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News from the world of oyster issue N 71 wiNter 2010
o
in this issue – oyster JuBilee reGAttA sArdiNiA, 2010 ArC stArt
ANd New oyster 885 uPdAte

COntents
03 welCome
David Tydeman
04 oyster life
News from the world of Oyster
08 oyster JuBilee reGAttA
– sArdiNiA
Louay Habib
22 oyster world rAlly
23 2010 ArC stArt
Barry Pickthall
27 row to the Pole
Jock Wishart
28 ANtiGuA to rio
Paul May
issue N o 71 wiNter 2010
08 28 37 46
froNt CoVer PiCture
Axel moorken’s new oyster 575,
Endless One.
Photo: Kurt Arrigo
editor
liz whitman
34 the New oyster 885
David Tydeman
37 oyster reGAttA – GreNAdA 2011
38 owNer Profile
– AlBerto ViGNAtelli
Cristina Fonzar
44 suPeryACht uPdAte
David Tydeman
46 miss tiPPy
Brian and Sheila Norton
54 GoNe with the wiNd
Stephen Hyde
59 oyster At the BoAt shows
CoNtriButiNG editors
Barry Pickthall
louay habib
Cristina fonzar
ProduCtioN editor
rebecca twiss
62 fAmily deNt’s leAP of fAith
Martin Dent
74 sAiliNG to hAVe fuN
Alan Brook
85 red seA PArAdise
Liz Cleere and Jamie Furlong
92 to BArtiCA ANd BACK
Steve Powell
98 destiNAtioN AsiA
Bart Kimman
102 turKish deliGht
Brian Long
106 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 offer. 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.
54 62
welCome
in these uncertain times, i’m delighted to report that oyster remains a very solid company. our order book is
developing well; brokerage prices have been improving and your investment in your oyster remains secure!
lead times are extending again with the next available oyster 625,
now hull #4, and the next 575, hull #15 – for delivery in summer 2012.
we will launch the first new oyster 625 in london at our Private View
in st Katharine docks next April. There has been strong interest in the
new oyster 885 and it was an exciting week in mid-November when the
deck mock-up arrived. Alongside all of this, plans are developing for the
launch of the first oyster 100, which will take part in the 2011 dubois Cup
and loro Piana superyacht regattas next June.
we remain committed to providing an excellent service to all oyster
owners in the form of technical help and spares, as well as running events
for owners and their families to enjoy. our Jubilee regatta, hosted by
yacht Club Costa smeralda in Porto Cervo in september, brought together
30 oysters from across the decades, across the fleet and across continents,
with the italian-owned, 30-year old oyster 37, Andrea, on the start line
alongside the newly launched, uK-owned and custom-built oyster 82,
Starry Night of the Caribbean, which features many of the latest
developments and innovations in design and build.
we support the start of the ArC each year with a team of technical staff
to help owners prepare for their crossing and this year’s owners’ party on
Thursday 18th November had a special significance to it. Alan Brook, after
decades of service to oyster and having retired earlier in the year, fulfils
a lifelong dream as he and his wife sue sail their new oyster 56, Sulana,
across the Atlantic alongside the 18-strong oyster fleet taking part in this
year’s event. it was a treat to raise a glass with them.
The 2013-14 oyster world rally, conceived as a celebration of oyster’s
40th anniversary, and announced in the last issue of oyster News, has
been very significant. we now have more than 25 oysters confirmed and
over 60 more serious expressions of interest, including some non-oyster
owners who are now in discussions with either the new sales team or our
brokers! with a 30-yacht maximum fleet and over two years to go to the
start in January 2013, this is a fantastic achievement for what will be a really
unique event.
we are mindful that, exciting though this major event is, not everyone
will either want or be able to take part. we are now working up a
three-year plan to flow from our Grenada regatta in April 2011, through
Palma in september 2011 to the BVi in April 2012, our olympic regatta at
the royal yacht squadron in July 2012, to the start of the world rally and
to ensure we can run some events in parallel with it.
As usual in oyster News, it is the cruising stories from our owners that
capture the imagination and this issue really does feature some amazing
and unusual cruising locations. my thanks to every one of you for sharing
your adventures with us at oyster and readers of oyster News.
here at oyster, there is as always much to achieve, and i express my
thanks to all the oyster Group staff for getting out of bed each morning
with so much enthusiasm for what they do!
i wish you all a happy Christmas and New year and look forward to seeing
some of you at our london owners’ dinner and the January Boat shows.
sincere regards to you all,
david tydeman
Ceo, oyster Group
wiNter 2010 3

Oyster 72 yacht – “the
of sailing dinghies, Swans
orld Atlantic Rally
crew of four and the
the world—and won First
ams of an around-the-world
ey sometimes dubbed
highs and lows that travel
xotic locales bodes for
ilors!
o powerful they once
ber’s life jacket, to
eas, to fire dancers and an
le episode of men in the
y in garlands and grass) who
al dance for the women;
hour Fijian fundraising
ntire Village honored the
rks of shooting volcanoes;
right”, David felt he
uch them”, the K8 crew
f adventure.
a seafaring adventure
David Holliday
oyster News
Oyster life HeADLiNeS
a seafaring adventure
David Holliday
BooK lAuNCh
for owNer
dAVid hollidAy oBe
oyster owner, david holliday,
who with his family has owned
three oyster yachts since
1992 and currently owns the
oyster 72, Kealoha 8, has just
had a book published about
his voyage round the world
with the 2008 world ArC.
The book, ‘Kealoha 8 –
A seafaring Adventure’,
is available online from the
publishers Arima Publishing:
www.arimapublishing.co.uk
Captain and Journaller David Holliday enjoying the pacific
islands.
David Holliday owns and
runs the luxury charter
yacht Kealoha 8 where,
for $20,000, privileged
clientele enjoy a week
aboard the professionally
outfitted vessel that
comes equipped with a
full-time skipper and first
mate.
Front Cover Photo:
k8 sails away from Table Mountain
by Cody Reed
eddie JordAN JoiNs
the oyster fleet with A 655
PurChAsed By his fAmily trust
As a formula 1 fan, david tydeman has enjoyed
putting the deal together with eddie Jordan who is
certainly an entertaining character. eddie and david
first met at the turkish Grand Prix earlier this year
and eddie was given a quick tour around our
superyacht build project, which is only 15 kms from
the race circuit. his interest in oyster developed
from there and discussions took place on various
types and sizes of oyster yachts, hoping that we
oyster 56 most PoPulAr yACht iN the ArC
As the fleet of 18 oyster yachts began their final
preparations in las Palmas ahead of the start of
the ArC and their 2700-mile transatlantic passage
to st lucia, we had official confirmation that the
oyster 56 is the most popular yacht to have been
sailed in the ArC.
oysters from across the range have been amongst
the most prolific participants in this popular,
annual event with over 250 oysters having taken
part since the first ArC 25 years ago. But it’s the
oyster 56 that easily wins the accolade of being
the most prolific model of any marque for at least
the last ten years (in fact since the organisers
FrOM
THe WOrLD OF OySTer
could shape a deal in time for him to join us at the
sardinia regatta. eddie joined david for a day’s
racing in Cowes week followed by a visit to the
oyster 655 at the southampton Boat show – both
providing good ‘pontoon gossip’. eddie has been a
long-standing customer of sunseeker and still owns
a 37m sunseeker – quite a ‘support-boat’ for his
elan 450, which started his sailing interest two
years ago. The elan was designed by oyster’s lead
designer, rob humphreys, and his loyalty to rob
has certainly influenced his choice of moving to
oyster. we look forward to seeing eddie at our
london owners’ dinner and Grenada regatta.
started keeping records) with 44 oyster 56s having
made their Atlantic crossing with the ArC fleet.
for owner richard smith, who made his first ArC
crossing in his oyster 56 Hawk Wing in 2005, this
year’s event in his oyster 655 Sotto Vento will be
his fourth ArC, whilst for Alan and sue Brook who
own the new oyster 56 Sulana, the 2010 ArC
will be their first transatlantic crossing. This year’s
event also sees three of the new oyster 575s,
all launched earlier this year, making history in
their first ArC, with On Liberty, Endless One and
Can Do Too leading the way for the new oyster
575 to perhaps take that top spot in years to
come as the most popular yacht in the ArC fleet.
BridGe PArty oN BoArd hms dAuNtless
two days after the Boxing day tsunami in
2004 that caused such devastation throughout
the indian ocean, long time friend of oyster,
Barry Cager, sailed into Coco de mer and
immediately set about trying to provide
practical help to those in need. many of those
who survived had lost not only their homes but
also their only means of earning a living, their
fishing boats. Barry contacted oyster to ask
for assistance in helping some of those
affected and together with owners at the
london Boat show we were delighted to raise
enough money be able to have a new longtail
fishing boat built for the Jupasert family.
oyster life
in september, the new royal Navy type 45 destroyer, hms dauntless, sailed into southampton
to take part in the southampton Boat show. As oyster is affiliated to the ship, we were lucky
enough to have the opportunity to host a small private party for some of our customers, who
enjoyed drinks on the bridge followed by a tour of the ship and supper – a really unique
opportunity, which we were delighted to be able to take advantage of.
deGree suCCess for thANAree JuPrAsert
A few months later, Barry contacted oyster
again to ask if we would support the fisherman’s
daughter, Thanaree, to make it possible for her
to attend university in Bangkok. oyster agreed
to fund a four-year scholarship, which enabled
Thanaree to undertake and complete her
degree in hotel and tourism from the
dhurakijpundit university in Bangkok earlier
this year. her final grade was an excellent 85%,
a huge achievement considering that all her
lectures were conducted in english. we are
delighted to have played a very small part in
helping Thanaree complete her education
and wish her every success for the future.
New AtlANtiC
CrossiNG Guide
Anyone lucky enough to find the new
edition of the rCC Pilotage foundation
Atlantic Crossing Guide in their
Christmas stocking may notice rather
a lot of oyster pictures throughout the
book, in particular mike and devala
robinson’s oyster 46, Sea Rover, which
also features on the front cover, taken
as she approached st lucia.
Jane russell, the author of the new
edition, is the wife of david russell, who
is engineering manager at landamores.
Just as Jane was starting the project,
mike and devala robinson were taking
delivery of Sea Rover, their new
oyster 46. hearing of their plans to
cross the Atlantic, david encouraged
Jane to contact them. The result is a
wonderful selection of photographs and
many observations and contributions to
the text of the book. The new edition is
packed with updated information,
including references to many useful
websites. Part i covers all the many
aspects of preparing boat and crew for
an Atlantic crossing. The range of routes
and ports around the Atlantic circuit
(Part ii) has been extended to include
advice about cruising the coasts of North
and west Africa, taking the route to Brazil
via the Cape Verdes, heading westwards
across the Caribbean towards Panama
and cruising the Atlantic intracoastal
waterway (iCw) up the east coast of
the usA. Chapter 18 discusses more
northerly routes including the Viking
route via iceland, Greenland and
Newfoundland. The Atlantic Crossing
Guide is available to buy online at
www.acblack.com
4 wiNter 2010 5

oyster iN AmeriCA
New oyster
rePreseNtAtiVe iN russiA
oscar Konyukhov joins the oyster
team as representative for the oyster
range of yachts from the oyster 46 to
the oyster 885, in the russian federation.
oscar can be contacted at
oscar.konyukhov@oystermarine.com
tel: +7 495 725 47 03
mobile: +7 910 477 09 70
oyster News
it was champagne all round in oyster’s Newport office following the sale of three
new oysters just after the Annapolis sailboat show in october – two oyster 575’s,
and a 625. what was one of the sunniest shows for years certainly helped to
bring out the visitors who enjoyed looking over two beautiful oysters, the oyster
56, Champlain and the oyster 72, Magrathea. it was the us premiere for the
oyster 72 and renowned yachtsman and broadcaster Gary Jobson found time
to take her sailing and will be reporting on the yacht in a future issue of yachting
magazine. during the show, oyster Ceo david tydeman hosted the annual
Annapolis owners’ party, which was as usual very well attended.
rouNd the world yAChtsmAN ArriVes iN iPswiCh
widely recognised as one of the world’s
most experienced and successful ‘round-theworld’
yachtsmen, swedish sailing star,
magnus olsson, arrived at oyster’s hQ at
fox’s marina in ipswich during the summer
to join owner, lars Johansson on board his
new oyster 56, Enjoy Life, for the delivery
passage back to their native sweden. magnus,
who skippered Ericsson 3 to an honourable
fourth place in the Volvo ocean race
2008-2009, has competed in no less than six
whitbread/Volvo ocean round the world yacht
races. he will certainly have found life on board
this new oyster 56 a little more comfortable
and we look forward to him joining us on board
Enjoy Life at an oyster regatta in the future.
ChristmAs iN the CAriBBeAN
royAl
southerN
oyster weeK
27 JuNe - 1 July 2011
following the success of
this year’s event, the royal
southern yacht Club invites
all owners to join them for
another informal and fun
rally in 2011, which will again
be supported by the oyster
team. oyster 53 owner,
Colin hall, who masterminded
this year’s event, looks forward
to receiving entries.
for more details or to enter,
please contact Colin at:
colin.hall43@btinternet.com
or the sailing secretary at
sailing@royal-southern.co.uk
oyster 62, Dorado owner, terry King-smith, has a tip for anyone heading for the Caribbean this
Christmas on board their yacht – if you have youngsters on the boat there is no better place to be
on Christmas day than mustique. The island holds a Christmas party at Basil’s Bar for families and
those on board visiting yachts are invited to attend. Presents are handed out by santa Claus much
to the children’s delight. There is a fantastic atmosphere in the harbour, and it’s a really great place
to be at Christmas time. however you won’t find any sprouts to go with your turkey!
NelsoN’s Pursuit rACe – ANtiGuA
when one thinks of Caribbean regattas,
it’s Antigua Classics and Antigua sailing week
that immediately spring to mind, but each
New year in Antigua, there is also the less
well known, but well supported, Nelson’s
Pursuit race.
originally conceived as a fun event to add
some sailing interest to the festive season by
stan Pearson of Antigua rigging and tommy
Patterson, who still act as the race Committee,
the event commemorates lord Nelson’s famous
pursuit of the french fleet, under the command
of Admiral Pierre Villeneuve, across the Atlantic
in 1805, culminating in the blockade of Cadiz,
and the subsequent battle of trafalgar, Nelson’s
greatest victory, during which he was tragically
shot and mortally wounded by a french sniper.
The race takes place on New year’s eve, with
a timed start below historic fort Charlotte,
sited above the Pillars of hercules, at the
entrance to english harbour. The lowest
rated yacht sails over the start line at 1100
carrying the french flag, with the rest of the
fleet pursuing it, at timed intervals. The
winner is the first yacht over the finish line.
registration and start time allocation is held
during a social evening at Antigua yacht Club,
in falmouth harbour, on the 29 th december
at 1800, and everyone is welcome.
The course is approx 18 miles long, comprising
a reach out toward Guadeloupe, a run back
inshore to Curtain Bluff, and a beat back to
the finish line. only working sails are
oyster reGAttA PAlmA
oyster life
permitted, no spinnakers or other special light
wind sails are allowed, so there can be no
excuse for not having enough crew, and if
entrants have not been measured, it’s no
problem, an appropriate start time will be
awarded. This is most of all a fun event.
in previous years there have been as many
as forty yachts taking part, ranging from
singlehanded live-aboards, through elegant
classics, to some of the latest performance
superyachts with some famous names amongst
them including Peter harrison’s 115 foot ketch
Sojana, and the 140 foot classic Rebecca, which
holds the course record. last year the brand
new 100 foot Performance yacht Liara went
around in 89 minutes, and won, despite starting
an hour and a half after Alexander Hamilton,
an elderly wooden schooner built on the
neighbouring island of Nevis, and the lead yacht
carrying the french flag, which was passed by
everyone else along the way.
This very gentlemanly event really is champagne
sailing at its best with Caribbean trade winds
and crystal clear turquoise water. if you are
anywhere near Antigua this New year, please
come and join us.
richard and diane watson who submitted this
article have been cruising around the Caribbean
on their oyster 485, Sobriyah, for several years
and have made Antigua their winter base.
for more details about the Nelson’s Pursuit race,
contact richard at sobriyah@gmail.com
or stan Pearson at stan@antiguarigging.com
27 sePtemBer - 1 oCtoBer 2011
our 2011 med regatta sees the oyster fleet
return to Palma, always a popular destination
for our regattas. As usual the real Club Nautico
will host the event. entry is open now and
an entry form can be downloaded from our
website or please contact Jacqui Kotze
jacqui.kotze@oystermarine.com
oyster eVeNts
6 wiNter 2010 7
2011
London Boat show
7 - 16 January
London Owners’ Dinner
Royal Thames Yacht Club
8 January
Oyster World Rally Forum – London
9 January
Boot Düsseldorf
22 - 30 January
Oyster Regatta – Grenada
11 - 16 April
Oyster Private View, London
4 - 7 may
Oyster Brokerage spring show
13 - 15 may
hisWA Amsterdam
in-Water Boat show
30 August - 4 september
Cannes international Boat
and Yacht show
7 - 12 september
newport Boat show
15 - 18 september
southampton international Boat show
16 - 25 september
Monaco Yacht show
21 - 24 september
Oyster Regatta – Palma
27 september - 1 october
Genoa Boat show
1 - 9 october
Annapolis sailboat show
6 - 10 october
Annapolis Owners’ Party
date to be announced
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

oyster News
OySTer
JUBiLee
reGATTA
POrTO CerVO
“for our 25th JuBilee reGAttA, we thouGht we should Go somewhere A Bit sPeCiAl ANd
were deliGhted to Be ABle to fACilitAte this iN AssoCiAtioN with the yACht CluB CostA
smerAldA ANd the yACht CluB Porto rotoNdo, Both of whiCh Are suPerB CluBs, iN
fANtAstiC loCAtioNs, thAt hAVe A rePutAtioN for hostiNG hiGh QuAlity eVeNts. oyster
owNers liKe to Get toGether, shAre eXPerieNCes ANd eNJoy sAiliNG ANd i Am deliGhted
to sAy thAt the feedBACK from the oyster JuBilee reGAttA hAs BeeN eXtremely PositiVe.”
dAVid tydemAN, Ceo oyster GrouP
JuBilee reGAttA – Porto CerVo
By louAy hABiB
8 wiNter 2010 9

The world famous yacht Club Costa
smeralda was a fitting venue for the oyster
Jubilee regatta. The oyster family is truly
international and at this event, 30 stunning
examples from the oyster fleet, from a
30-year-old oyster 37 to a just-launched
oyster 82, flying the flags of eight different
countries, took centre stage in this glamorous
location in Porto Cervo.
oyster News
in the late 1950s, the young Aga Khan, Prince Karim
al-hussayni, was sailing along the Costa smeralda.
he fell in love with the place and created what is now
Porto Cervo. famed italian architect michele Busiri Vici,
considered the father of mediterranean architecture,
joined luigi Vietti and Jacque Couelle, to create a luxury
resort village for the world’s rich and famous.
The Aga Khan’s vision was to create a perfect environment
for yachts, and in 1967 founded the yacht Club Costa
smeralda. The clubhouse was designed by Peter marino
and overlooks Porto Cervo marina. it is considered one of
the most prestigious and beautifully functional structures
of its kind, anywhere in the world. The club is tastefully
complemented by fine materials and displays a vast
collection of antiques and artifacts from all over the world.
A panoramic poolside terrace was the grand setting
for several fantastic parties during the oyster Jubilee
regatta. whilst the 24 sumptuous guest suites, each with
a private terrace overlooking the harbour, were in high
demand throughout the event. Adjoining the club, the
Piazza Azzura was the perfect location for competitors
to share a coffee before racing and to mingle for a post
race drink at the complimentary regatta bar.
At the skippers’ briefing prior to the start of the event,
edoardo recchi, sports director at the yacht Club
JuBilee reGAttA – Porto CerVo
Left: The oyster fleet at the yacht Club Costa smeralda
Right top: At the helm of scott Gibson’s oyster 72, Stravaig
Costa smeralda, welcomed all of the competing yachts,
whilst at the poolside cocktail party at yCCs later that
evening, the Club’s General secretary, Jan Pachner,
invited owners and their guests to enjoy all the facilities
that the prestigious yacht club has to offer.
After the cocktail party, a formal dinner was held on the
breath-taking poolside terrace. from the elevated view,
the oyster fleet was a magnificent spectacle; 30 stunning
yachts gathered together for a memorable rendezvous.
fine wines and sumptuous food was complemented by
excellent company; old acquaintances were renewed
and new friendships made.
10 wiNter 2010 11

