Alex Krykanyuk 

Tel: +38 (0)512 580 540 

Email: alex.krykanyuk@oystermarine.com 

Oyster Charter 

Tel: +1 401 846 7400 

Email: molly.marston@oystermarine.com 

www.oystercharter.com 

Oyster Brokerage Ltd 

Tel: +44 (0)1473 695 100 

Email: brokerage@oystermarine.com 

www.oysterbrokerage.com 

Southampton Yacht Services Ltd 

Saxon Wharf, Lower York Street, 

Northam, Southampton, SO14 5QF UK 

Tel: +44 (0)23 8033 5266 

Fax: +44 (0)23 8063 4275 

Email: sales@southamptonyachtservices.co.uk 

www.southamptonyachtservices.co.uk

www.oystermarine.com

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