Oyster News 52 - Oyster Yachts

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A DESIGNERS VIEW Notes from Rob Humphreys In an ideal world one would like a brand new boat’s first outing to be in a soft but building breeze, taking things gently through that settling in phase and then into progressively more wind so that issues like balance and stability can be assessed. When the boat in question happens also to be the first of a new design then one’s hopes of just such a day have a more poignant ring to them. Of course it seldom turns out this way, but apart from the bitter cold our first sail on the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 82 produced just what the doctor ordered. We left the dock with little more in the air than an atmosphere of anticipation, allowing us to get the sails rolled out in fairly sedate fashion. But much as it is important to get the feel of a new boat, it’s also important to get the first photographs, because the maiden sail of the new <strong>Oyster</strong> 82 is nothing if not newsworthy. And when the first (and only, it transpired) bit of sun beams through almost immediately, then you just have to grab the opportunity and concentrate first on saying ‘cheese’. It was a touch comical really. Posing to camera and trying to get the boat in the right setting and backdrop, working in a very confined stretch of water that is the River Orwell and handling what came almost to order as a fast-building, puffy breeze, and the one blurred head in the first photos is yours truly, as I constantly snatched backward glances to see how the helmsman’s fingers were having to deal with each enforced course change, each gust that came through. Unfortunately for a designer, even the merest such glimpses can make or break his day, depending on what his own shutters are telling him. Paul Bennett, Cygnus' Skipper, didn’t seem to be having any problems at all, so perhaps it was time to take in the scenery, and then of course to take one’s turn at the wheel. Once the camera was put away we were out into a bit more space and a bit more wind, and I have to say Cygnus was a joy to steer. Upwind, even in the puffs, it wasn’t so much one hand as a couple of fingers, and when one needed to duck and dive around the navigation marks it was very easy to pull her bow down even without calling on the trimmer’s help. Of course we were not set up and calibrated to properly assess her VMG, but she clearly wanted to march upwind, and as a platform she felt pretty rock-steady, giving a powerful account of herself. Of course there are a thousand and one ways to assess a new boat, but three questions tend to top the list by a country mile. Is she balanced? Yes. Is she stiff? Yes. Is the designer smiling? You bet. 20 www.oystermarine.com “ONCE THE CAMERA WAS PUT AWAY WE WERE OUT INTO A BIT MORE SPACE AND A BIT MORE WIND, AND I HAVE TO SAY CYGNUS WAS A JOY TO STEER”
THE OYSTER 82 FIRST TIME OUT 24 FEBRUARY 2004 “OF COURSE THERE ARE A THOUSAND AND ONE WAYS TO ASSESS A NEW BOAT, BUT THREE QUESTIONS TEND TO TOP THE LIST BY A COUNTRY MILE. IS SHE BALANCED? YES. IS SHE STIFF? YES. IS THE DESIGNER SMILING? YOU BET!” Following her East Coast sea trials, Cygnus returned to the Solent where several of these photographs were taken. Photos: Alan Brook, George Johns and Beken of Cowes www.oystermarine.com 21
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Oyster News 52 - Oyster Yachts

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