“we look aft er Stravaig as well as she
looks aft er us, as sailing her allows us to
enjoy the companionship and support of
a great team of people and we are always
looking forward to our next adventure.”
scott Gibson, oyster 72, Stravaig
oyster News
lewmAr rACe dAy
Champagne start to racing
with azure blue skies and a warm breeze,
the Costa smeralda provided sublime
conditions for the fi rst day’s racing. A gentle
northeasterly breeze built during the day,
giving the majestic oyster fl eet some
spectacular sailing conditions.
Th e fl eet started the fi rst race of the event on schedule,
on a stunning 15-mile coastal course, using the granite
islands of the la maddalena archipelago as natural buoys.
Peter morris on the oyster 72, Cookielicious, had a
fantastic day on the water. it is a truly family aff air on
board. Peter was accompanied by his sons, dan and Ben
and daughters-in-law, tracey and sade, whilst Peter’s wife
was back at home, looking aft er their grandchildren.
“we all enjoy these occasions immensely. oyster
regattas are a great way to spend time together,”
commented Peter. “we don’t just talk about business
all day either, it is a great way to get the family together
and simply enjoy each other’s company. whilst i have
been an oyster owner for many years, my oyster 49
is back in lymington. Th is is the sixth oyster regatta
that we have taken charge of Cookielicious. Th e
arrangement allows us to just enjoy the occasion and
relax. skipper michael and crew Charlotte provide an
immaculate service and, like ourselves, know that the
most important aspect of coming to an oyster regatta
is to have a wonderful time on board a stunning yacht.
we have had better results at previous events, but it
has been a great experience to sail in such an amazing
place, on a great yacht with my family.”
Th e fi rst day’s racing at the oyster Jubilee regatta was
a very special day for Alberto Vignatelli, who was
beaming with delight as he crossed the fi nish line to take
fi rst place in Class 1, on his birthday. Alberto was at the
helm of his new oyster 72, AlbertOne 3 for the entire
race, a member of the yacht Club Costa smeralda for
over 20 years, Alberto has also recently become a father.
“when my son was just eight weeks old, he came sailing
on AlbertOne 3 . she is a beautiful yacht and also a very
safe one, i am planning many more adventures for us
together, including the Caribbean next year.”
from hamburg, Gerd and Annemarie Köhlmoos’ new
oyster 54, Sarabande, got off to a winning start. Putting
in a polished performance and winning both line honours
JuBilee reGAttA – Porto CerVo
Far left : scott Gibson’s oyster 72, Stravig
Above top: Alfresco drinks party at hotel romazzino
Above bottom: Th e oyster 72, Cookielicious
in Class 2 and also fi rst in class on corrected time. Aft er
racing, the Piazza Azzura was buzzing with excitement,
250 owners and guests had enjoyed a tremendous day
on the water. over a few drinks, sailors discussed tactical
decisions with a large slice of good humour.
Th at evening, the festivities continued with a glittering
cocktail party and dinner at the hotel romazzino.
Nicknamed ‘the white one’, Busiri Vici’s fl owing design
of whitewashed rounded walls and terraced arches
give this stunning hotel its signature style. Considered
one of the world’s most beautiful resorts, the décor is
dominated by mosaic tiles of blue and green, to mirror
the mediterranean sea, and subtle pink and coral
coloured marble details imitate the rugged landscape.
Cocktails were served on the terrace overlooking the
sea and mortorio island, aff ording dramatic views of
the Costa smeralda’s rugged shore, as the moon cast
a golden light over the waters.
what can only be described as a sumptuous gourmet
banquet was served at the beach-side restaurant, aft er
which those with enough energy danced the night away.
12 wiNter 2010 13

dolPhiN sAils rACe dAy
fun and frolics
Three of the oyster 56s decided to join in the fun, by
taking a cooling dip in the ink-blue waters of the Costa
smeralda. After rafting the yachts together, over a dozen
sailors from Temerity, Rock Oyster and Spirit of Spring,
leapt from their yachts en masse. The fun and games
alerted several inquisitive dolphins to the starting area.
Quite apt, as the day’s race was sponsored by dolphin sails.
it was several hours before racing could get underway,
a coastal passage race to nearby Porto rotondo.
The oyster 82, Pandemonium, owned by stuart smith
and Barry J Cooper Jnr, was the fastest around the
course in Class 1. But victory on corrected time went to
trevor silver’s oyster 655, Roulette v2. in Class 2, it was
the scottish duo of Bill munro and susan harris that took
line honours racing their oyster 575, Boarding Pass III.
oyster News
A lack of wind caused a delay to racing on day two of the oyster Jubilee regatta, but the
international fleet showed their fun-loving nature during the postponement. None more so than
hailey lawrence, the Australian crew member’s highly accomplished water-skiing demonstration
behind the oyster 82, Starry Night of the Caribbean, was a moment to savour.
But with the oyster 54, Sarabande, hot on their heels,
just three seconds behind, the German yacht claimed
their second victory on corrected time.
racing in Class 1 was Jonathan and Jane mould’s
oyster 72, Koluka. one of the most popular models
of oyster at the regatta, there were no less than six
examples of this impressive yacht racing, but all very
individual yachts. Koluka is a prime example of the
distinctive features that can be afforded to oyster owners.
Below deck, the beautifully appointed interior offers
superyacht luxury but above deck the accent is on high
performance. Koluka has a carbon-fibre mast and ‘Park
Avenue’ boom complemented by a deck layout, which is
more in keeping with a racing yacht. Koluka has one of
the sleekest deck and cockpit designs, which combines
with the performance hull to provide a powerful, sturdy
yacht, which can cross oceans at speed and in comfort.
“i had previously owned a racing yacht and that
is primarily why i was attracted to the oyster 72.”
explained Jonathan mould. “our first big adventure was
to cross the Atlantic. on board were both my daughters,
who had just finished university, and it was a memorable
experience for all of us. Jane joined us in the Caribbean
and we spent some time cruising Koluka from Antigua
and many other tropical islands, as far south as Grenada.
This is the first time we have brought the boat to sardinia
and i must say that coming into Porto rotondo today
was reminiscent of our time in the Caribbean, the
stunning landscape is very similar to falmouth Bay
in Antigua.”
The yacht Club Porto rotondo is undoubtedly one of
the pearls of the Costa smeralda, the club is situated
in a magnificent natural bay, and is one of the bestknown
places in sardinia. The ‘New england’ style white
and azure clubhouse, built entirely of larch wood, was
designed by Venetian architect, sergio malgaretto. The
club was established by the combined efforts of brothers
Nicolò and luigi donà dalle rose, who literally created
Porto rotondo, and luigi was there to welcome all of the
oyster owners, as they arrived in Porto rotondo.
JuBilee reGAttA – Porto CerVo
Left: fun and games aboard the oyster 56 Temerity
Above top: yacht Club Porto rotondo’s Commodore,
luigi Carpaneda
Above bottom: An overnight stop at yacht Club Porto rotondo
Participants enjoyed the hospitality of the yacht Club
Porto rotondo during an exclusive cocktail reception,
which was attended by all the Club’s officials, including
the Club’s Commodore, luigi Carpaneda and Club
President, luigi donà dalle rose. Afterwards, the oyster
family enjoyed a lavish dinner at the club. The grandeur
of the local fayre was punctuated by intricate displays
of fruit carving and butter sculptures, in the main square
outside the yacht club.
Kris Bewert, skipper of the danish oyster 62, Golden Gate
and his swedish crew, enjoyed the hedonistic atmosphere
in Porto rotondo. “Golden Gate was named after the
famous bridge because it is a symbol of the aspirations
of the owner. The oyster 62 is like a bridge to adventure.
we plan to sail the yacht over to the Caribbean and we
are looking forward to some great times ahead.”
during the dinner, oyster Cfo, Chris hicks presented
Commodore Carpaneda with a half model of an oyster,
as a token of thanks for their hospitality. oyster owners
could not have wished for a warmer welcome on this first
visit to Porto rotondo. They appreciated the atmosphere
Porto rotondo offers; familiar and culturally lively,
combined with a simple and happy-go-lucky cheerfulness.
14 wiNter 2010 15

PelAGos yAChts rACe dAy
Clash of the titans
sailing on board an oyster 82 is an awe-inspiring
experience, especially in good breeze, and two of these
outstanding yachts showed immense grace and power,
as they dueled in their quest for race victory, in at times,
very feisty conditions.
Pandemonium owned by stuart smith and Barry J
Cooper Jnr. had a three-hour close encounter with
Starry Night of the Caribbean, skippered by Philip
scully. There was a full-on match race between these
two leviathans from the start, right to the finish. it was
a powerful display with seldom more than a boat length
between these two magnificent oyster 82s.
Starry Night of the Caribbean got away well, but a
textbook gennaker hoist by Pandemonium gave them an
oyster News
day Three of the oyster Jubilee regatta in Porto Cervo showed the sheer power of the oyster
range. The 30 yacht fleet was fully tuned up, enjoying a top wind speed of 20 knots on a spectacular
course, through wonderous bays and past stunning rocky out-crops, along the Costa smeralda. it was
an incredibly exciting day for all, but the highlight was the titanic battle between the two oyster 82s
at the front of the fleet, Starry Night of the Caribbean and Pandemonium.
early advantage. As the breeze built, these yachts were an
impressive sight, locked in battle, heading for the rugged
island of monaci. on a tight reach, but beautifully balanced,
Pandemonium and Starry Night of the Caribbean were
inseparable. huge gusts of wind were emanating from a
squall offshore, but the two yachts were in full control, as
they gybed in perfect choreography.
The next mark was seca di tre monti, a rock marking
the entrance to the staggeringly beautiful Gulf of
Arzechena. The two giants continued their duel,
squeezing through the narrow gap between the
mainland and Bisce island. with time-aged granite
rocks barely feet away, the two yachts were grappling
for the lead. with some excellent boat handling,
Starry Night of the Caribbean managed to break
the deadlock, taking a slender lead and the gun but
Pandemonium beat their rivals
on corrected time, to win the clash of the titans.
After racing, the crews of the two oyster 82 yachts
exchanged good wishes, gentlemen to the last.
Pandemonium was the victor but they had both
enjoyed an exhilarating day on the water, at the oyster
Jubilee regatta. After racing, stuart smith, co-owner of
Pandemonium, was elated about the exciting day on the
water, as he shook the hand of every crewmember aboard.
“That was a lot of fun today, fantastic racing. The guys
were really up for it and did a great job, we got a real
taste of what Pandemonium is capable of.”
Barry J Cooper Jnr. explains why the duo decided on an
oyster 82. “we wanted a yacht that we could sail all
over the world and after a bad experience with another
yacht builder, we decided to go with oyster as they had
a lot of experience and reputation in building the type
of yacht we wanted. But also because they have excellent
after sales service which is tremendously important.”
in Class 1, line honours went to richard smith’s
oyster 655 Sotto Vento who had their own close duel with
trevor silver’s oyster 655 Roulette v2. Sotto Vento
crossed the finish line just six seconds ahead of their
rivals, winning the day’s race.
in Class 2, Gerd and Annemarie Kohlmoos’ oyster 54,
Sarabande took line honours and their third win in a row on
corrected time, to post a perfect scoreline over three races.
following the daily after-race refreshment on the
yacht Club Costa smeralda’s Piazza Azzurra, owners and
guests attended a Cocktail Party on the Club’s pool terrace,
which enjoys stunning views over Porto Cervo marina.
with no formal dinner that evening, many of the crews
elected to have dinner on board for the penultimate
night of the regatta, including oyster 82,
Pandemonium. many of the sailors on board come
from louisiana, including owners, stuart smith and Barry
J Cooper Jnr. on the menu was stuart smith’s Cajun
Gumbo, a spicy thick soup of meat and shellfish, which
he proudly announced to be his mother’s secret recipe.
with Johnny Cash playing on the deck speakers and a
few cold beers, the crew of Pandemonium had a great
evening, but they were not alone. The crew of oyster
655, Sotto Vento celebrated their line honours victory
with a rousing rendition of the hymn, and latter-day
england rugby anthem, Jerusalem. Perhaps it was
Sotto Vento that evoked the wind Gods for the
following day?
JuBilee reGAttA – Porto CerVo
“That was a lot of fun today, fantastic racing. The guys were
really up for it and did a great job, we got a real taste of
what Pandemonium is capable of.”
stuart smith, oyster 82, Pandemonium
Left: Close racing for the oyster fleet
Above top: stuart smith and Barry Cooper Jnr’s oyster 82, Pandemonium
Above bottom: The oyster fleet locked in close battle
16 wiNter 2010 17

PANtAeNius rACe dAy
Th e mistral’s arrival
By dawn, it became obvious that there would
be no further racing for the last day of the
oyster Jubilee regatta. Th e oyster fl eet
remained dockside at the yacht Club Costa
smeralda. Th e infamous mistral wind had
arrived, gusting up to 60 knots and howling
along the rugged coastline.
Prehistoric granite bedrock typifi es the Costa smeralda
and the mistral wind has a lot to do with creating this
spectacular and magical location. outside the marina,
mother Nature whipped up a confused and foaming
sea state with waves of up to six metres, recorded in the
infamous Boniface strait.
with no racing, the overall results aft er the previous
three days became fi nal and the winners of the oyster
Jubilee regatta were announced at a prize-giving held
at the yacht Club Costa smeralda, which was presided
over by Club director, enrico molé, sports director,
edoardo recchi and oyster Ceo david tydeman.
trevor silver’s oyster 655 Roulette v2 was declared
winner of Class 1 and Gerd and Annemarie Kohlmoos’
oyster 54 Sarabande, the victor in Class 2. Prizes were
also awarded to the winners of each day’s race and for
the Concours d’elegance.
trevor silver, owner of Roulette v2 hails from london
and was modest in victory and quick to praise his crew:
“obviously we are delighted to win here in Porto Cervo.
we have had a bit of luck but i believe that the secret
to our success was that the core of this crew has been
together for some time and get on extremely well.
Although we still have a few debates on board! i am
absolutely delighted with the boat, Roulette has been fast
since i got her two years ago and we have sailed her a lot,
including the Caribbean, the mediterranean and recently
the beautiful sailing grounds around Croatia. i plumped
for the oyster 655 because it is one of the sportiest
models in the oyster range; a fast hull shape and carbon
mast gives Roulette a great turn of speed.”
Gerd and Annemarie Köhlmoos’ oyster 54 Sarabande
comes from hamburg, as do all of the crew and aft er
sailing their new yacht out from the oyster yard at
ipswich they cruised extensively in the Baltic sea before
bringing her to the mediterranean. Th eir win in Class 2
was convincing, winning every race on corrected time
in a fl eet of 15 oysters.
oyster News
Th e Concours d’elegance winners in Class 1 were
scott Gibson’s oyster 72, Stravaig and Al Parrish
and Paula mott’s oyster 655, Proteus. in Class 2,
John marshall’s oyster 56, Rock Oyster and the
new oyster 575, On Liberty.
Built in 2008, the oyster 72, Stravaig can accommodate
up to eight guests including two double cabins with
en suite heads, there is a wealth of wood below decks,
including the stunning main saloon and an aft cabin,
which is truly magnifi cent. A carbon mast and boom with
high-tech sailing systems have been well laid-out to off er
performance but also simplicity in design and operation.
Clean lines and exceptional attention to detail makes
Stravaig a really head-turning yacht that is stylish but
also very practical.
Stravaig has also been fi tted out with entertainment in
mind, a state-of-the-art media system is located in the
main saloon and each double cabin, allowing guests
to view their own fi lms from the main dVd system or
listen to music from their iPod. Children, (or adults that
are young at heart), can be fully entertained with the
latest gaming station and an extensive range of water
sport equipment for water skiing, wake boarding, diving,
snorkeling, fi shing, and kayaking.
“Stravaig is designed to be relaxing and enjoyable.”
Commented scott Gibson. “But that doesn’t mean that the
boat is not used in the way that she was intended, we love
sailing her. with Stravaig, we have crossed the Atlantic and
raced and cruised extensively in the Caribbean and
europe. we look aft er Stravaig as well as she looks aft er
us, as sailing her allows us to enjoy the companionship
and support of a great team of people and we are
always looking forward to our next adventure.”
At the prize-giving, yacht Club Costa smeralda
Commodore, riccardo Bonadeo, was full of praise for
the oyster family. “Th is is the 11th regatta staged by
the club this year, with boats ranging from maxis and
superyachts to 8-metre one-designs, but i can safely
say that this has been one of the most entertaining we
have hosted. Th e relaxed, family-oriented atmosphere,
combined with the beauty of the oyster boats made for
a wonderful week of sailing and socialising.”
JuBilee reGAttA – Porto CerVo
Above top left : Th e crew of the oyster 72, Stravaig
Above top right: trevor silver’s oyster 655, Roulette v2
Above bottom: mariacristina rapisardi, owner of oyster 72, Billy Budd
At the fi nal prize-giving, italian owner, mariacristina
rapisardi, was presented with a special achievement
award by oyster Group Ceo, david tydeman. for the
past fi ve years, mariacristina and her partner, Giovanni
Cristofori have been on an epic adventure with their
oyster 72, Billy Budd. Th e yacht was specially designed
for exploration. “ we have been all over the world and
visited some marvellous places and met the most
wonderful people. But it is the high latitudes that i will
never forget. so remote and silent but with amazing
wildlife and scenery, it is like visiting another planet.
it is the most exhilarating place on earth which gives
one the intense emotion of total freedom.”
following the fi nal prize-giving, owners, crews and the
oyster team closed the event in style at a Gala dinner
hosted by the yacht Club Costa smeralda. fantastic food
and wine, great company and music from the band
fl own in especially from milan for the event, had owners
and crews partying into the small hours.
owners of oyster yachts travel the world, and conversation
at the Gala dinner centred on their adventures; past,
present and future. oyster owners talk about their
yachts as having their own persona, because they are
just as individual as themselves. Th e yachts are, in
essence, like them, part of the oyster family, and built to
fulfi l their own personal adventures.
18 wiNter 2010 19

oyster News
OySTer JUBiLee reGATTA
COnCOuRs D’eLeGAnCe
Presented by oyster Brokerage
CLASS 1
Stravaig 72 scott Gibson
Proteus 655 Al Parrish & Paula mott
CLASS 2
Rock Oyster 56 John marshall
On Liberty 575 rovinj llP
RACe 1 – sPOnsOReD BY LeWMAR
CLASS 1
1st AlbertOne 3 72 Alberto Vignatelli
2nd Roulette v2 655 trevor silver
3rd Sotto Vento 655 richard smith
4th Proteus 655 Al Parrish & Paula mott
CLASS 2
1st Sarabande 54 Gerd & Annemarie Köhlmoos
2nd Amanzi 56 mark howard
3rd Boarding Pass III 575 Bill munro & susan harris
4th Temerity 56 Peter & Barbara rogers
POrTO CerVO
RACe 2 – sPOnsOReD BY DOLPhin sAiLs
CLASS 1
1st Roulette v2 655 trevor silver
2nd Luna of London 62 roberta martignon
3rd Pandemonium 82 stuart smith & Barry Cooper Jnr.
4th Anabasis 655 heinrich schulte
CLASS 2
1st Sarabande 54 Gerd & Annemarie Köhlmoos
2nd Boarding Pass III 575 Bill munro & susan harris
3rd Spirit of Spring 56 stuart and Carolyn Popham
4th Temerity 56 Peter & Barbara rogers
RACe 3 – sPOnsOReD BY PeLAGOs YAChts
CLASS 1
1st Sotto Vento 655 richard smith
2nd Roulette v2 655 trevor silver
3rd AlbertOne 3 72 Alberto Vignatelli
4th Pandemonium 82 stuart smith & Barry Cooper Jnr.
CLASS 2
1st Sarabande 54 Gerd & Annemarie Köhlmoos
2nd Rock Oyster 56 John marshall
3rd
Solway Mist
of Kippford
46 Allan & shirley Cook
4th Boarding Pass III 575 Bill munro & susan harris
YCCS PRIZE
AlbertOne 3 72 Alberto Vignatelli
the OYsteR ReGAttA tROPhY
JuBilee reGAttA – Porto CerVo
20 wiNter 2010 21
CLASS 1
1st Roulette v2 655 trevor silver
2nd Sotto Vento 655 richard smith
3rd AlbertOne 3 72 Alberto Vignatelli
4th Pandemonium 82 stuart smith & Barry Cooper Jnr.
CLASS 2
1st Sarabande 54 Gerd & Annemarie Köhlmoos
2nd Boarding Pass III 575 Bill munro & susan harris
3rd Temerity 56 Peter & Barbara rogers
4th Spirit of Spring 56 stuart & Carolyn Popham
“i am absolutely delighted with the boat, Roulette
has been fast since i got her two years ago and
we have sailed her a lot, including the Caribbean,
the mediterranean and recently the beautiful
sailing grounds around Croatia. i plumped for the
oyster 655 because it is one of the sportiest
models in the oyster range; a fast hull shape and
carbon mast gives Roulette a great turn of speed.”
trevor silver, oyster 655, Roulette v2
Photos: tim wright/photoaction.com
and mike Jones/waterlinemedia.com

following the announcement in the last issue
of oyster News of an oyster world rally to
celebrate oyster’s 40th anniversary in 2013,
we have received a really positive response from
owners and non-owners alike. some of those had
already been planning to sail around the world,
whilst others have seen this as a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to complete a circumnavigation
with the reassurance of being part of a large
fl eet of oysters, with the service and support
from oyster’s technical team that ensures.
As we go to press with this issue, we have
25 oysters confi rmed to be on the start line in
oyster News
oyster world rAlly 2013– 2014
the Caribbean in January 2013 and a further
50+ serious enquiries, a really fantastic result,
given that we can only take a fl eet of 30 yachts
and with just over two years to go to the start!
we are now working up some specifi c plans to
make this a really memorable and unique oyster
event. we will be running a series of seminars
over the two-year build up and will help entrants
with boat preparation and servicing in the latter
part of 2012, just as we do with the Atlantic rally
for Cruisers (ArC) each year. Th e fi rst full
briefi ng is planned to link to our Private View at
st Katharine docks in london in late April 2011.
we are holding an informal forum for those
who have entered and any other owners who
are interested in this event at the london Boat
show on sunday 9 January, following our
owners’ dinner the evening before. Th e forum
will run from 1,100 to 1,300 and it is hoped this
will be an opportunity to meet owners who have
already completed a circumnavigation, run
through the routing options and planning
requirements and talk to the team at oyster
about how we expect to manage the event.
if you would like to attend, please contact
Jacqui Kotze at jacqui.kotze@oystermarine.com
the 25th ArC
THe
25 th
ArC
18 oysters JoiN this trANsAtlANtiC PArty
Th ere was both an air of celebration and excitement in las Palmas in November
when a record fl eet of 233 yachts set out from Gran Canaria at the start of the
25th Atlantic rally for Cruisers (ArC). Th is annual migration from european waters
to the warmer climes of the Caribbean also attracted 18 oysters.
By BArry PiCKthAll
22 wiNter 2010 23

“All 18 Oyster owners were
to be congratulated on their
high standard of readiness.
For this, thanks in part goes to eddie
Scougall and his Oyster Service
Team who worked tirelessly to
ensure that each yacht set out in
fine fettle.”
oyster News
for some crews, including richard smith a veteran
of the event, with four ArC’s to his credit, and
his friends aboard his oyster 655 Sotto Vento,
this was another bite of the cherry, having
enjoying the last event so much, when they
finished 5th in class.
A little more nervous was Alan Brook and his
family who were using the ArC as a first stage in
an ambitious round the world cruise aboard their
new oyster 56 Sulana. Alan, who retired as md
of oyster marine earlier in the year after over
30 years service with the company, has headed
up the oyster support team at this event for
more years than he cares to remember, but this
was to be his first time taking part. “we’ve been
here too long and we are really keen to get going”
he said during the last week, having spent much of
his time sewing leather patches on anything likely
to chafe, including he said, his underwear!
statistics show he has picked the right boat.
during the past ten years, some 44 oyster 56s
have taken part and head the list of the most
popular cruising yachts in the ArC – five more
than the Beneteau 50, eight more than the first
47.7 and 17 more than the Amel super maramu.
in 2009, these popular 56ft rob humphrey
designs took the first four places in class and as
david tydeman said to Brook and don smyth, the
owner of Shaya Moya, the other oyster 56 in this
25th event in his welcome speech at the oyster
cocktail party: “so there’s no pressure then!”
All 18 oyster owners were to be congratulated
on their high standard of readiness. for this,
thanks in part goes to eddie scougall and his
oyster service team who worked tirelessly to
ensure that each yacht set out in fine fettle.
“They’ve been fantastic,” said John Noble, the
American owner of the new oyster 655 Neki,
who was looking to this voyage as a break from
trouble shooting man-made and natural disasters
like the haiti earthquake and BP offshore oil well
leak in the Gulf of mexico!
if there were a Concours d’elegance prize, then
my vote would go to the crew of Axel moorkens
oyster 575 Endless One. Not only were they
ready to sail a full two days before the start,
but the crew had fully protected all the yacht’s
beautiful furnishings right down to laying lino
across all the cabin soles.
for John Noble and his family, this was the start
to a great adventure. having taken delivery of
Neki – hindu for nobility – the previous month,
he and his family enjoyed a shake-down cruise
first to the Channel islands and then to Cascais,
before leaving the yacht to be delivered to
las Palmas for the ArC. once across the
Atlantic, he and his family intend to take a
Christmas cruise around the windward islands
before heading down to the Grenadines to take
part in the oyster Caribbean regatta in April.
Alan Brook and his wife sue have similar plans
with their new oyster 56 Sulana. “she’s packed
to the gunwales with everything i can think of
that we could need on a round the world
cruise.” he said. The Brooks certainly weren’t
going to go dry, for bottles of wine filled every
spare nook and cranny. “when it came to
packing up the house, i saw my wine cellar and
decided ‘i’m not leaving all that for the house sitters
to drink’ and brought it all with us.” Alan laughed.
Brook can remember the first ArC, 25 years ago
when oyster encouraged owners to embrace
the event concept drawn up by former journalist
Jimmy Cornell. Jimmy and his wife Gwenda,
the 25th ArC
now retired, were also in las Palmas to join the
25th anniversary celebrations and reminisce
about the past.
“25 years ago, las Palmas was a dirty commercial
port, very different to what it is now. Then, there
were no shops and restaurants, or even a marina,
and cleaners would sweep up the syringes each
morning left there by drug addicts the night
before. But we still attracted 204 entries including
a large number of oyster owners.
Then, the race went to Barbados because
rodney Bay in st lucia was just a mosquitoridden
undeveloped inlet. it took the Caribbean
quite some time to appreciate the european
marina concept with their shops, restaurants and
hotels, but now the facilities in st lucia are as
good as anywhere.”
during these 25 years, Jimmy has seen many
changes, not least in the size and comfort levels
of oyster yachts, which remain the most popular
class. “The boats are bigger, faster and better
equipped, but the nature of the event has not
changed because the challenge of crossing an
ocean remains just the same. we simply provide
the canvas for crews to paint their own
adventure.” he says.
24 wiNter 2010 25

“The boats are bigger, faster and better
equipped, but the nature of the event
has not changed because
the challenge of crossing an ocean
remains just the same.”
Jimmy Cornell, ArC founder
Photos: ian roman & Barry Pickthall
oyster News
25 years on, the event could not have been better
organised. After being entertained to typical Canaries
fare and a firework display at the real Club Nautico,
even the early morning rain did not dampen spirits.
A team of divers stood by on Vhf Channel 11 ready to
free anchors, and eddie scougall and his crew helped
throw off the lines of their oyster charges as a
marching steel band serenaded the crews out of the
harbour. The sun finally broke through moments
before the start gun fired and this enormous fleet
ran away under spinnakers.
The unseasonable weather posed a few question
marks. “do we head north and endure steady head
Sestina michael
wilcznski
oyster
heritage
Rainmaker John salmon oyster 395
lightwave
Apparition James Blazeby oyster 45
NaughtyNes david edwards oyster 46
Lady
of Avalon
deborah
& Guy tolson
oyster
46hP
Siri Ros elisabeth rowntree oyster 485
Dragonfly Andreas
Zimmermann
oyster 53
Surya Jac Janssen oyster 54
oyster eNtrANts
winds, overcast skies and occasional rain
showers, or go south and hope the forecast of
light, fickle downwind conditions turns out to be
false?” Alan Brook was asking himself at the start.
my own guess is that most will have plumped for
the lesser of two evils. whatever their decision
the comradeship within the 18-strong oyster
fleet was set to continue with crews keeping in
daily contact with each other on the radio and
internet during the 2,700 mile crossing to
rodney Bay.
see www.worldcruising.com/arc for daily
updates and final results
Sulana Alan & sue Brook oyster 56
Shaya Moya don smyth oyster 56
On Liberty rovinj llP oyster 575
Endless One Axel moorkens oyster 575
Can Do Too mike freeman oyster 575
Golden Gate Krister Bewwert oyster 62
Neki John Noble oyster 655
Sotto Vento richard smith oyster 655
Daena maciej slusarek oyster 655
Apollonia Anthony Auger oyster 70
At the end of July 2011, scots born
adventurer, Jock Wishart, will lead a
crew of six people in an attempt to
become the first to ‘Row to the Pole’,
which is being sponsored by Old
Pulteney, who are helping Jock in his
attempt ‘to raise a glass of Malt’ at
the north Pole and more seriously to
highlight the already dramatic effect
of climate change on the ice around
the Polar Regions.
This is an arduous and gruelling undertaking,
which if successful will be one of the last truly
global firsts and possibly the greatest ocean
row ever. There is a firm commitment from
terrestrial television to attempt to show this
feat live (in itself quite a challenge).
Jock wishart has established an international
reputation as a leading adventurer and
sportsman. within the space of 18 months alone,
he rowed across the Atlantic in his mount Gay
rum-sponsored rowing boat, led the crew which
established 15 new world speed records for
powered circumnavigation in the Cable and
wireless Adventurer and captained the team
that broke the london-Paris rowing record in the
CNA maritime Challenge. he is the only man
ever to have walked unsupported to a Pole and
rowed across an ocean.
rowiNG ANd the oyster fAmily
Born in dumfries, scotland and educated at
dumfries Academy and durham university,
Jock is one of Britain’s leading ‘Corinthians’.
he has represented his country at rowing and
yachting and is a veteran of the 1980 America’s
Cup, as well as being a former european dragon
Boat racing Champion. A British university
championship medal winner in rowing, sprint
canoeing and weightlifting, he was Project
leader of the team that broke the round Britain
powerboat record in 1989. his lifetime interest
in polar exploration led to him honing his
pioneering spirit as a member of the first
team to walk unsupported to the Geomagnetic
North Pole in 1992.
Jock is also passionate about oyster yachts and the
people who sail them and the rowing connection
features in a big way.
“it all came about some years ago when an old
durham university rowing friend, robert Gillespie,
owner of the oyster 82 Sarita asked me to come
racing with him in Palma and so a long and happy
relationship with oysters began. A couple of
years later we competed in oyster’s BVi regatta
with a crew of younger durham Alumni who
came out on condition they all contributed to
the purchase of a fleet of firefly dinghies for the
university sailing club.
This was an event, which Sarita subsequently
won and a generous contribution followed for
the purchase of the six dinghies, which have
already enabled the durham girls team to
reach the finals in the last two British university
sailing Championships.
The rowing/durham/oyster connection goes
even further with another former rowing
partner from durham, tom Bentley, who
owned the oyster 53, Second Wind. tom
hosted a party of durham Alumni for oyster’s
2005 trafalgar regatta in Cadiz, surely one of
the greatest oyster regattas we have all been
privileged to attend.
david Kidwell owner of the oyster 435,
Twice Eleven, is also another old rowing mate
with his wife tamsin being a former President of
durham university women’s Boat Club. david
and i have shared many rowing experiences and
we were also founder members of the Kingston
royals dragon Boat racing Club competing
successfully in many international regattas over
the years.
to illustrate that oyster owners are always up for
a challenge, finn Jari ovaskainen former owner of
the oyster 56, Ulrika, approached me at oyster’s
2009 Palma regatta and is now entering a finnish
team ‘santa Claus’ to compete in the biennial Polar
race i organise in April 2011. for more information
about that see: www.polar-race.com
it all goes to prove what interesting and
successful people oyster owners are.
Great people, great boats, great friends.
Jock Wishart
Follow Jock’s Row to the Pole Challenge at:
www.rowtothepole.com
26 wiNter 2010 27

oyster News
ANTiGUA
TO riO
By PAul mAy, oyster 45 TABOO
owNer rePort – tABoo
“why do you wANt to leAVe the
CAriBBeAN?” wAs the QuestioN my
wife ANd dAuGhters AsKed wheN i
teNtAtiVely floAted my PlAN to sAil
our oyster 45, TABOO, to BrAZil.
“so we CAN All Go to the rio
CArNiVAl” wAs my rePly.
Aft er two transatlantic crossings and nearly eight years
in the ‘windies’, we had enjoyed some great sailing and
holidays. Th e list of our most memorable occasions is
extensive, but highlights have to include: over 500 nights
at anchor – oft en by beaches and bays inaccessible
from the land; two green fl ashes and far too many rum
punches; some rough weather including 59 knots in
tropical storm olga, which Taboo handled comfortably;
taking part in all the oyster regattas in Antigua and
the BVi, and coming 6th place overall in one of them;
winning the Concours d’elegance, and receiving a
special ‘spirit of the regatta’ prize in 2009.
once we had made the decision to head to rio, Taboo,
together with my sailing friends martin, Graham, tim,
Karen and roger, left Antigua on tuesday 5th January 2010
as the sun was close to setting. we headed south on port
tack, and remained on that tack for the next 950 miles.
we passed south of st lucia at dawn on the 7th January
and watched the Pitons disappear astern – this was to be
our last sight of the Caribbean and any land for two weeks.
28 wiNter 2010 29

oyster News
long, regal ocean swells of 2 to 3 metres became the
norm, interspersed with a mixed bag of smaller waves
from various easterly directions.
Th e wind was predominantly 25 to 30 knots from north
of east interspersed, on a regular basis, by squalls with
gusts of 40 to 50 knots. Taboo performed comfortably,
as usual, and kept up speeds of 7 to 11 knots.
we treated ourselves to dVd fi lm nights in the cockpit on
several dry evenings. Th e highlight for me was ‘Th e boat
that rocked’! most mornings we breakfasted on fresh baked
bread, rolls or pancakes. even in squalls and sailing closehauled
through lively seas, the galley was in constant use.
on most days throughout the journey, we sent entries
and photos via our satellite phone and email to our
blog, which was run by my daughter, louise, up until
we reached recife when louise joined the Taboo crew.
Aft er that, my PA marcella, kindly kept the blog up to
date. Th e responses from our blog visitors were a great
source of humour and support.
Bill lewis, a sailing friend and fellow oyster owner, emailed
us two or three grib weather fi les each day to assist our
understanding of what mother Nature had in store for us.
As usual on a long passage, food became the major
topic of conversation with an increasingly competitive
cooking environment. freshly caught fi sh gave us
the opportunity to try new recipes including sushi.
Th roughout the journey, we followed the tried and
trusted ‘on passage’ alcohol policy of a beer at happy
hour and one glass of wine with dinner.
our watch system worked well, with three watches of
two crew doing three hours per watch overnight. Th is
gave everyone the opportunity of a good long night’s
sleep even during squalls.
At night-time we oft en found it useful to sail with the storm
jib, hoisted on the detachable inner forestay, and a partly
reefed genoa. As a major squall approached, we could
‘de-cutter’ by furling away the genoa (and taking a reef
in on the main). our speed and direction were kept sure
and steady with this routine, and the off -watch more
able to sleep undisturbed. on saturday the 16th January,
we had a signifi cant wind-shift , which caused us to come
off of the port tack we had been on for 1,036 nautical
miles! we also changed the ‘ship’s time’ to only three
hours behind the uK.
At 2am on sunday 17th January we crossed the equator
and at breakfast a modest toast was proff ered to Neptune.
despite a full professional inspection of the rig in Antigua,
we lost our baby stay with a ‘ping’ and a temporary
solution with a couple of blocks and a spare halyard
was rigged swift ly and safely. oyster Aft er sales quickly
and helpfully despatched a replacement via one of our
crew fl ying from the uK to join us at recife where it was
promptly fi tted.
owNer rePort – tABoo
dolphins visited us on a regular basis, oft en in groups of
up to 30 or more. one pod of insomniacs even frolicked
around us in the dark. oil rigs, supply vessels, fi shing
boats and ‘stick and fl ag’ markers began to appear in
our path as we closed the coast towards fortaleza. on
wednesday 20th January, we again tacked on starboard
aft er a mere 500 miles or so on port tack, we were now
some 150 miles from our landfall in Brazil. Along the coast,
electric storms became a feature of most nights, with
sheet and fork lightning illuminating the sea all around us.
on Th ursday 21st January, we docked stern-to at the
fortaleza ‘marina’ and endured a tedious fi ve hours of
form fi lling at three diff erent offi cial offi ces. once that
task had been completed, believe it or not aft er leaving
the Caribbean 3,000 miles to the North, we went to a
night-time beach concert... of reggae music. Bob marley’s
original wailers were playing and so we danced almost
until dawn to the best Caribbean music in Brazil.
slightly hungover the next day, we re-fuelled Taboo,
in temperatures of nearly 30ºC, via a bowser towed by
a 1930’s ford pickup truck to the nearest petrol station.
we left fortaleza for recife knowing we were to encounter
a stiff head wind and an adverse current of 1 to 2 knots.
“We treated ourselves to DVD fi lm
nights in the cockpit on several dry
evenings. Th e highlight for me was
‘Th e boat that rocked’!”
Aft er three days of determined motor sailing, we arrived
at recife at night. we anchored away from the main
quayside and waited until dawn before docking at the
Cabanga yacht Club marina, which is only accessible at
or near to high tide.
having said goodbye to our crew, roger, in fortaleza, we
now had to bid farewell to martin and Graham. fresh
new crew had been waiting for us in recife for a few
days (my eldest daughter louise, her friend Jamie, and
old Taboo hands mark and Geoff rey). we all set about
prepping Taboo, helping with repairs and provisioning.
on friday 29th of January, we re-fuelled, direct from a
fuel tanker (that usually replenishes petrol stations), and
set off on high tide to salvador, our next destination,
some 260 miles south.
30 wiNter 2010 31

oyster News
happy hour arrived as we emerged in the late
afternoon sunshine from recife harbour. And then,
succulent steak sandwiches, salad and a glass of merlot
set us up for the night watch. A full moon with steady
winds overnight of 18-22 knots capped off a fabulous
first day for the new crew.
dawn on the morning of monday 1st february saw
us entering the magnificent bay on which the city of
salvador sits on the northern shore. The bay could
provide a full season’s sailing on its own, but we were on
a tight deadline and limited our exploration to walking
the streets, squares and churches of the city that had
once been the capital of Brazil.
“After nearly 5,000 miles, Taboo had
brought us safely to rio, ready to explore
the city and see the famous rio Carnival,
which was stunning.”
while we were ashore, the national cocktail, the
Caipirinha, was sampled most evenings. made with a
shot or two of Cachaça, lime wedges and some sugar
over ice, the drink lived up to its name as ‘fire water’!
interestingly, we learnt that during Brazil’s discovery, the
explorers would use the Cachaça spirit as fuel for their
lamps when their lamp oil ran out – strong stuff.
we departed salvador for Buzios, a popular cruise
ship destination about 100 miles east of rio de Janeiro.
Anchored near the local yacht club, we watched the
cruise ships ferrying their guests to and fro, sometimes
in short, choppy seas. on one day four ships were at
anchor to seaward of us. The town and its beaches,
similar to a Greek island in geography and hospitality
are delightful places to visit on a non-cruise ship day.
on the 8th february, we continued to rio where we
arrived mid-morning the following day and were met
by my wife diane and our younger daughter lizzy. The
yacht Club of rio de Janeiro anchorage, between the
statue of Christ and the sugar loaf, became our base.
After nearly 5,000 miles, Taboo had brought us safely
to rio, ready to explore the city and see the famous
rio Carnival, which was stunning. over 25,000 dancers
and infectious samba rhythms – a really great experience.
Photos: Taboo Crew
owNer rePort – tABoo
32 wiNter 2010 33

oyster News
THe NeW
OySTer 885
desiGNed By roB humPhreys
The deck mock-up for the fantastic new
oyster 885 arrived in November and it
gave us the first opportunity to touch and
feel what this exciting yacht will be like.
By dAVid tydemAN
we learnt a lot in the development of the oyster
superyacht tooling with rmK marine in turkey –
which is world class, and have made a decision
to move away from the hand-built plugs we’ve
previously used across the rest of the oyster deck
saloon range. The oyster 885 mould plugs are
being CNC-cut on 5-axis machines, and the deck
mock-up in the photos is a 5-axis cut polystyrene
simple version. This allows us to tweak the design
and make some minor changes in full scale.
The clean lines of the deck saloon structure run
stylishly into the cockpit surrounds and helm
consoles. Placing the winches aft keeps the
cockpit free of sheets and provides a great space
for relaxing underway.
we’ve kept the fore and aft deck areas as free
from clutter as we can to maximize sunbathing
and leisure space and she’ll certainly turn some
heads once on the water. The VPPs emphasize
the performance possibilities and she’ll be
nearly 10% faster upwind than the oyster 82
iNterior feAtures:
34 wiNter 2010 35
•
•
•
The master suite and two aft guest cabins can
be fitted with additional pullman berths and/or
double berths much as the oyster 82 does now.
There will be two choices of saloon layout
with either a single or split-level configuration.
The space for the third guest cabin, just
forward of the saloon, can be arranged
as a snug or library/office area.
•
•
885 uPdAte
in 15 knots of wind and will eat up the miles
on those long passages. we’re excited about
the benefits of the twin rudders, noting that the
centreboard twin rudder version we’ve already
completed on the oyster 82, points higher and
is quicker upwind than the standard 82.
we’ve designed the interior around five modules
as below to facilitate some personalisation and
the whole yacht and engineering is set out to a
high specification. everything is being modelled
in our Catia 3d software so we can maximize
The crew area can either have a crew mess
or be reconfigured to provide two heads or
a larger galley.
even though our preferred recessed deck
option provides nearly four cubic metres more
stowage space than the oyster 82, we’ll be
able to offer a full transom door and flush aft
deck option to create an even larger lazarette
or ‘toy store’ if required.
the use of every cubic inch below decks.
At just over 300 cubic metres interior volume,
the 885 will have nearly three times the space
of an oyster 575 and more than twice the
volume of the oyster 655!
The first hull moulding is expected at sys
for fit-out starting in early summer 2011
and oyster 885-01 will be on show at
the southampton Boat show in 2012.

A holidAy thAt doesN't mAKe
you wANt to reAd A BooK.
it mAKes you wANt to
write oNe.
oyster News
how the story develops is entirely up to you. The thrill of sailing in the world’s most beautiful cruising
grounds? sharing the discovery of a deserted palm-fringed island with your family or friends? or spending
a lazy day at anchor, lost in your own thoughts? however you look at it, an oyster Charter is truly inspiring.
whether you are an expert yachtsman or complete novice, your dedicated crew will ensure your holiday is
an enjoyable and fulfilling experience on board one of the most luxuriously appointed cruising yachts afloat.
which is probably why people say the time spent on their oyster Charter will go down as one of the most
exciting chapters of their lives.
Please call +1 401 846 7400, email molly.marston@oystermarine.com or visit us online.
sAil | BroKerAGe | ChArter | refit
www.oystercharter.com
oyster reGAttA – GreNAdA
oyster reGAttA – GRenADA
11-16 APril 2011
in a change to our usual Caribbean regatta locations of Antigua and the British Virgin islands, April 2011 will
see the oyster regatta fleet heading south for the celebrated ‘spice island’ of the Caribbean, hailed as one
of the most scenic and friendly islands in the west indies.
This small nation actually consists of three
islands: Grenada, Carriacou, and Petit
martinique. Grenada is by far the largest of
the three islands, which are located in the
eastern Caribbean at the southern extremity
of the windward islands, only 100 miles north
of Venezuela. to the north lie st Vincent and the
Grenadines; to the south trinidad and tobago.
Grenada is a rolling, mountainous island,
covered with fragrant spice trees and rare
tropical flowers. Bordered by stunning
beaches, and dotted with picturesque towns,
this verdant island has long been a major
supplier of nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon,
and cocoa. The seductive scent drifts through
the colourful saturday markets and Grenada's
dense forests. in the interior of this volcanic
island are cascading rivers, waterfalls and lush
rain forests. The island is ringed with miles of
sugar-fine white sand beaches and coral reefs,
including the world famous Grand Anse Beach,
which stretches for two miles on the edge of
the capital, st. George's, widely held to be the
loveliest city in the Caribbean. its horseshoeshaped
harbour is surrounded by a rainbow
of dockside warehouses and the red-tiled roofs
of traditional shops and homes.
The oyster regatta will be hosted by the new
Camper & Nicholson’s, Port louis marina, where
owners can look forward to a very warm welcome.
General manager of Port louis marina
Glynn Thomas commented “I am delighted
the Oyster Regatta will be held in Port Louis.
It will be a wonderful spectacle to see these
beautiful yachts berthed in Port Louis Marina.
I am also delighted with the support received
from the Government and other areas of the
yachting industry for the Oyster Regatta.
Grenada is a fantastic venue for this event,
and those taking part are sure to enjoy some
great sailing on the water and some uniquely
Grenadian hospitality ashore.”
if you are going to be in the Caribbean next
spring, we hope you will come and join us for
some fun racing, great parties and beach
barbecues. we hope to plan an event, that will
showcase the best that Grenada has to offer
including an opportunity to try your hand at
some local Grenadian workboat sailing, trips
into the rain forest and visits to the nutmeg and
cocoa processing plants, not to mention the
local rum distilleries! entries are coming in fast
so if you want to join in and haven’t entered yet,
please do so as soon as possible so we can
ensure we have a berth reserved for you.
A provisional programme and entry form
can be downloaded from our website.
For more details or to enter the Grenada
Regatta please contact Jacqui Kotze
email: jacqui.kotze@oystermarine.com
36 wiNter 2010 37

oyster News
alberto
vignatelli
the nAutiCAL FAshiOnistA
owNer Profile – AlBerto ViGNAtelli
A perfect yacht must essentially be
perfectly fi tted to its owner – like
clothes to the wearer. even more so,
when the owner happens to come
from the world of fashion and design
itself. Th is is the case with the new
oyster 72, AlbertOne3 , owned
by Alberto Vignatelli, patron of
Club house italia, producer and
distributor of well-known brand
names such as fendi Casa,
Kenzo maison and others.
By CriSTiNA FONZAr
38 wiNter 2010 39

“As soon as i boarded an oyster
the very fi rst time, how she was
built and equipped told me
immediately that here was the
boat for me and my family.”
oyster News
Alberto Vignatelli, italian entrepreneur of great
charisma and strong personality, has always had
a love of beauty in all its forms – and a passion for
the sea and sailing. Born into a family of furniture
manufacturers, he founded the company in the
early 1970s, and had a head start in acquiring
and honing his skills and techniques in furniture
making, upholstery and raw materials. his tireless
energy and drive, vision, enthusiasm, and fl air
for new ideas are all very much part of the man
himself and his inimitable style.
however, with so many talented competitors in
a country renowned for quality and design, he
needed to fi nd something to set him apart from
his peers. his intuition led him to develop what
have become distinctive collections of furniture
bearing well-known fashion hallmarks.
Th us with fendi, the ensuing success not only
made Club house italia synonymous with
impeccable standards, but resulted in invitations
from many other important fashion houses. Th is
led Vignatelli to bring a diverse range of brands
all under one roof, where each collection could
display its own personality through dedicated
production processes, characteristic features,
surfaces, style and staff , but avoiding at the same
time any possible overlapping. to showcase all
these brands in key worldwide locations,
Vignatelli developed a retail arm, luxury living,
which is becoming widely known as synonymous
for quality, glamour and skilled craft smanship.
for Alberto, it was love at fi rst sight with oyster:
“As soon as i boarded an oyster the very fi rst
time, how she was built and equipped told me
immediately that here was the boat for me and
my family, ensuring us all the maximum guarantee
of safety at sea. i knew the italian shipbuilders
were top of the class for beautiful outlines and for
speed, but i opted for a more traditional vessel
that perfectly matched my requirements.”
luxury living yacht division (the contract
division of Club house italia) has worked in
close collaboration with the oyster yard to
produce this oyster 72. with decor entirely by
fendi Casa, it has seen an important partnership
between two world leaders in their respective
fi elds; a partnership other oyster owners might
well emulate when customizing their own craft .
owNer Profile – AlBerto ViGNAtelli
“Considering how my business philosophy
and that of oyster happily coincide, we
have in fact produced a catalogue”, says
Vignatelli. “it gives our complete range
of high-class yacht decor for people
looking for that touch of elegance, which
distinguishes our production, without in any
way compromising the features of safety and
seaworthiness typical of an oyster”.
40 wiNter 2010 41

“it is a fantastic boat – one of
the few you could safely go
all round the world in.”
oyster News
Vignatelli’s undisputed passion for yachting and
the pure enjoyment of escaping to sea with his
family and friends, has led to the creation of
the luxury living yacht division, which, apart
from oyster, boasts other important partnerships
resulting in fi ne superyachts such as a Princess 72,
a Pershing 115, a CrN 28m and a Benetti 59m.
Both above and below decks on AlbertOne 3 ,
fendi Casa is the undisputed character wherever
you look – showing how materials of the highest
quality are handled with expert craft smanship
and care. shades of ivory, mother-of-pearl and
beige enrich the yacht with refi ned detail. from
the living quarters right through to the bedrooms
and decks – all are stamped with fendi Casa.
Th e fendi outdoor collection, too, with its soft
towelling and white and navy-blue water
resistant cashmere, adorns the outside leisure
areas to the same degree of luxurious comfort.
likewise, the distinctive chinaware bearing the
luxury living hallmark, brings to the table that
same ubiquitous sense of class. however, refi ned
does not mean slow and heavy as AlbertOne 3
showed at her debut, no less. At the fi rst italian
oyster regatta held in Porto Cervo in september,
for example, she won the yCCs trophy. Th ey all
celebrated with such a fantastic party and
Vignatelli felt particularly proud to have won on
home ground in Porto Cervo at the club where
he has been a member for many years.
“to be at the helm is one of the greatest thrills
for me. it takes me back to when i used to go
horse riding. in fact, there is a strong similarity
between what you feel when you mount a horse
and being at the tiller. when you feel the wave
throbbing beneath you, you just have to follow
on – as you do when you break into a gallop”.
his many business engagements only allow two
weeks’ holiday on board a year, but for Vignatelli
sailing is vital.
“i get my best ideas on board. At sea i can be at
one with myself, with nature, with God. Th e sea
helps us to understand where we have come
from and where we are heading. At night when
all is pitch black, with no other lights except the
stars, it is then that i begin to ponder and
understand many things – and that whoever
created this marvellous world must be truly
great. And out there, i somehow feel i can talk to
him. And don’t let’s forget that sailing has terrifi c
value as a character-builder. when sailing you
Fair wind AlbertOne 3 !
owNer Profile – AlBerto ViGNAtelli
learn to measure yourself against one of the
most implacable elements and, i assure you, the
sea is not something to be trifl ed with. you have
to be tenacious, decided, have character and
passion. it is for this reason, i think, that
yachtsmen are rarely ‘bad apples’, but, in my
experience, honest, sincere and above all real.”
since the launch of their oyster 72, Vignatelli
and his wife olga have already covered 2,500
miles to bring AlbertOne 3 from the uK to italy.
“during the trip we had to face winds of over
40 knots! it is a fantastic boat – one of the few
you could safely go all round the world in.
Th e idea is, who knows, in future to stay in the
mediterranean in summer and then winter in
the Caribbean”.
“to be at the helm is one of the
greatest thrills for me. it takes
me back to when i used to go
horse riding. in fact, there is a
strong similarity between what
you feel when you mount a
horse and being at the tiller.”
42 wiNter 2010 43

Just outside the fi t-out shed doors i could
see the huge 45 metre-long wooden case in
which the new carbon mast lay ready to fi t to
this fi rst oyster 100. turning around 180 degrees,
i watched the deck being fi tted to 100-02 in
fi t-out line astern of 100-01 and just to the left ,
the fi rst oyster 125 sits higher on her cradle
almost dwarfi ng 100-02.
oyster News
oyster
suPeryACht
uPdAte
standing on the protective covers over the new teak planking on the aft deck
of oyster 100-01, i looked forward to watch the amazing hydraulically operated
anchor launching system being tested way up front and tried to imagine being
at the helm of this yacht next year. Th e size and technically advanced nature of
these new yachts is awe-inspiring.
By dAVid tydemAN
oyster 100-01 will be sailing in the dubois Cup
and loro Piana regatta in sardinia in June 2011
and i am really looking forward to showing the
sailing press and public just how good these new
oyster superyachts are. Th ey will be a great credit
to the dubois and oyster design teams and to the
careful work by rmK. Nazenin V, the 52-metre
sparkman and stephens yacht built for the founder
of the rmK shipyard, rahmi Koç, has received
accolades around the world since she was
shown at the monaco yacht show in september.
she demonstrates the quality we will produce
from this joint venture between oyster and
rmK marine.
Around the yard intensive eff ort is visible
everywhere, and in the few weeks since my
last visit, four 35-45 metre motor yachts have
arrived at rmK for winter refi ts, together with a
one-year-old lagoon 62 catamaran having some
upgrades to her electronics! in addition, despite
the very low levels of activity around the other
60 or so commercial shipyards in the bay, the
commercial shipyard side of the rmK yard has
four 65m search and rescue vessels under
construction for the turkish coastguard – this is
an amazing place led by enterprising people
and worth a visit by any oyster owner.
tucked away in the corner of the yard is an old
steel paddle steamer, which rmK intends to
restore at some point, adding to rahmi Koç's
amazing collection of vessels. he has followed
the trend of his father and set up a very eclectic
transport museum in downtown istanbul, which,
amongst thousands of items, features a london
double-decker bus and a dakota, and will soon
have the restored railway carriage used by
Kaiser willhelm in the early 1900s to visit turkey
in the diplomatic arrangements happening at
that time. Th e carriage is being restored by
rahmi bey’s special team at his nearby museum
workshops and i enjoyed a tour around the
suPeryACht uPdAte
warehouses and facilities. Th e manager talked
me through how the workshops cover all the
diff erent skills needed to do anything required
by the patron – and this currently varies from
restoring a uK built 50-year old lifeboat, a
30-year old riva powerboat, making replicas
of historic lamp posts, precision restoration of
oil paintings and valuable artwork, to repairing
a 1930s hollywood movie camera! tucked
away in one corner is the original eye surgery
equipment from the specialist hospital his father
philanthropically set up over 50 years ago and
much of the workshop's output decorates the
lobbies of Koç Group operational offi ces and
the hotels it owns across turkey.
having seen all of this we realised it was the
perfect home for a 1918 52ft , unique fife motor
yacht we have been trying to fi nd a buyer for
through sys. Needing probably £750,000
spent on her, Falka is an historic vessel and
has sadly been sitting under a plastic cover in
southampton for several years. i was delighted
to fi nd that rahmi bey was enthusiastic about
restoring her and it has been a great pleasure
to donate the vessel to his museum. she’ll arrive
in the museum workshops in istanbul before
Christmas and we’ll watch her two-year
restoration with interest.
the rAhmi m KoÇ museum
Choosing to build the oyster superyachts in
partnership with the Koç Group has certainly
led to some very diverse experiences!
we plan to base 100-01 in a marina near the yard
during the winter months, before handing over to
her new owner in spring 2011. Th is will allow us a
sensible amount of time for sailing trials, thorough
commissioning and testing of every item of
equipment on the yacht and also time for the
international yachting press to spend time on
board, many of whom have already visited the
yard throughout the build process.
i look forward to reporting on her sail trials in
the next oyster News.
oyster owners who would like to visit rmK
and see the oyster superyachts in build are
welcome to do so – please contact liz whitman
for details or to make an appointment
liz.whitman@oystermarine.com
Far left : Th e hull of the impressive oyster 125
moves into the fi t-out facility at rmK
Above left : Falka, the 1918 fife motor yacht
Above right: rmK restoration projects
Bottom: exhibits at the rahmi m Koç museum
Th e museum is located on the shore of the Golden horn and close to the main motorways that
run through and around istanbul. Just a few minutes from the old City, it can easily be incorporated
into a day's sightseeing programme and is well worth including in your next visit to istanbul.
for details about visiting the rahmi m Koç museum please visit: www.rmk-museum.org.tr
or email: info@rmk-museum.org.tr
44 wiNter 2010 45

oyster News
Miss Tippy
Th e Norton family of fi ve explore the south Pacifi c as
part of their circumnavigation with the Blue water rally
on board their oyster 56, Miss Tippy.
By Brian and sheila Norton, oyster 56, Miss Tippy
owNer rePort – miss tiPPy
we had a wonderful time in the marquesas, starting at
the island of Nuku hiva and then visiting ua Poa and
the famous Bay of Virgins in fatu hiva. we hiked up to
cascading waterfalls, visited old ceremonial sites where
cannibalism used to be practised and met many friendly
locals. in fatu hiva we bartered clothes and toys in
exchange for woodcarvings, tapa (ornately decorated
cloth made from bark) and fruit plucked from gardens.
Th e Polynesians have a strict protocol that gift s must be
reciprocated and even small gift s for children provoked
some gift in return. Th ings that are readily available for
us at home are highly valued in these remote islands.
one lady insisted on giving us an expensive wooden
carving in exchange for a football for her son and
another gave us tapas in exchange for small pieces
of rope and half a bottle of perfume.
46 wiNter 2010 47

Aft er the marquesas we continued with the Blue water
rally to visit various island groups stretched across the
south Pacifi c to Australia. Th ese included the tuamotos
and society islands in french Polynesia and the Cook
islands, Niue, tonga, fiji and Vanuatu. each group, and
indeed each island, has distinct characteristics and it
feels that we have really only scratched the surface by
visiting a sample of islands in each archipelago.
“Th e family we had met in huahine had
told us there were two types of boat in
fiji. first: those that had hit a reef, and
second: those that were about to!”
Th e tuamotos, were the fi rst group. Known also as the
‘dangerous’ isles the archipelago comprises atolls, which
are only as high as the tallest palm tree. Coral reefs
wrap around large lagoons. infrequent passages through
the fringing reefs can be hazardous since they generally
have an outgoing current due to the continuous infl ow of
water from the Pacifi c over the reefs. we were advised to
approach the islands by day and have lookouts in the
rigging to spot uncharted reefs! Th e population of each
island varies enormously, although all of the islands
were remote and unsophisticated by western standards.
Crystal clear, turquoise seas in the lagoons and outside
the passes provided fantastic diving and an ideal
environment for many black pearl farms.
oyster News
we visited one farm and were fascinated to be shown
the various steps in the process from seeding to
harvesting of these glossy jewels. we swam and dived
with many species of fi sh including a multitude of sharks with
which the children have become quite comfortable now.
on one memorable occasion Annie and i even managed to
snorkel with a pod of dolphins outside the lagoon.
Aft er the simplicity of the ‘dangerous isles’ it was a
relatively short hop of a couple of hundred miles to the
sophistication of tahiti and the beginning of the society
islands. we took a break from the rally here and went to
easter island. while it is possible to sail to the island, the
few anchorages can be uncomfortable and hazardous
so we opted to fl y. easter island is a truly mystical place.
we toured the island extensively, visiting volcanoes and
the sites of many statues during our stay. having been
almost wiped out by disease and internal fi ghting, the
rapa Nui people are fi ercely proud of their heritage
and are happy to share their island with visitors.
Aft er rejoining the rally we had a leisurely cruise around
the beautiful society islands including moorea, huahine,
raiatea, tahaa and the famous Bora Bora. Th ese are
lush islands set amidst azure lagoons and deep blue
seas. Th e backdrops to anchorages were oft en dramatic,
within deep bays such as Cooks Bay in moorea or set
against majestic volcanic peaks that characterize islands
such as Bora Bora. Th e relaxation was very welcome
aft er the major passages of the previous six months. we
enjoyed some spectacular diving and swam with stingrays
in moorea. in tahaa we visited a turtle sanctuary with
some friends and were able to take a rescued turtle away
with us to release back into the lagoon. finally we found a
perfect little hideaway on a beach at the south of huahine
and spent a week there, frolicking in the sea with another
cruising family from Australia.
As Bora Bora faded over the horizon we said ‘Au revoir’
to french Polynesia and set off in variable winds to
suwarrow some 500 miles to the North west. suwarrow
is one of the Cook islands and is a large unspoilt atoll.
it is uninhabited apart from two caretakers who spend
six months a year there. Th ese two guys quickly became
our friends and they took us diving, fi shing and hunting
for coconut crabs as well as hosting several barbeques.
when we left they gave us sapling trees to plant so that
we would always have a connection with the island.
from the Cook islands we headed to the small island
of Niue. Th e coastline is rugged and exposed. to
overcome this, Niue has a dock with a crane to hoist
tenders onto dry land. Niue yacht Club welcomed us
warmly and many of us became members. Th is must be
the only yacht club in the world where its membership
outnumbers the population of the island! Th is small
independent island suff ered from a catastrophic
owNer rePort – miss tiPPy
hurricane a few years ago and its population has
plummeted from over fi ve thousand to less than two
thousand in a few years. Numerous abandoned houses
are scattered around the island and give it a faintly
ghostly feel. Nonetheless, Niue has some spectacular
coastal scenery with deep caverns and crashing waves.
we enjoyed diving in the crystal clear water and went
into a cave infested with sea snakes before surfacing to
see our fi rst whale swimming past about forty metres
away from us. our short stop in Niue made a welcome
break en route to tonga.
tonga comprises three groups of islands and we headed
for the Vavau group in the north. Th e Kingdom of tonga is
the only remaining Polynesian monarchy and it has never
been brought under foreign rule. As a result the culture
is quite diff erent to other islands that had been more
infl uenced by europeans. offi cials still wear traditional skirts
made from woven pandanus leaf mat and mingle with
others dressed in a more westernised style. we cleared
customs and immigration in the main town of Neiafu
and then enjoyed various organized events around the
islands including a tongan feast, dinghy racing and beach
barbeques. Th e Vavau group is hard to match as a cruising
ground. within the island group it off ers protection and
calm seas much like the British Virgin islands.
48 wiNter 2010 49

oyster News
however, yachts are still relatively uncommon here and
there is no crowding in the anchorages. Th e topography is
beautiful with the islands bordered by cliff s and white sand
beaches. it would be fun to cruise here for many months
but our itinerary meant that we had to move on within a
couple of weeks towards the treacherous waters of fiji.
Th e family we had met in huahine had told us there were
two types of boat in fiji. first: those that had hit a reef, and
second: those that were about to! Th e route through to
our fi rst destination in savu savu took us through a maze
of reefs and islands. we were shocked to see a ship on
top of one of the reefs we steered past. Th ese perilous
seas have seen many ships and boats of all sizes founder
but luckily none on the rally succumbed to the dangers.
fiji is large, with almost one million people dispersed
over some 100 islands across 1.3m square kilometres
of sea. Th e majority of the population lives on the main
islands of Viti levu and Vanua levu. we made landfall
in the latter and were duly entertained by the local
yacht club in the main town, savu savu. Th ey organized
barbeques and held a traditional kava ceremony in our
honour. we saw no sign of the racial tensions between
indigenous fijians and indo-fijians, which have led to
a number of recent coups. on the contrary we found
the fijians to be one of the most hospitable and friendly
people we have met on our trip.
once away from the main town it was fun to visit villages
where custom demands that you must present Kava to
the Chief and get his permission to enter. Th ese small
villages are oft en only connected by a daily bus but we
found that they held vibrant strong communities. At one
village we were invited in for lemon tea by a lady and sat
in her humble rickety hut learning about their life before
joining a group of ladies who were practicing traditional
songs and dancing for an upcoming festival. meanwhile
the men played rugby on a makeshift pitch, which
straddled the main road in the village and children ran
happily around as the late aft ernoon sun started to set.
owNer rePort – miss tiPPy
time and time again on this trip we have met people who
are poor by western standards but who are rich in quality
of life aff orded by living in strong communities within
bountiful environments where food can be harvested
from the sea or from the fruit trees in their gardens.
“time and time again on this trip we
have met people who are poor by
western standards but who are rich
in quality of life.”
Aft er savu savu we visited several anchorages around
Vanua levu and then crossed Bligh Channel to the
magnifi cent yasawa islands. many of the soundings in
Bligh Channel originate from those provided by
Captain Bligh aft er he was cast adrift from the Bounty
and was being chased by fijian cannibals… you certainly
get a new sense of respect for the man! in the yasawa
islands we visited the Blue lagoon made famous by the
movie of that title. we swam with manta rays and had
dinner with villagers in one of their houses. Aft er a few
unforgettable days we enjoyed a beautiful sail to the
musket Cove resort on one of the smaller fijian islands.
Aft er months of anchoring it was nice to be moored
stern to at this resort and enjoy some of the comforts of
resort life for a while. Th roughout fiji we enjoyed diving
among some of the best soft corals in the world.
from fiji we sailed to Vanuatu. we cleared customs
in the main city of Port Vila, arriving at night in strong
winds. while we were there they celebrated a milestone
of 30 years of independence and held a big festival,
which gave us a wonderful opportunity to see the local
community. however, we were keen to explore the
more remote islands. we set sail for Ambryn and felt
as if we had stepped back in time when we visited local
50 wiNter 2010 51

villages with palm-clad huts and no electricity. one of
the village chiefs took us on a seven-hour trek through
the jungle, across ash plains and then along narrow
ridges up to the lip of the crater of a volcano so that
we could peer nervously down at the fi ery bubbling
cauldron below. we camped that night in a palm
frond lean-to at the base of the volcano and shared
accommodation with a variety of large spiders!
from Ambryn we set off north to espiritu santo
and went diving on the President Coolridge, which
is cited as one of the best wreck dives in the world.
Th is vast ship had been converted by the Americans from
a cruise liner to a troop carrier during wwii. on reaching
the us Pacifi c base in espiritu santu it hit one of their own
mines and sank only a short distance from the shore.
Aft er another 800 miles we reached mackay in Australia
and booked into the marina for some repairs and
maintenance. Th e day aft er we arrived we were met
by robert Vrind, who was our oyster Project manager
while Miss Tippy was being built. it was great to meet
him again and tell him how well our boat has served us
across the oceans. he now runs a charter business in
Airlie beach and we enjoyed some great times with
him and his family. Aft er settling into mackay we fl ew
oyster News
down to sydney to visit some friends and see the sights.
A particular highlight was undertaking the sydney Bridge
Climb on Annie’s 10th birthday. Th e organization of the
climb is second to none and you feel safe, but nervous,
as you clamber up and over the steel girders overlooking
the opera house and the harbour. Th e abundance of
material goods and commercialism of the city were such
a contrast to the tranquility of the Pacifi c islands that our
fi rst few days were quite overwhelming. however, we
soon got into the swing of things again and it wasn’t long
before the girls remembered the joys of retail therapy!
we returned to mackay and then spent a month cruising
up the eastern Coast of Australia within the protected
waters of the Great Barrier reef. we explored the
whitsunday islands where we saw many whales on
their annual migration. when we had a calm period we
anchored out on the barrier reef for a couple of nights.
we were out of sight of land with only the submerged
reef for protection and it felt very eerie to be out there
alone at night. Th e diving and snorkelling were superb
of course. Th e Australians seem to be managing their
marine environment well. Th ere are many protected
marine parks and the abundance and size of the fi sh you
encounter are a testament to their success. Between the
marine parks we managed to do some fi shing. we lost
a few lures before getting used to the large and agile
Australian fi sh and managed to catch a variety of tuna,
large mackerel and wahoo, as well as a tasty trevelli.
Aft er the whitsundays we spent some time in Airlie
Beach before heading up to Port douglas near Cairns
and then onward north to lizard island. we traced
Captain Cook’s footsteps to the top of the island, which
he visited to fi nd a path through the maze of the Great
Barrier reef just aft er he had grounded. from there we
also took a day trip aboard Miss Tippy to the outer reef
to dive the famous Cod hole. large friendly potato cods
inhabit this area and they are happy to be stroked by
visiting divers! from lizard island it was a bit of a dash
owNer rePort – miss tiPPy
up around Cape york and across the Gulf of Carpentia
edging the Northern territory and into darwin. we only
stopped a couple of times to wait for fair tides, since they
can run at up to 6 knots at times. one such stopover was
aptly named escape river. we entered at night in 30-knot
winds and duly found ourselves tangled up in some pearl
farm lines that were unlit in the middle of the river. luckily
we managed to free ourselves while being cautious not
to get too near the water, which is infested with many
vicious crocodiles in this part of Australia.
Just as we were fi nally entering darwin, a large rolling
black cloud of biblical proportions gathered and we
were soon hit by a squall with 40-knot winds and
torrential rain. Miss Tippy shrugged it off as ever and
we were soon safely anchored outside darwin. having
reached darwin it feels that we have now turned the
corner for home. however we still have numerous
exotic locations to visit in Asia, the middle east and the
mediterranean on our way home and we are looking
forward to the new adventures ahead!
Photos: Th e Norton family
Follow Miss Tippy’s progress with fi lms and regular
updates on the family’s blog at www.rock2rock.co.uk
52 wiNter 2010 53

oyster News
gONE
with the wind...
...oNe oyster’s triP ArouNd the world.
By stePheN hyde, oyster 56 A LADy
deCisioN time
owNer rePort – A lAdy
By the eNd of 2008, we hAd deCided thAt we would sAil ArouNd the
world with the world ArC fleet iN our New toy – our loVely oyster 56,
Built iN 2002 ANd PurChAsed By my wife AileeN ANd i iN lAte 2006.
we renamed our pride and joy A Lady. Along with changing the
name, we also changed the hull colour to navy... a royal colour!
in 2007, we installed a brand new e120 raymarine chartplotter,
the most up-to-date marine navigational technology available,
plus an Ais; both of these are amazing bits of equipment and
meant that we were ready to take on the world!
54 wiNter 2010 55

24th JuNe 2009
A Lady sailed out of her homeport of Crosshaven,
bound for la Coruña, spain, the crew consisted of
my brother rom, Aileen, denis o’sullivan and Vera.
The passage was 510 nautical miles and from the very
start we had lots of wind, a spanking reach, (as my
father would describe these conditions) and we arrived
at our destination in a cool 2.5 days. from there, we
sailed to the Azores, Portugal, madeira, lanzarote and
eventually onto Gran Canaria for the start of the ArC
on sunday 22nd of November 2009.
in las Palmas we were delighted to meet oyster’s
Customer Care manager, eddie scougall and the oyster
service team, who did a head-to-toe examination of
A Lady, and in fact all the oysters taking part in the
event. we are lucky to still have a mast on our boat
today, thanks to their detection of a crack at the
gooseneck and the oyster team’s heroic efforts to apply
some splints before the start of the ArC. This saved our
carbon fibre stick from destruction in the 2770 miles of
strong winds, which followed from the start.
the ArC
our crew for the ArC was John o’Connor,
mark Newenham, dermot o’meara, Jeanne Briarly and
myself. This trip was 2,770 miles and we expected it to
take 16 to 18 days. in typical fashion we had lots of wind
from the very start. we flew our new parasail spinnaker
on the very first night when the wind reached 32 knots.
frightful... this was not what we ordered! But then
this boat seems to bring its own wind, and we had
3,600 sq ft of sail up there, so we were screaming along
at 11-12 knots, but she carried it all very comfortably.
The ArC proved to be a great trip in a great boat,
we never seemed to be under pressure, except once,
when the wind reached 36 knots with the Parasail still
flying – the situation scared us all! we were just carrying
too much sail in too much wind and it was too wild to
safely take it down. According to murphy’s law, of course
this all happened in the middle of the night, and we all
breathed a sigh of relief when the wind abated at dawn
and we could take it down.
The crew were great, we flew the kite for 75% of the
trip, and every day it had to be dropped on deck and
a couple of feet cut off the halyard and the guy as the
chafing was enormous. our own three guys and one
girl worked like trojans, but were also well fed, everyone
oyster News
was keen to take a turn in the galley to show off their
culinary skills. The galley on an oyster is just so user
friendly even in big seas. dinners ranged from roast belly
of pork, leg of lamb, cottage pies, fresh fish of the day
from the sea, pasta dishes and so on, of course these
were accompanied by roast potatoes, creamed spuds,
veg, and sometimes dessert. mostly consumed in the
cockpit, or as we called it ‘The starlight restaurant’.
we seemed to have our own breeze almost all the way,
very rarely going below 22 knots, and we were the first
boat in our class to cross the finish line just 14.5 days
later (putting us well ahead of schedule). Actually, the
first four boats in our Class to finish in st lucia were all
oyster 56s.
ChristmAs 2009
following the ArC, we spent Christmas cruising the
Grenadines with some of our children and had a great
time. The weather, the sun, the beautiful Prussian blue
water, the wonderful beaches, the swimming, and of
course the elegant A Lady, our lovely oyster 56, taking
care of the whole family.
the stArt of world ArC –
st luCiA to lAs PerlAs islANds
6TH JANUARy 2010 (1,100 MILES)
The first leg of the world ArC departed st lucia for
Panama and was the start of a trip that would take us
around the world and back to st lucia by April 2011.
The Crew for this leg was stephen and Aileen hyde,
donal mc Clement and Kevin dwyer. This leg (as with
all legs on the ArC and world ArC) was basically a
race from rodney Bay, st lucia, to the san Blas islands
(distance of 1,100 miles).
however, we decided that as we were in this neck
of the woods, we would also take in the ABC islands
(dutch west indies) on route. They were beautiful
islands and well worth the diversion and extra mileage,
we really enjoyed the whole scene there and again we
travelled in excess of 20 knots of wind all the way there.
we spent five days in the ABC islands and on leaving
we had a nice reach with 20+ knots, however when we
were north of Columbia, the wind reached up to 56
knots for a short period, again we were well reefed
and on a broad reach, giving us some exciting sailing.
owNer rePort – A lAdy
we arrived at the beautiful san Blas islands on the east
coast of Panama a few days later and spent a week
there enjoying the sheer beauty of these tiny atolls,
before sailing, via Portsmouth, to shelter Bay marina at
the eastern end of the Panama Canal and spent a few
days there waiting our turn to transit the Canal.
we were joined there by Grattan roberts and his son
richard, from Cork. Grattan’s great grandfather was the
Captain of the SS Sirius, a side-wheel, wooden-hulled
steamship, built in 1837 for the london-Cork route
operated by the st George steam Packet Company.
The following year she opened a transatlantic steam
passenger service when she was chartered for two
voyages by the British and American steam Navigation
Company and became the first steamship to cross the
Atlantic, from Cork to New york.
the PANAmA CANAl
for us, the Panama Canal promised to be the ultimate
experience, and it was. The sheer scale and size of the
operation was breathtaking and the locks themselves
were awesome. it was dark when we passed through
from the east side of the Canal up into the world’s
biggest man-made lake. The lighting and the diesel tow
trains moving along the side of the canal were electric.
The feeling of a milestone having been achieved was
truly fantastic. we anchored in the lake for the night.
The following morning the wind was very light so we
motored across the lake and down the far side into the
Pacific where we spent a few days in flamingo Bay.
PANAmA to eCuAdor
31ST JANUARy 2010 (725 MILES )
from flamingo Bay we sailed to the Perlas islands, west
of Panama; again these were beautiful islands, but totally
different to the san Blas islands, high and green with
little in the way of sandy beaches. Grattan and richard
left us in the Perlas islands to return to ireland.
The wind from Panama to our next destination, ecuador,
was little or nothing and we spent most of the trip under
engine, something we were not used to! what’s more, we
had our jackets on crossing the equator, could you believe
that… it’s supposed to be really hot on the equator. At least
that’s what we were told in school! we spent two weeks
in ecuador, which we did not enjoy very much, mostly
because the port of la libertad was dirty and exposed.
A number of boats, including ourselves suffered damage.
56 wiNter 2010 57

oyster News
eCuAdor to the GAlAPAGos
18TH FEBRUARy 2010 (530 MILES)
Again, this leg had very light winds and whilst we spent
some time under engine, we covered the distance in the
allotted time of 3.5 days and were still one of the first
boats to arrive in st Christobal. however, on the way,
something happened to our e120 raymarine unit and we
lost detail as a result, but we could still set courses and
the radar, Ais and all other functions worked perfectly.
we spent a couple of weeks in the Galapagos islands.
The wild life and bird life were truly amazing. it really
lived up to all expectations in that respect, but we felt it
was overrated, over priced and over regulated. Just for
good measure, while we were there, a mini tsunami hit
the island as a result of an earthquake in Chile, so we
had to take the boat to sea in the middle of the night
to avoid any damage. As we were anchored bow and
stern, we tied one of our big fenders to the stern anchor
before we left the harbour, which was stolen while we
were at sea. we also had a fill of dirty diesel that gave us
grief for many months after.
the GAlAPAGos to the mArQuesAs
7TH MARCH 2010 (3000 MILES)
After a few hours of little or no wind, a steady breeze filled
from our port side and we had a fantastic sail all the way
to the marquesas. This was one of the best sails of the trip
so far, never too much wind or too little wind. my lasting
memories of this trip (apart from the great sailing) were the
stars at night, billions of them, dancing up there every night,
the milky way, the southern cross, saturn, and so on.
Then there were the flying fish and squid, yes squid, all over
the deck every morning. one morning, we had 59 flying fish
and 22 squid on the deck, we were like a sailing fish factory!
we had our own personal race with Crazy Horse, an
American owned sundeer 60. we eventually took all the
honours and were like a bunch of happy bunnies at the
ball, or should we say at the prize giving. each leg of the
trip is a race in itself, and it’s dog eat dog from the start.
we arrived in hiva oa after sailing 3,000 miles in just
16 days, an average of 7.8 knots.
we spent three weeks cruising these beautiful islands.
we visited hiva oa, fatu hiva, tahuata, ua Pou, and Nuku
hiva, before sailing on to the tuamotu islands, all part of
the french Polynesian islands. The scenery and beauty of
these islands, coupled with the hospitality and food really
necessitates a whole article of its own.
That’s an interesting thought – are we sailing around the
world, or eating our way around the world?
so far, since we left Cork, we have sailed 13,780 nautical
miles and have visited 53 destinations in eight different
countries with lots more still to experience…
follow A Lady’s progress at http://blog.mailasail.com/alady
oyster 46 oyster 54
oyster56 oyster 575
oyster 625 oyster 655
oyster 72 oyster 82
oyster 885 oyster 100
loNdoN ANd dÜ sseldorf BoAt shows
o N yo u r VoyAGe
of disCoVery
Put oyster
oN the mAP.
you don’t have to explore the four corners of
the earth to find the world’s most beautifully
made yachts. The london and düsseldorf Boat
shows are the perfect destination.
here, we can introduce you to the exciting and fulfilling
experience of ordering a new oyster, the peace of mind when
choosing an oyster Brokerage yacht, and the ultimate holiday
experience of an oyster Charter. however you decide to enjoy an
oyster, we look forward to helping you on your way to a journey
of a lifetime.
At london you will find oyster in a new position at the east end
of the Boat hall. Please visit the events section of our website
where you can find more details about each show and where
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 book a boarding time by contacting our sales
team direct.
london Boat show
Call +44 (0)1473 695005
or email us at: yachts@oystermarine.com
58 wiNter 2010 59
oyster 125
7-16 January
stand Nº h79
oyster 54
oyster 655
oyster 82
Boot düsseldorf
22-30 January
stand Nº 16C58
oyster 46
oyster 575

oyster News
SOUTHAMPTON YACHT SERVICES
oyster yAChts Builders | ClAssiC yACht refits ANd rePAirs | suPeryACht refit ANd rePAirs
smAll worKs diVisioN | motoryACht refit ANd rePAirs | Custom New Builds
The 78ft mylne Classic, Alinda V, has slipped
quietly back into the water following an extensive
12 month refit at oyster’s southampton yacht
services yard, part of the oyster Group.
This beautiful, classic ketch was first launched
in 1934 by Alexander stevens and sons in
Glasgow and has since spent long periods
in the eastern mediterranean.
The interior was stripped out to the iron frames
and the teak planking, engine and tank spaces
were scanned and fully engineered in CAtiA/CAd
software. New systems were drawn and fitted in
3d prior to installation, enabling the engineering
team to work concurrently with painters,
joiners and shipwrights. The engine room was
extensively detailed to accommodate a new
main engine, two generator sets, hydraulic
system, watermaker and air-conditioning, with
new fuel and water tanks, batteries, water
ALINDA V REFIT COMPLETED AT SYS.
pumps and a water treatment plant in the
original tank spaces.
The accommodation was slightly modified to
incorporate en suite heads for all three guest
cabins; the saloon updated to include a chart
table and improved stowage, while the galley
and crew cabins benefitted from the remodelling
of the galley and crew heads. The joinery
faithfully copied the style of the original, with
new oak paneling reflecting the original patterns.
lightweight granite and marble surfaces were
fitted to the heads and galley, with fixtures and
fittings styled to suit the period.
on deck, the rig had previously been modified
in the 1960s to a Bermudan format. By fitting
in-mast furling masts and furlers, the team at sys
was able to extend the spars allowing Alinda V
to be fitted with her original 3,000 sq ft sail plan.
Combined with a full suite of hydraulic winches
and power pack, this will allow Alinda V to be
easily sailed shorthanded. The original windlass
and steering systems were refurbished, new
anchor systems installed in the hull and mooring
systems improved with additional fairleads.
All deck equipment was returned to cast bronze
fittings. deck hatches and the doghouse were all
discreetly modified to create more space, light
and ventilation. The cockpit coamings were
extended to incorporate navigation repeaters
from the doghouse instruments.
The result of this extensive refit is that Alinda V
is instantly recognisable, both above and below
deck, as the pedigree classic she was designed
and built to be. however, her classic lines hide a
multitude of modern and practical engineering
solutions that, together with her new fixtures
and fittings, ensure she is perfectly equipped for
life in the 21st century.
Sea Lion is a 67 ft yawl built by Abeking and
rasmussen in 1953. she is currently undergoing
an almost complete rebuild at sys. A large
number of frames have been replaced and new
ring frames at the mast have been constructed
to improve strength in this area. The hull has
been completely re-planked using the west
system epoxy resin and mahogany.
southAmPtoN yACht serViCes
60 wiNter 2010 61
SeA LIoN
RIVA
NEW OYSTER 885 TO BE BUILT AT SYS
The doghouse has been completely renewed
and is due to be fitted onboard in december.
New joinery has been built in a traditional style
and is being prepared ready for installation once
tanks and undersole piping is complete. Now
that the hull has been refitted on the keel it is
clear what a very pretty yacht she will become.
At the other end of the size scale sys has just
completed the refinishing of a 28’ 1970 riva
Aquarama. The varnish was removed from this
iconic motor yacht hull and almost invisible
repairs made to minor damage sustained over
a 40-year life. The hull was stained and then
22 coats of varnish applied to achieve the
exceptionally high quality finish demanded for
a riva yacht. fittings and trim were renewed
and replaced as required. The result is a gleaming
craft that will continue to give great pleasure for
many more years.
renowned worldwide for their refit and repair
work on Classic yachts, southampton yacht
services is also responsible for building some
of the larger models in the oyster range and
currently has five new oysters in build including
the first of the new oyster 625s. sys will start
work on oyster’s newest model in the fleet,
the oyster 885 in the next few months, with
the first yacht expected to be on the water in
summer 2012.
HetAIroS A R R I V E S F O R
WINTER REFIT AT SYS
The beautiful 140ft Abeking and rasmussen
ketch Hetairos has recently arrived at
southampton yacht services for substantial refit
work this winter. Hetairos, designed by Bruce
King, was built using the wood epoxy system in
1992 at the same time that southampton yacht
services were also building 80ft yachts in the
wood epoxy system and has always been a
striking yacht wherever she has sailed.
The refit that southampton yacht services
will be carrying out will include work on the
hydraulic centreboard system, the rudder,
winch plinths, propeller and shafting. her hull
will be completely repainted and her rig is
being fully overhauled and repainted. The
skilled workforce at southampton yacht
services are delighted to be working on such
an iconic vessel and returning her to her full
glory, ready for next season.
S Y S S U P P O RT S O Y S T E R
WORLD RALLY OWNERS
with just over two years to go to the start of
the oyster world rally in January 2013, sys
has received their first enquiry for a pre-rally
‘health’ check. The us-owned oyster 53
Golden Pearl will arrive in the uK next
summer, and will undergo some refit work to
ensure she is in A1 condition and ready to take
part in oyster’s olympic regatta in Cowes in
July 2012, before heading back across the
Atlantic with the 2012 ArC and on to the start
of the oyster world rally. of course you don’t
need to be planning a circumnavigation to
enjoy the benefits of having the team at sys
check over your oyster! Contact Andy willett
to discuss your own requirements. email:
andyw@southamptonyachtservices.co.uk

oyster News
owNer rePort – elVis the GeCKo
FAMiLy
DeNT
TAKe
A LeAP
OF FAiTH
on the 1st of march 2009, the financial times ran a front page story
breaking the news that martin dent had resigned from deutsche Bank
after two decades in the City and on wall street. The article noted that
despite the credit crisis creating a boom for martin’s business (he had
built and run deutsche’s distressed debt/Junk bond trading business)
martin was preferring to sail the Pacific with his family…
it was when my wife intercepted the email
confirming an order for Pacific charts and
flags that she first knew something was up.
oh that, and when i quit my job and asked the
headmaster if we could take our three children
out of school. up until then ‘doing the Pacific’
had been the usual pipe-dreaming chat
reserved for my sailing mates in the office.
By mArtiN deNt oyster 66, ELVIS THE GECKO
however, you have to be careful dreaming as
an oyster owner – these yachts will take you
anywhere and the next thing you know the pipe
has been replaced by a serious Class A habit!
i’d really been hooked since 2005, when oyster
Brokerage had dealt me the 66 as something
soft to be getting started on.
62 wiNter 2010 63

for a six-month stint on your boat with a young
family, i don’t think that there can be many
better routes than starting in the Caribbean and
ending in french Polynesia. you start in a great
place and then it just gets better and better all
the way. it has real variety in terms of lands,
people and passages. it gets harder to stay in
touch with home, a definite bonus; the people
you meet get nicer along the way, the water
gets clearer, and the fish and coral become
more colourful and plentiful. finally it is all down
wind, down current, trade wind sailing with
plenty of wind – we sailed approximately
8,000nm and our total passage engine hours
were just ten.
oyster News
involving the family in the final preparations and
adjusting the boat to longer-term accommodation
was great fun, whether it was upgrading the
stereo, provisioning favourite brands of
chocolate or wine and rum in bulk. whilst this
was going on, in what turned out to be the
most valuable afterthought, we got our PAdi
certificates. As for the more serious marine
preparation we got a lot of help and advice from
oyster; besides After sales we were able to
draw on the oyster presence that invades
Antigua at the time of their annual Caribbean
regatta and most spectacularly for us in the
great scottish form of eddie scougall. i hired
eddie for five days to run me through each
system onboard, which he did in spades, besides
sorting a load of problems, and the jokes were
thrown in for free!
we settled on Bonaire as our first port of call,
which gave us a fast 3-day broad reach.
on arrival we were immediately confronted with
its strong dutch organisation and regulations.
The island’s marine environment is strictly
protected, anchoring prohibited anywhere, and
we were not even allowed to take a mooring, as
58 feet was the limit. however there was space
in the one excellent marina (harbour Village)
and the benefits of these regulations became
immediately apparent on our first snorkel trip.
soon we were putting our newly scored PAdis to
good use. The amazing underwater environment
gave us a small taste for what was to come –
and it tasted good.
At the time everybody was talking about pirates
so, as we continued west, it seemed the done
thing to give the coastline of Columbia a wide
berth – probably unnecessary but it added some
spice every time we spotted some wandering
fishing boat on the radar. i found it hard to
imagine pirates wanting to venture out in open
boats in the 35-40 knot easterly but our oyster
blasted along nicely, surfing in comfort on the
two-metre seas.
owNer rePort – elVis the GeCKo
A daytime arrival at the san Blas is definitely to be
recommended, and this was the only place where
we found the charts not to be mapped accurately
to the GPs position. The Kuna indians were,
however, exactly as advertised in the guidebook
and we were all moved by their simple tribal
existence. you could spend months exploring this
archipelago, but the prospect of breaking into the
Pacific was sucking us towards Panama and a few
days later we were heading up to Colon.
transiting the Panama turned out to be very
straightforward, the pilot that we had on board
was fantastic and the whole thing was a great
education for children and adults. in the locks
we were rafted up with a catamaran whose two
“you have to be careful dreaming as
an oyster owner – these yachts will
take you anywhere and the next
thing you know the pipe has been
replaced by a serious Class A habit!”
hulls provided an excellent port side fender!
from previous experience with catamarans
we were relieved that this cat crew were not
sporting their usual tight speedos. when the
inevitable waterfight did break out, as the photo
shows, the cat owner had to resort to opening
up with a hose in his vain attempt to counteract
the element of surprise as his crew were
bombarded by the young oyster brigands.
excitement levels all round were ‘off the charts’
and champagne was flowing as we went
through the final locks and entered the Pacific.
A 72 hour blast in Panama City – restaurants,
retail therapy, and a couple of nights in a hotel
in this buzzing metropolis provided the complete
contrast to the previous six weeks and to the
coming four months. it wasn’t all roses, and
Panama at the same time provided the low point
in the trip being the only place we experienced
dishonesty. This was magnified by the intense
heat and humidity and i could not wait to leave.
A ripping passage to the Galapagos soon brought
us all back on form. once we’d zig-zagged out
past all the ships who were waiting to transit the
Canal we were soon on our own except for the
abundance of wildlife. The first pod of dolphins
we sighted was in the hundreds, if not thousands.
we sailed south for three days before our
progress was slowed by the north running
humbolt current and the wind shifted to the
east. After nearly two months of down wind
sailing it was actually refreshing to beat against
wind and current. And most importantly the sea
temperature dropped ten degrees; some good
honest cold weather swept away all the
Panamanian funk. All crewmembers revelled in
their British-ness as out came the duvets that
had been stowed away and on came the fleecy
jackets during the night watches.
The children by now were thriving in the onboard
life, especially on passage. routine was key: the
daily washdown and removal of flying fish and
squid, the weekly art competition, friday film
night, daily bread making, cake baking contests
and best of all, the weekly quiz on all the places
visited. The quiz took a few days to prepare and
there was big excitement on the day.
64 wiNter 2010 65

when i look back it formed the basis for all our
education. By now the kids were doing their own
watch in the aft ernoon, and were joining the night
watches. At fi rst i thought this was because of the
shooting stars, or the phosphorescent dolphins
torpedoing towards the hull, but then i realized
that it was the chocolate.
As our latitude approached zero, the boat took
on a spooky feeling, the deck was deserted save
for ray – the autopilot. All the human inhabitants
of Elvis had disappeared to their cabins and
were busy constructing their outfi ts. dressing up
is de-rigueur when crossing the equator, but on
Elvis, costume design is serious business. our six
year old raided the galley and completely
wrapped herself up in aluminium foil and was
the fi rst to make her appearance at the party
dressed as a sardine. Th en a jellyfi sh arrived,
Josh appeared as a hammerhead shark and
Claire a pink lobster, and so on. Th ings went
from bad to worse as an aft ernoon of games
began under the humiliating supervision of
Neptune (tash).
As we got closer to the Galapagos a few
diff erent seabirds joined us. A brown booby
took up residence on the boom, for three
days. from his vantage point, ‘Bobbington’
as he became known, was able to overlook all
proceedings down in the cockpit. it was as if
he was watching over us and whenever you
climbed on deck there he was looking down,
night and day. every once in a while, Bob would
glide up to about the mast-head height, swoop
around, then dive down spectacularly and grab
a fi sh, and then he’d be back to snooze and
crap it off on our boom. it was one of the
lessons that we would learn about seabirds
from our Galapagos guide that the fi rst thing a
seabird does when it catches a fi sh is to unload.
Th e birds’ digestive system works so fast that it
can do this almost immediately, enabling the
bird to get airborne again quickly. Th e other
bird that joined us at night was the swallow
tailed Gull – a night feeder. it made a strange
cackling sound, which was funny to hear out
there in the dark as we sailed along.
oyster News
Th e bursting of our ‘life at sea bubble’ was more
than made up for by making landfall at the
Galapagos. we had timed our arrival to be in
daylight for all the usual reasons, but you would
not want to miss the dramatic multicoloured and
multi-shaped rock formations. Th e welcoming
committee included a pilot whale and dolphins
breaching on the bow, sea turtles, and the famous
blue-footed boobies were crashing into the sea.
it happened to be my son’s ninth birthday so we
had chocolate cake and party music on as we
sailed along the north side of san Cristobal and
it was an extremely excited and happy boat that
dropped anchor in wreck Bay.
wreck Bay is not the main port of the Galapagos,
which is Puerto Ayora on santa Cruz. however
it is the fi rst island you come to and although
a smaller town, it proved to be a special place,
a much more sheltered anchorage than Puerto
Ayora, and we could have stayed for a month.
it is hard to describe – an ecuadorian outpost,
faded offi cialdom, a fair amount of men wearing
tight uniforms, but they might be riding on the
back of someone’s scooter or just walking along,
everybody looks you honestly in the eye and
smiles. Th ere is absolutely no sense of crime or
any bad vibe. our children could just run around
the streets, make friends, whilst we hung out at
the café. Another good spot was the little town
beach, which humans shared with sea lions,
which were friendly and seemed to love
swimming and playing with us.
to tour the islands in our own boat required a
further permit, our cruising plan had to be fi led,
approved by both the ministry that governs
the land and by the ecuadorian Navy, and
then followed to the letter. i was somewhat
apprehensive about the requirement of having
to have an offi cial live onboard. i needn’t have
worried. Th e guide, santi, was absolutely
fantastic. he didn’t stop explaining everything
from the geology to the birds, the sealife and
plants, and when his day job was done he got
stuck into boat jobs. he showed us examples of
the birds and animals that were slightly diff erent
owNer rePort – elVis the GeCKo
according to which island they were on and which
darwin had observed and used in his research.
Th e week trip is quite intensive with a predetermined
programme that takes you from
island to island where you see amazing wildlife
and stunning landscapes and geology, both on
foot and with snorkel. to keep to the programme,
generally we had night passages to get us to the
next island. Th e equatorial Current and the
humbolt collide amongst the volcanic islands
and besides bringing the nutrients that support
the amazing marine life they also create strong
currents, which seem to have no pattern and
constantly change direction. my father-in-law
and his wife joined us for a very brief four days
during this Galapagos tour so we had 11 on
board. unfortunately for the inlaws, it was a
bit of a baptism of fi re as we were faced with
upwind passages for their fi rst two nights.
Not thinking, i had allocated them the forward
starboard cabin. with 35 knots across the decks in
upwind conditions, bashing into a heavy sea, this
cabin becomes the worst place to be on the boat.
it was so bouncy that they spent a lot of the time
airborne. Th e bucket they had in their bed for the
whole night was airborne too. it was not deliberate
abuse of my in-laws as some have suggested!
“Th e welcoming committee
included a pilot whale and
dolphins breaching on the bow,
sea turtles, and the famous
blue-footed boobies were
crashing into the sea”
Th ere is too much to describe about the wildlife
that we saw, but the close interaction left the
biggest impressions: the blue footed boobies,
the sea-lions that we swam and played with and
which slept on our transom oft en leaving
sizeable presents, and of course the penguins
and the marine iguanas.
Aft er the tour we anchored in Puerto Ayora for a
further fortnight – another place you could stay
for months – immersing ourselves in local goings
on. Th e wildlife experience continues as it is all
around you – iguanas lying on the sidewalk;
many an aft ernoon was spent sitting around the
fi sh market where the pelicans and sea lions put
on a show as they wait for the scraps, and of
course the darwin institute, home of lonesome
George. i had to visit the local doctor and he
was superb, by necessity a jack of all trades, and
his gorgeous french wife and yoga guru, came
onboard to design a yacht yoga programme for us.
66 wiNter 2010 67

we did the local dives, the most exciting of
which was coming across a huge ball of fi sh
about the size of a three storey house. Not
being experienced divers we were all a little
apprehensive about swimming into what we
thought might be the sharks’ ‘doggy bowl’ but
soon enough we plucked up our courage, held
hands and swam into the middle. my 12-year-old,
ruby, said it was like the automatic doors in star
trek as an opening appeared as you swam up
and then closed behind you. once inside it was
dark until you breathed out enough bubbles,
which created a small chimney up to the surface
about 25m above. we played in amongst the
fi sh until our tanks were empty.
“how does a lad from england
communicate with a lad from
fatu iva – football of course.”
we had heard that provisioning in the Galapagos
for the onward passage would be a challenge
but it was in fact the best provisioning of our
entire trip at the lowest cost, by far. Th ere is a
giant market of locally grown produce in santa
Cruz and our superb agent delivered half a cow
to the boat: we would still be eating ‘Galapagos
steak’ 4,000nm down the trail.
Th e passage to the marquesas produced the
sailing that we’d come this way for: 3,000nm,
25 knots se winds, great waves to surf on, hauls
of fresh tuna, dorado and not one single soul did
we see or hear on the entire trip.
we only had one problem, when a tear
appeared in the leech of the mainsail, with about
800 miles to go. with the main now substantially
furled leaving only poled-out yankee and staysail,
our boat speed dropped to 4 knots – giving us
an extra 4 days at sea. we were contemplating
whether to get the mainsail down to repair, not
that easy handling 90 sq metres of sail, when
oyster News
literally mid debate the wind picked up to more
than 35 knots and we were back at full speed
with just the two smaller sails. Problem solved,
provided the stronger winds held. Th ey didn’t
hold, they strengthened, so for the last 4 days we
had a roller coaster ride and by the time the island
of fatu hiva loomed out of the clouds we were
being swept along in 50+ knots. Th e kids loved it,
the adults could have done with more sleep.
it was a spooky arrival: the island’s lush highsided
peaks are constantly in the clouds and
no sooner had the island appeared mysteriously
out of the clouds than it promptly disappeared.
fatu iva isn’t a port of entry but i couldn’t see us
beating back even only the 50nm from hiva oa,
especially in this weather, and anyway the local
policeman seemed delighted to see us, or
perhaps he was drunk. in any event you could
not pass by the stunning anchorage. surrounded
by sheer volcanic cliff s and huge bulbous
volcanic pinnacles one could understand how
the original name Baie des Verges (‘Penis Bay’)
came about. But as one book said, it didn’t take
long for the Catholic priests to insert an ‘i’ to
‘Baie des Vierges’ (Bay of Virgins).
Th ere are 600 inhabitants and no airport; aft er
feeling pretty remote on the passage we now
felt more remote. we revelled in the amazing
walks – one up to a magnifi cent waterfall, full of
unlimited amounts of luxurious fresh water. Th ere
was an abundance of fruit growing all around,
and the locals were keen to barter for items that
did not come on the supply ship… for example
rum and footballs.
how does a lad from england communicate with
a lad from fatu iva – football of course.
on hiva oa and Nuku hiva the people were
better organised and benefi tted from a more
diverse gene pool than fatu. our time in the
marquesas fl ew by: visiting tikis, Gaugin’s house,
horse riding, climbing to the amazing waterfall
from taiao Bay in Nuku, all the while debating
whether or not we deserved a marquesan tattoo.
Th e atolls of the tuamotus provided yet another
massive contrast – another brand of paradise.
Navigating the entrance to our fi rst pass, the
North Pass of fakarava, was much easier than
had been built up. Th e oyster’s big Perkins made
mincemeat of the outgoing 5 knot current and
channel markers and spot on GPs made it all
straightforward. Th ere is a great little community
at the North Pass with a beautiful church and all
sorts of goings on – outrigger canoe racing,
volleyball, weaving, dancing etc besides the
great dives at the pass. oyster farming takes
advantage of the conditions inside the reef, and
we were given an interesting tour of one of the
farms. Th e lagoon also gave Elvis her fi rst fl at
water in 12,000nm and in recognition of this
Josh and my nine year old son Bruce
wakeboarded behind the oyster as we
close-reached the 30nm to the south Pass.
Th e south Pass presented amazing dives – the
pass was like a shark highway and the white and
black tips were literally in the hundreds. or you
could just watch them from the shore – at your
feet. we were having such a great time in
fakarava that we used up all our tuamotu time
here, only managing one other stop at toua.
on toua there is just one family that lives here.
Gaston and Valentine live off the reef fi sh they
catch in nets, which they sell once a week to a
supply ship that comes to the neighbouring atoll,
but they also welcome cruisers for a barbecue
of their own lobster and varo.
Aft er our night with Gaston and his wife Valentine
we set sail for tahiti. whilst tahiti is a fairly exotic
location itself, it was the prospect of the big
Carrefour supermarket that really excited us.
fresh milk for the fi rst time in four months,
a good wine selection and eight wide aisles of
european branded goods beckoned. Th inking of
our stomachs, we pushed Elvis along over the
225 miles arriving at 3am, only to be denied
entrance by harbour Control who made us wait
off shore until daybreak to enter inside the reef.
of course this didn’t matter as the supermarket
wasn’t open at that time anyway. we only had
ten hours in tahiti but the whole ten hours was
spent in desperate retail therapy. even Elvis’s
tanks were given some diesel for the fi rst time
since Galapagos, 4,500 miles ago – although
only a modest top up was needed.
Now we were into the fi nal leg of our Pacifi c trip
– the society islands of moorea, huahini, tahaa,
raiatea and fi nally Bora Bora. Geologically they
are halfway between the marquesas and the
tuamotus; they have the big volcanic peaks of
the marquesas but have started to sink leaving
a reef about a mile off shore creating the calm
owNer rePort – elVis the GeCKo
turquoise water inside – so a combination of
two diff erent brands of paradise.
tash guided us to a place in shallow water inside
the lagoon in moorea where stingrays had got
used to being fed by humans. we found the
spot and with the help of some tuna from Elvis’s
freezer soon we were all swimming with, touching
and feeding the wild rays.
i could go on and on, but at this point of the
trip it was all turquoise water and pure selfindulgence,
but in Bora Bora we did fi nd
matetiki, the marquesian tattoo artist we’d been
looking for in Nuku hiva. he’d just moved to
Bora Bora. so the wife and i were able to
resume our debate about whether we deserved
marquesan tattoos to mark what was the
culmination of a dream come true. finally Bora
Bora has an airport so it was a good place to
interrupt the dream and head back to london,
but for what? school? re-doing the house?
Going back to work? or to spend more time
pouring over charts and planning the next
sailing installment?
Photographs: by martin dent
68 wiNter 2010 69

Sphinx (Beken of Cowes)
oyster News
MODEL
BEHAVIOUR
When the annual oyster owners’ Dinner
takes place at the royal thames Yacht Club
on Saturday 8th January 2011, guests should
allow themselves time to look at one of the Club’s
hidden treasures. Adjacent to the Britannia Bar,
the Model room houses an outstanding array of
half models. the collection is said to be second
only in the world to that in the New York Yacht
Club’s model room.
Th e royal Th ames yacht Club, dating back to 1775, has
nearly 400 half models, illustrating the history of yacht
design development. with the earliest model in the
room from 1834, some of the newest include richard
matthews’ 2006 Oystercatcher XXVI, alongside the
oyster 62 and mike slade’s Leopard 3 from 2007.
Th e models have been carefully selected to represent the
majority of Britain’s most famous and signifi cant cruising,
racing and one-design yachts from the last 180 years.
“to guarantee a complete and historic
collection, the club had to commission
model makers working to the original
yacht design lines to build new half
models as necessary.”
Th e collection was started in 1935, with the royal
Th ames yacht Club’s AGm minutes recording that the
Vice Commodore, lord Queenborough, proposed a
committee build up a half-model collection. he stated
that, “Th e collection will not only be historic, but
practically interesting and although it will not in any
sense compete with the wonderful collection in the
New york yacht Club, it will be of the most amazing
interest to yachtsmen.” it is believed that the yacht
designer Charles Nicholson started the collection pre
the second world war, and he is certainly recorded as
running the collection in the post war years. Th e royal
Th ames still has a Curators of models Committee, headed
by Charles Chapman, the honorary Curator of models.
he is assisted by committee members Peter Nicholson,
ed dubois, stewart Quarrie and royal Th ames yacht Club’s
Chief sailing offi cer malcolm mcKeag, with Charles’ wife
Cleone performing the duty of honorary secretary.
model BehAViour
By the mid 1950s the Club had around 50 half-models
which were displayed in the billiard room. many were
models of club member’s yachts, oft en donated to the
club by the owners or the builder. Th e art of model
making pre-dates samuel Pepys, and models were
usually made by the yacht designer to show the lines to
the prospective owner, or more recently were made by
apprentices or specialist model makers as keep-sakes.
By 1982 the prolifi c but haphazard collection was
taken in hand by Charles Chapman, who along with
Peter Nicholson, great-nephew of the fi rst curator, took
over the task of organising, recording and formulating
the rules for the half-model collection. rules were set
which required that any half models in the collection
must be in some way signifi cant, either in design
advancement, racing success, or in broadening and
popularising the pastime of recreational boating.
with signifi cant input from Peter Nicholson who provided
invaluable advice about some of the key yachts to be
featured, Charles Chapman and his committee set about
creating a valid and meaningful collection. Th is ranges
from Jack holt’s yachting world keelboat – the 1961 Zest
– through to 1995’s Mustang Sally, which can claim to
be one of the fi nest race boats of modern times; and
from the yachting monthly inspired and maurice Griffi ths
designed Eventide to Julinar, which dates from 1875
and is the fi rst racing yacht to depart from the traditional
classic pilot boat form with a cutaway bow to reduce the
underwater hull shape. while some may claim today’s
‘modern’ designs – such as the 1992 Melges 24 with its
slim hull, vestigial fi n keel with torpedo-shape ballast bulb
and canoe body – were ground-breaking; the models
on the wall show that this overall design was already in
evidence 100 years earlier in the form of Corolla, which
dates from 1895.
70 wiNter 2010 71
Th e model room

to guarantee a complete and historic collection, the club
had to commission model makers working to the original
yacht design lines to build new half models as necessary.
in order to ensure a factually accurate record of the
development of yacht design, half models were scaled
to a consistent size, all showing the starboard side up to
deck level or foot rail height. Th e models were painted
and decorated as the original owner had it.
“Amongst the models is My Lady Dainty,
the yacht racing Association’s 18 footer,
which was a championship winner for
many years.”
with a now extensive collection of half models, the
royal Th ames yacht Club needed one location in which to
create a permanent display. while some – most notably
the America’s Cup challengers and defenders are mounted
in the Quarterdeck Bar, and the metre boats and memorial
board to stewart morris and his dinghies are located in
the edinburgh room and the library respectively – the
collection was re-housed in the model room. Chapman
personally mounted all the models, arranging them in
date order around the walls. Th ere is also a collection of
one-design dinghy models from the 1886 19ft one-design
red – the fi rst of a trio named appropriately red, white and
Blue – through to a 1986 international squib. Amongst the
models is My Lady Dainty, the yacht racing Association’s
18-footer, which was a championship winner for many years.
A close look at her shape reveals her full fi n and skeg
design, a design which was years ahead of her competitors.
Th e model room not only creates an impressive visual
impact – but is also the source of a quantity of useful
information. it houses the Club’s unique collection of
oyster News
yachting monthly and yachting world magazines, which
are bound in annual volumes from the original fi rst copy
through to the most up-to-date issue. in addition, there is a
collection of notated historic photos of the yachts featured
on the walls, which is kept up to date by Beken of Cowes.
Th e collection and supporting historic documents have
proved useful reference for many yacht designers, naval
architects and even potential owners. A typical example
is how the principle of what is now considered modern
design – such as fi n and skeg – was produced in cruisers,
racers and one-designs in the early part of the last century.
Th is is illustrated by the 1966 Clarionet, said to be the fi rst
of the modern-era design with a fi n keel and separate
skeg-hung rudder.
looking around the room, it is easy to spot famous
yachts, but Charles Chapman cannot be pushed to
reveal his favourite. however, malcolm mcKeag is more
than happy to state his – which is Sphinx, a yacht that
dates back to 1866. it is claimed she gave the world
the term spinnaker from having set, for the fi rst time,
a large lightweight downwind sail. dubbed by her rivals
a ‘sphinxer’ – or ‘sphinx’s acre’ on account of its size –
it is said this created the word spinnaker.
if you are interested in fi nding out more about the
history of the Royal Th ames Yacht Club, please visit
their website at: www.royalthames.com
Oystercatcher XXVI (tim wright/photoaction.com)
Clarionet (Peter mumford – Beken of Cowes)
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72 wiNter 2010 73

oyster News
THe CONCePT
OF SAiLiNG
Fun
iS TO HAVe
By AlAN BrooK, reCeNtly retired md of oyster
ANd owNer of the New oyster 56, SULANA
retiring and sailing off into the sunset is what so many of us dream
of. But the reality is quite a strange, bittersweet moment when it
actually happens. Now here we are in las Palmas, with three weeks
to go until our fi rst transatlantic trip! however did this happen to us?
owNer rePort – sulANA
74 wiNter 2010 75

oyster News
“early retirement suddenly meant we could look to fulfi l our own
dreams in the best possible way, with the design and construction
of our own customized and personalised, new oyster.”
owNer rePort – sulANA
five years ago, aft er a week of helping
oyster owners prepare for their own
ArC adventure, my wife, sue, and i were
standing on the deck of las Armas, the
Canarian ferry acting as the ArC committee
vessel, anchored off las Palmas.
we were there as guests of Andrew Bishop and
Jeremy wyatt, of world Cruising Club fame and organisers
of the Atlantic rally for Cruisers (ArC). Th ey had invited us
on board to watch the start of the ArC, and given us the
perfect opportunity to wave goodbye to the oyster fl eet.
Th e fl eet of over 225 yachts struggled with their spinnakers,
each trying to fi nd enough space to cross the line safely
before setting off on their own grand adventure. having
observed the stresses and strains of many of our owners,
their families and crews, and seen the emotion of the
moment etched on their faces as they worked hard to get
themselves ready, the enormity of what they were about
to do had a sudden impact.
sue turned to me and spoke those fateful words
“do you know, it’s such an exciting and emotional
experience i almost want to do it myself on our own yacht.”
of course, at that time it did not seem likely to become a
reality, but nevertheless i was stunned by this comment,
from the lips of that self-confessed non-sailor, my own dear
wife, and began to harbour dreams of fi nding a suitable,
older oyster that would do the trick for us; perhaps an old
holman & Pye 435 or a 46, if we were lucky. And what
a fi ne yacht either one would have been too!
it had to be an oyster, of course, as i had been far too spoilt
in my 33-plus years of helping design, sell, build and
commission this range of yachts, but the concept of taking off
and sailing away still seemed a far off , distant prospect then.
little did either of us ever expect to be in the position
in which we subsequently found ourselves, but, early
retirement suddenly meant we could look to fulfi l our
own dreams in the best possible way, with the design and
construction of our own customized and personalised,
new oyster 56.
76 wiNter 2010 77

Th at meant so much to us both. it was now open to me
to get the latest and best of everything technical and
electronic, according to my own opinions (not somebody
else’s). sue was happy to indulge me and my dreams,
but could also be equally involved, by discussing joinery
detailing, and taking charge of interior and exterior
décor and fi nishing touches. involving sue in every small
detail and decision along the way ensured she felt this
was going to be her new home, too, just as much as
mine. A fairly essential requirement for any successful
cruising family!
Th e meetings with my personal, appointed oyster
Project manager (one Alan Brook, ably supported and
assisted by debbie Johnson, it must be said!) and yard
visits were great fun. Th e key to this process being so
successful though, was that we made the majority of
the specifi cation decisions early, prior to the start of
moulding, to get the basics resolved.
Th at meant all involved were well prepared for our
special wishes and could give due time and attention
to planning and designing their installation and fi tting.
i was insistent on optimizing every last cubic inch
of storage space as this, i knew, is always a major
consideration on board any cruising yacht. it would take
great care and considerable eff ort by all those involved
to maximize this and get it right. early decisions really
were the key to a good build programme and a carefully
designed installation plan, that avoided loss of stowage,
would follow.
having fi rst chosen our base colour scheme for the yacht,
we asked for some sample panels to fi ne-tune the exact
shade for the hull. for those interested: something that is
a mix of turquoise/aquamarine/blue/jade – chosen to be
as close as possible to the colour of the shallow seas off
Antigua, as seen over white sand.
with a slightly unusual gelcoat colour for our boot top
and cove lines, we watched as martin Bridgland and
his loyal GrP moulding team took great care to get
our hull and deck structures strong and exact. Th e hull
reinforcements alone that go into an oyster make such
a diff erence to your on-board comfort, when cruising in
far-off places, where rocks and coral abound.
oyster News
“i discovered it really does make such a
diff erence to build your own yacht to your
own specifi cation! Nothing can compare
with that pride of ownership when it
comes to sailing off .”
it was also very special for me to watch old friends, like
tony, wearing his trusty west ham woolly hat, work his
magic with the delicate job of gelcoat fi nishing. i am so
glad he didn’t retire before me! Th is is one strong boat
and she is going to last.
Th en, in July last year, the hull and deck were delivered
to landamores’ ‘new’ yard in wroxham, to await entry
into the fi tting-out bay that was to be Sulana’s home for
the following seven to eight months. yes, it is equally
important to choose a yacht’s name early, too! Aft er
many weeks of pondering, Sulana it was to be.
each one of the work force at landamores took delight
in gently ribbing me on all i had forgotten about yacht
building since taking up my directorial desk job!
however, they also took justifi able pride in their varied
personal skills, ensuring our oyster met our every
requirement. i discovered it really does make such
a diff erence to build your own yacht to your own
specifi cation! Nothing can compare with that pride
of ownership when it comes to sailing off .
it was a real joy to work with ronnie, Kevin, terry, david,
Gavin and his team on board, to name just a few. several
of them reminded my father, david, while he was visiting
Sulana, of how they had built his own oyster, 28 years
earlier! Personally, i recall my fi rst-ever visit to the yard
as a young upstart salesman, new to the industry, and
meeting leslie landamore, while leslie’s father, Anthony’s
grandfather, called in, just to check on how ‘his boys’
were doing! Th ere is nothing quite like family continuity
for generating the best of traditions and loyalties.
Th ere were so many enjoyable moments of shared
delight in their true craft smanship. it is also too easy
to take for granted what goes into the build of every
owNer rePort – sulANA
oyster yacht, but far less so when it is you they are
working for. we shared our concerns and thoughts and
they would suck their teeth and then come back with
suggestions and helpful, constructive modifi cations or
ideas. each of these, once kicked around, discussed,
quoted and agreed, added that certain little ‘je ne sais
quoi’ to the growing list of specifi cations on our personal
master worklist. Th e fi nal design of our specially veneered
saloon tabletop grew out of one of ronnie yaxley’s many
highly valued sketches, such as i had always enjoyed
working with in my earlier days. Th e fi nal solution,
beautifully produced by brothers, robert and James
seymour, of wycombe Panels, stands as a permanent
testament of the enjoyment we gained through working
with the yard.
Th e launch of our beautiful oyster 56, Sulana was special
too, with friends from near and far joining the celebrations.
it was certainly memorable in that the heavens opened
up early in the morning and threatened to dampen the
whole day, but God shut off the taps with just an hour
to go, leaving our pride and joy sparkling in the glory of
her freshly-washed teak decks.
motoring out of fox’s marina two weeks later, waving
goodbye to family and friends standing on the shingle of
ostrich Creek spit was one thing – but heading for the
orwell Bridge, with the oyster staff lining the balconies
and windows of their offi ces was something else.
Th e oyster team that i had grown up in business with;
all those people i had helped pull together and worked
alongside over all the years; they were almost as much as
family to me and i was very unsure as to how much i would
miss them, or they me. Notwithstanding the excitement of
the moment, it was a very emotional morning.
were they cheering to see the back of me? was this
really the end of life as i used to know it? would i even
enjoy retirement and a cruising life? only one way to
fi nd out – go and try it!
Th e weather forecast for the next three days was still
forward in my mind, as was debbie Johnson’s gloomy
prediction of rain and wind from the southwest. we left
fox’s on the ebb, at half tide, to take the new fl ood and
pick up the east coast’s ‘gravy train’ down to the south
78 wiNter 2010 79

oyster News
downs. Th e weather was better than it might have been,
the yacht and crew held up well, and the Goodwin sands
were passed at the turn of the tide, as planned, so it was
“carry on regardless, me hearties!”
we decided to continue, take the whole of the ebb along
the south coast and see how things panned out for the
Channel islands when closer. some of the crew were a
touch less than enthusiastic, as it was still bumpy and wet
on deck for a fi rst serious passage, but they didn’t mutiny
and continued to trust in my claims that this would be the
last time that, as a gentleman cruising yachtsman, i would
take them to windward in such conditions.
As it happened, a tiny, but quite important printed circuit
board stopped functioning as we passed Brighton, then
a troublesome hydraulic seal that had already been
changed once before, during commissioning, let go
again. so that changed my view. New boat, i reminded
myself, with things settling down under the stresses and
strains of continuous sailing that cannot be replicated
under commissioning test conditions. so it was an easy
decision to put into saxon wharf for a short stop, to
allow Andy willett, of the oyster Group’s, southampton
yacht services, to get us quickly back to 100%.
we suddenly remembered we were retired now, so
there was no longer any need to hurry and push on!
what a relief and blessing. time was on our side.
it made such a diff erence to our fi rst three months
on board, knowing we did not have to hurry anywhere,
as long as we made las Palmas, Gran Canaria, in time
for the start of the ArC, that is!
earlier this year, i happened to read in scuttlebutt, the
following poignant note from somebody called Ginny
Jones (who i don’t know). i thought at the time she really
captured the essence of what this cruising life is all about,
so i copied it down and hope she does not mind my
quoting her:
“How about the concept of sailing to have fun?
Watching the changing colours of a peaceful sunset
far offshore, as the cook and assistant (pot washer)
clean up after a delicious supper and the watches
change. Meanwhile some pleasant music comes out
through deck speakers. It is The Eagles singing Hotel
California. The watch going off is contemplating a
good sleep and the watch on deck is sailing along
with, perhaps, dolphins under the bow, and a full
moon on the rise. That is what REAL sailing is all about
– good seamanship, a good boat and good sailing, with a
new island or venue in the offi ng and new friends.”
re-reading this quote now, i cannot help but smile and
nod at the truth of what Ginny was getting at when she
wrote this. since our departure we have been enjoying
our sailing in a completely new way, a way that has put
a totally diff erent complexion on our previous life ashore.
my wife and daughter crew now know they can trust me
and i them. i have not taken them to windward again
since the maiden trip to southampton. we benefi ted
from an accurate windGuru forecast whilst in
southampton and headed south, out of the Needles
Channel under a brisk northerly! once in Jersey we took
a breather, enjoyed a sunday visit to the town Church,
to make our grateful thanks known, followed by a very
enjoyable day out at Gerald durrell’s fabulous zoo.
Another weather update made it clear, however, that to
avoid getting bottled up in the western Approaches for
quite a long time, we needed to think about moving on.
we were not in a hurry, but we were still keen to sail the
seas in a sensible fashion and avoid gales and headwinds.
Another spell of brisk northeasterly winds were due
to start and last just long enough to blow us down the
french and spanish coasts, if we left on the morrow.
if we waited, however, there were two very deep,
violent-looking depressions hiding out in the Atlantic
that would soon sweep in and block off Biscay to
prevent any properly comfortable and enjoyable, let
alone safe yachting. we decided to head out and get
round ushant as quickly as we could. what a joy that
fi rst 1,400 mile passage to madeira was! All downwind
and in fantastic wind and sunny weather, while the
predicted gales swept in from the west – well behind
us to the north.
Th e weeks of sailing since Sulana’s launch have been
full of planets, galaxies, shooting stars and satellites in
the night skies, with the odd small squid on deck in the
morning, while we have had the pleasant company of
whales, dolphins and rare seabirds in the daytime, plus
the joy of uninhabited islands and some amazing
anchorages. we are still learning our seamanship and
getting to grips with weather – and i guess we always
will. i am constantly amazed at how much i still have left
to learn aft er 33 years in the industry and over 50 years
of serious sailing experience!
i have many, many fond memories of times at sea when
i was racing off shore and could still enjoy my sailing,
but more recently this fi ne sport has developed into a
professional arms race. Th e design and construction of
yachts still bear little relationship to the demands thrown
up by the real dangers and challenges of the sea.
owNer rePort – sulANA
“Th e weeks sailing since Sulana’s launch
have been full of planets, galaxies, shooting
stars and satellites in the night skies.”
sadly, many of the lessons learnt from fastnet ’79 appear
to have been ignored or lost in the mists of time. hence
the direction taken by oyster towards producing and
developing proper cruising yachts.
Nowadays, on board Sulana, i really relish the evening
watch and noting the fi rst stars and planets to rise. i recall
in my sailing past, the delivery trips home aft er racing
were always just as much a part of the racing and just as
much fun as the actual event itself. Th at was where our
seamanship skills were honed. Th e return passages, oft en
short-handed, were when a young foredeck hand got to
steer and learn to navigate. he also got to do all the other
jobs on board that were otherwise forbidden him. Th at is
much the way i learnt.
Now many areas remain guarded as the sole province
of the professional crew. All that remains available for
the young, enthusiastic beginner, still wet behind the
ears, is to be told to fold himself double and lean out
over an uncomfortable guard wire, to act as ‘rail meat’.
little chance to develop real sailing skills there!
Ginny’s quote on the joys of ‘real sailing’ ended:
“Obviously there are some folks who won’t get the
concept, but there are many real sailors out there who
have fond memories of some time at sea when they
weren’t racing and could actually enjoy sailing.”
well, the time is now! we are ready to go and dip our
toes in the water and cast off . see you there...
Photos: Alan Brook, Peter evans,
ian roman and Barry Pickthall
80 wiNter 2010 81

2007 Oyster 72 Cookielicious
winner of the oyster Palma regatta in 2008, this
oyster 72 has built up a successful charter record.
fitted with all the optional extras that you would expect
and presented in a truly first class turn-key condition.
Quarter shares also available at £675,000 ex VAT.
£2,600,000 ex VAt
lying: Caribbean
2007 Oyster 56 Amanzi
Amanzi is particularly appealing to the enthusiastic
yachtsman thanks to her cutter rig and full battened
mainsail, offering great sailing performance. she is
highly specified and has been in continuous care of
a skipper to keep her in the best condition possible.
£920,000 inc VAt
lying: Caribbean
2004 Oyster 49 Galloper
The oyster 49 was designed to modernise hull profiles
and boost performance. This example is a fantastic family
yacht with three good sized cabins and sumptuous
accommodation. she has been maintained and upgraded
to an exceptional standard.
£450,000 inc VAt
lying: oyster uK
www.oysterbrokerage.com
oyster News
2002 Oyster 47 Escapade of London
late model, one owner oyster 47 designed by holman
& Pye with very light use and careful maintenance
schedule. Presented in first class condition with full level
of equipment. Accommodation for eight in three cabins
plus the saloon.
£360,000 inc VAt
lying: oyster uK
Oyster Brokerage Ltd: fox’s marina ipswich suffolk 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: +401 846 7400 f: +401 846 7483 e: info@oystermarine.com
sAil | BroKerAGe | ChArter | refit
neW ListinG neW ListinG
2007 Oyster 655 Proteus
Proteus has been built to mCA Charter specifications
with an exhaustive list of extras. interior joinery is honey
teak and equipment below decks are of superyacht
standard. fully-battened mainsail and carbon cutter-rig
make sailing exhilarating.
us $3,500,000 ex VAt
lying: west med
1997 Oyster 55 Shearwater of Rye
Very nice late model 55. A versatile and simple cutter
rig with an in-mast furling mainsail make her easy to sail.
Below decks she has beautiful teak interior joinery, and
a layout that sleeps eight in four cabins, without using
the saloon.
£399,000 inc VAt
lying: oyster uK
2009 Oyster 62 Stuff n Stuff
Built in 2009 and very lightly used, this boat presents
‘as new.’ Beautiful oak interior and very high spec, push
button sailing. skipper maintained from new and never
chartered. only around 200 hours on the engine.
Viewing highly recommended.
£1,395,000 ex VAt
lying: west med
PRiCe ReDuCeD
2005 Oyster 53 Boysterous
This oyster 53 is a sloop with cutter rig and fully
battened mainsail. finished in American white oak, she
offers spacious accommodation with a light and airy feel.
many home comfort extras to original build including
microwave, generator and watermaker.
£450,000 ex VAt
lying: oyster uK
2009 Oyster 46 Leonella
This g5 oyster 46 is very well equipped, with
generator, watermaker and electric in-mast furling.
Leonella has sailed her crew across to the Caribbean
and back in perfect comfort and safety. A very rare
opportunity to purchase a 2009 oyster 46.
£550,000 inc VAt
lying: oyster uK
oyster BroKerAGe – the sPeCiAlists iN Pre- owNed oyster yAChts
AVAilABle to View At the loNdoN BoAt show
2006 Oyster 82 Tillymint
A stunning oyster 82, beautifully built by our southampton
yard, TillyMint has recently had a major price reduction from
€3,750,000 to £2,750,000 ex VAt. she is presently undergoing
a pre-season maintenance refit and will be available to view,
on the water, at the london Boat show. TillyMint features a
We invite you to view TillyMint at the London Boat Show on Berth Nº P68.
Please contact us to reserve a boarding time or for more information.
Please visit our website, which is updated daily with all the latest listings and information on
each yacht or better still, come and talk to our team at the London International Boat Show,
where we can show you detailed specifications for all the yachts currently available through
Oyster Brokerage. We look forward to seeing you.
stunning interior; superbly hand crafted in mahogany, with up to
13 berths, 5 heads and panoramic saloon views. she is fitted with
hydraulic in-mast furling cutter rig, with full push-button control.
This is a serious opportunity to purchase a luxuriously appointed
oyster 82 at an extremely competitive price.
£2,750,000 ex VAt
82 wiNter 2010 83

oyster News
Hand in Glove.
Discover the difference with Pantaenius
Germany · United Kingdom · Monaco · Denmark · Austria · Spain · Sweden · USA *
Marine Building · Victoria Wharf · Plymouth · Devon PL4 0RF · Phone +44-1752 22 36 56 · Fax +44-1752 22 36 37 · info@pantaenius.co.uk
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
www.pantaenius.co.uk
owNer rePort – esPer
Red S ea Pa ra d i s e ?
YEMEN AND OMAN VIA PIRATE ALLEY
Jamie furlong became a full time sailor and traveller in 2002, crewing yachts
throughout europe, culminating in a yacht delivery across the Atlantic, where
he met liz Cleere in Antigua. she was bitten by the bug and, after extricating
herself from a demanding job and crippling mortgage, sold her house and
joined Jamie in 2005. They bought their oyster 435 Esper in turkey, where they
spent the next three years preparing her for world cruising.
BY LIz CLEERE AND jAMIE FURLONg, OYSTER 435 eSper
84 wiNter 2010 85
* Pantaenius America Ltd. is a licensed insurance agent licensed in all 50 states. It is an independent corporation incorporated under the laws of New York and is a separate and distinct entity from any entity of the Pantaenius Group.

oyster News
“We’re pumpin g out manually. We can’t find
where the wa ter’s comin g in... so much wa ter’s
comin g in at the momen t. The en gin e’s completely
Th ings can get tense in the Gulf
of Aden (aka Pirate Alley)
especially in the middle of the
night when you are maintaining
radio silence, scanning the
water for fast-moving shadows,
and trying to sail in formation.
Th e last thing you want to hear
is your friend coming through
loud and clear to let you know
that he is taking in water.
in late february we reluctantly
left idyllic sadla island in eritrea,
with the intention of getting as
far south as possible before
crossing the red sea to yemen.
Th is was our fi rst taste of sailing
in convoy. if you have never
sailed in convoy we have one
simple piece of advice: don’t,
unless you have to. Th e stress
and mental torture of trying to
get 14 yachts of varying
degrees of perverseness to sail
at the same speed, in the same
direction and in formation is like
trying to herd cats with attitude
that all think they are top Cat.
how many skippers do you
know who like taking orders?
covered, the saloon is half full...”
Th e fi rst 100 miles from sadla island put the
convoy theory to the test. depending on the
individual skipper some found the convoy too
slow, some found it too fast, there were boats
who, having been given a waypoint refused to
deviate from it even though the leader had
altered course, and there were yachts who
simply strayed from their group and sailed
where they liked. everyone had an opinion and
they all expressed it. lo grimly pressed on,
knowing from experience that we would settle
into a rhythm... eventually.
Adding to the general tension Cobble developed
engine trouble during this early stage and was
heroically towed by the swiss boat, Anthea.
when headwinds reduced Anthea’s speed to
less than 3 knots lo called a halt to our progress.
we took shelter in the shallows, close to the
border with djibouti and managed a few hours
sleep while morris and Cillian, on Cobble,
managed to make temporary repairs to the
engine. unfortunately our presence proved too
much for the local military who, within a matter
of hours, moved us on. By now we were used to
being woken up at dawn by
machine guns. it was a truly
beautiful morning but, more
importantly, the headwinds
had died. Now was the perfect
opportunity to make a dash
across the shipping lanes of
the red sea.
Along with piracy, the Bab el
mandeb (“Gate of tears” in
Arabic) had been one of our
biggest concerns. Th is
notorious stretch of water
connecting the red sea with
the Gulf of Aden is divided by
the island of Perim, with
dact-el-mayun to the west and
the smaller Alexander’s strait,
only two miles wide and our
chosen route, to the east.
ferocious winds oft en blow
through these narrow channels,
accompanied by strong currents
and turbulent seas, making the
Bab el mandeb impassable for
small boats, oft en causing them
to shelter in a protected
anchorage for weeks until a
suitable window appears.
our departure time from
sadla island had been based
on careful consideration of weather conditions.
By taking information from several sources over a
sustained period (twice daily reports on every day
of the rally) we timed the crossing well, making
our move just as the change in wind direction and
speed was at its gentlest. we crossed a fl at red
sea and quickly passed through the strait. 3 knots
of current popped Esper out into the Gulf of
Aden like a champagne cork. Th e current soon
dissolved, but spirits were high and we were all
on full alert as we began our journey through the
most pirate-ridden stretch of water on earth.
How the con woy worked
Aft er many years of taking boats through
the Gulf of Aden, lo Brust has devised a
simple kite-shaped sailing pattern for a
successful convoy. he is positioned at the
front and centre point of the kite. Group
1 follows him a quarter of a mile on the
starboard quarter, Group 3 mirrors
Group 1 on the port quarter and Group 2
owNer rePort – esPer
stays a mile directly behind lo. At night
the groups close in.
each of the groups contains four or fi ve
boats, including a ‘leader’. each leader
is given a diff erent coloured fl ashing light,
which is mounted on the stern. Th ese
three group leaders and lo maintain the
kite shape by watching their Ais
sailing under
normal conditions
“If you ha ve n ever sailed in con voy
we ha ve on e simple piece of advice:
don’t, un less you ha ve to.”
transponder readings. Th e other boats
in each group simply follow their lead
boat. Th e only prerequisite for becoming
leader is the possession of an Ais
transponder. As Esper was one of the
three boats in the rally with this piece
of equipment we were given the task
of leading Group 3.
86 wiNter 2010 87
B
A
fi g.1
the ‘Kite’ formAtioN
sailing at night or
when threatened
A
B

“On Chan n el 16 a na val warship began
a on e-sided con verstaion with a
commercial vessel about pira tes
spotted in the vicinity”
After the exhilaration of
making it through the Bab
safely the convoy began to
lose formation. our group was
particularly bad at staying
together throughout the rally,
with two boats often tending
to lag behind, ending up at the
back of the ‘kite’ formation
with Group 2. This left Esper in
the correct position as leader,
but often on her own or with
the company of only one or
two other boats. inevitably,
whilst Esper was stranded, there suddenly
appeared several fast moving skiffs heading
straight towards us from all directions.
“rally boats, rally boats, close in Now!”
lo was talking to us on Channel 72, while at
the same time, on Channel 16, a naval warship
began a one-sided conversation with a
commercial vessel about pirates just spotted in
the vicinity. with lo steaming ahead of us, and
Group 1 on our beam, the rest of our group and
Group 2 behind, Esper was left on her own and
vulnerable. it was a heart-stopping moment.
oyster News
the ‘attack’ turned out to be a false alarm.
lo informed us we were passing a fishing village,
but he had got the message across: the plan of
closing in fast together, should we find ourselves
under attack, had not worked because boats
were not adhering to his carefully planned ‘kite’
formation. from that moment most of the rally tried
harder to stay where they had been placed by lo.
strangely enough, it was not the ever-present
threat of piracy that kept us on full alert through
this most dangerous of waters. The constant
menace from haphazardly laid, and poorly
marked, fishing nets quickly became our biggest
dread and took up all our
waking thoughts. The coasts
of yemen and oman are alive
with fishing vessels of all sizes
and shapes, with nets strung
out behind and in front of
them. sometimes they are lit at
night, but quite often they are
only marked with a float. most
of the fishing boats leave their
lights off until a boat gets close
to them, so navigating through
this assault course really keeps
you on your toes. As our group
was on the landward side of the ‘kite’ we were
closer to shore and more vulnerable to the nets.
on several occasions one or other of our boats
was snagged by them.
despite the niggling and whining induced by
sailing in formation, when it came to our fellow
rally boats being in any kind of danger everyone
stepped up to the mark. having towed Cobble
over 200 miles Anthea was struck down with a
broken head gasket just after leaving Aden.
This time it was lo, on Mistral, who undertook
the towing of another yacht. in an enviable feat
of engineering Jean Claude was able to repair
Anthea’s engine whilst being towed; by the time
we reached Al mukallah he was able to steer
into the anchorage under his yacht’s own power.
There were several unscheduled night-time
diving adventures when yachts were caught
in nets. Anthony, of Divanty, had the most
accessible dinghy, and time and again lowered it
into choppy water, fixed the outboard to it and
motored from boat to boat with people,
equipment and underwater torches to help
disentangle props from nets. “it all adds to the
excitement,” was his comment.
for 750 miles we crept along at 5 knots in the heat
of an Asian spring, but when ian, of Rhumb Do,
broke radio silence to tell us he was taking in
water a cold chill ran through the rally. Props
caught in nets, failing alternators and broken
autopilots were one thing, but this was different.
As we listened in silence to ian’s Vhf bulletins,
every boat willed him to locate the problem and
fix it. The yemeni coastguard has a good
reputation, but we all knew there would be no
chance of rescuing Rhumb Do if she really was
going down. All around the blackness was lit by
the flame from a nearby oil platform, giving off a
malevolent orange light, under-laid with the roar
of machinery. we strained our eyes for ian’s
yacht, scanning an eerie horizon that looked like
a scene from mordor, with sauron’s burning eye
watching us. in the darkness, Jamie hastily
prepared towlines as it seemed likely ian’s
engine had seized. Agonising minutes passed.
finally ian located the problem: the end cap
of his heat exchanger had split and broken off.
he hastily jury-rigged a solution, while his crew,
robbie from Canada, baled like crazy. once
again we were on our way.
it was during the leg from Al mukallah to salalah
that we marked a special day and took a few
moments to forget the pressure – Jamie’s 40th
birthday. since we were maintaining radio
silence some of the yachts came alongside to
wave and liz managed to produce over 40
birthday cards she had somehow kept hidden
since turkey. Breaking all their rules, Jamie had a
can of beer and liz had a small nip of scotch to
mark the occasion.
Among the stress and strain of sailing in convoy,
avoiding fishing nets and watching for pirates,
there were priceless moments on land which we
will remember for ever. we did not see much of
yemen, in fact we only saw Aden, but we fell in
love with the people and the place. since ancient
times Aden has been a key port on the east west
trading route, but after the withdrawal of the
British in the late 1960s decades of civil strife
have left the town pock-marked, dishevelled,
and abandoned.
owNer rePort – esPer
tactics for sailing in the Gulf of Aden
we knew when we made the decision to sail through the
Gulf of Aden we were taking a risk. By joining a rally we
minimised that risk, a view shared by the crew of HMS Chatham.
the tACtiCs Are simPle for smAll yAChts:
• sail in company
• have on board as many methods of communication as possible
• sail close to land
• inform the msChoA of your intentions long before you begin
the journey - we reported to the uKmto every six hours
• maintain radio silence
• use minimal lights - we used only deck-mounted navigation
lights, no mast or steaming lights
• install an Ais transponder. we were tracked by the
taskforce all the way from suez
• Arm yourself with knowledge and do your homework
• ultimately, long distance yachtsmen and women are
adventurers and risk takers. our lives are fraught with
danger on a daily basis. each individual has to assess
whether the risk outweighs the adventure and to ensure
every measure is taken to minimise that risk
88 wiNter 2010 89

we found our delightful taxi driver and good
‘all-round bloke’, selim, at the Victorian Prince of
wales pier in tawila. it is here you land your dinghy
on slippery steps and discuss, at great length, your
paperwork with the local bureaucrats. The elegant
columned building adjacent to the pier serves as
the gateway to Aden for passing yachtsmen and
women. it also serves as a gathering point for taxi
drivers and guides.
for a few dollars you get the standard tour,
incorporating such highlights as the Cisterns,
old Aden and the sirah fortress. selim prefers
the grittier side of Aden and peppered our drives
with potted histories, anecdotes and
inappropriate jokes.
he brought us to a shop in
Crater’s market owned by his
friend, where we drank iced
fresh lime juice of such lip
smacking thirst quenching
flavour it puts Pepsi and its rivals
to shame. As we sat round a
narrow plastic table, selim
explained how his country
prospered under communist
rule: women discarded the
jilbāb, children went to school
and work was plentiful.
“we were happier then.
The russians sent me to
moscow to study engineering.
Now we are back to the old
ways. i drive a taxi and my
wife wears black.”
he demanded we eat at the
‘reem tourist restaurant’,
which turned out to be nothing
of the sort. it was full of locals
(all men!) who stared and
smiled at us. The kebabs
were spicy, fresh and tender.
he embarrassingly accepted a
few dollars in payment at the
end of our rides with him,
hastily tucking the money in a
pocket without checking it. despite his country’s
shortcomings selim tries his best to be upbeat
about life and remains one of the dearest and
friendliest people we met throughout the rally.
of course, yemen, like most middle eastern
countries, is dry. But, like most middle eastern
countries, if you look hard enough you will find
alcohol. overlooking the anchorage is a dubious
oyster News
establishment called ‘sailors Bar’ where you buy
beer or ‘whisky’ and other spirits by the bottle.
in a side room shady locals play cards and
furiously smoke, occasionally glancing, poker
faced, at the overseas patrons. sitting on the
water’s edge you sip your drink, while
wisecracking girls, in the tiniest of hot pants and
tightest of bustiers, serve your every whim. we
were fascinated to see that even these sirens
cover themselves from head to foot in black when
they set foot outside the bar.
life was a little less interesting in oman, but
certainly more beautiful. in Port salalah, where
we were stuck for over three weeks awaiting our
indian visas – the system is rigged so that you
have to use an agent. This has led to arbitrary
and spurious fees being levied, with no recourse
for the hapless yachtsman. on the positive side
there was a good bar within walking distance
and the beaches were untouched and
spectacular. we were pleased to learn that
oman has a huge indian workforce, resulting in
some great restaurants delivering delicious
no-frills curries to the workers. on the whole,
though, oman was dull and characterless
compared to the other countries we had visited.
There was one memorable highpoint in salalah,
meeting the crew of HMS Chatham. we were
lucky enough to be in port at
the same time as this royal
Navy type 22 frigate was
making minor repairs. The rally
went on board for a talk on
piracy and a tour of the ship,
where we gawped at the
weapons and coveted the
Gatling-style gun; it would have
fitted nicely onto any of our
boats. several happy days and
hours were spent putting the
world to rights with the crew.
“We gawped at the weapons and coveted
the Gatlin g-style gun; it would ha ve fitted
nicely onto an y of our boats.”
As we prepared to leave for
the longest part of the rally,
across the Arabian sea to
india, bad news arrived. The
coalition’s grip of the Gulf of
Aden was working so well that
overnight the pirates switched
their area of operation. two
piracy attacks had occurred
off the coast of oman, one of
them less than 30 miles away.
The uKmto immediately
requested that we remain in
salalah until they had
investigated and ascertained
the danger. once again, the
sickening fear of piracy had
reared its head.
Cruising log for Vasco da Gama rally
Date From To Distance
5/11/09 marmaris, turkey Port said, egypt 391
11/11/09 Port said ismailia 40
18/11/09 ismailia Port suez 46
22/11/09 Port suez wadi dome marina 30
23/11/09 wadi dome marina mersa Thelemet 30
25/11/09 mersa Thelemet ras sheratib 40
26/11/09 ras sheratib sheik riyah harbour 38
27/11/09 sheik riyah harbour endeavour Bay 40
29/11/09 endeavour Bay hurghada marina 20
06/01/10 hurghada marina marsa Abu makhadiq 13
07/01/10 marsa Abu makhadiq Abu soma 29
08/01/10 Abu soma Port Ghalib 100
12/01/10 Port Ghalib sharm luli, sudan 68
Leg total 885
19/01/10 sharm luli,egypt marob, sudan 202
22/01/10 marob marsa inkeifel 91
25/01/10 marsa inkeifel suakin 114
30/11/10 suakin trinkitat 44
02/02/10 trinkitat Khor Narawat 47
03/02/10 Khor Narawat massawa, eritrea 175
15/02/10 massawa ras Corali 27
17/02/10 ras Corali howakil Bay 45
19/02/10 howakil Bay mersa dudo 129
22/02/10 mersa dudo sadla island 3
Leg total 877
27/02/10 sadla island, eritrea eritrean/djibouti Border
lat: 12 43.40N lon: 043 07.83e
28/02/10 eritrean/djibouti Aden, yemen
lat: 12 43.40N lon: 043 07.83e
owNer rePort – esPer
useful iNformAtioN
All official bodies will advise yachts not to transit the
Gulf of Aden and inform you that if you decide to sail in
this area you do so at your own risk. Although there is no
organisation set up to help small boats like yachts, the
following bodies offer extensive information. since we
finished the rally msChoA has added a section devoted
to yachting, including guidelines.
MsChOA Maritime security Centre - horn of Africa
set up by the european task force to tackle piracy in this
area. established the internationally recommended
transit Corridor (irtC) Esper joined msChoA organisation
to gain full access to the website. www.mschoa.org
iCC-CCs international Chamber of Commerce:
Commercial Crimes service
Go to their imB reporting centre for information on
piracy and a map of piracy activity. www.icc-ccs.org
isAF international sailing Federation.
working with the taskforce to offer advice to yachts.
www.sailing.org
The Vasco Da Gama Rally
The next rally departs india for turkey in January 2011.
lo Brust, the organiser, charges a nominal sum for each
yacht. he took away the headache of the mountains of
paperwork and bureaucracy required in every port.
The rally is really a guiding service, and lo makes it clear
that if you participate you must be capable of getting
there on your own. each skipper is reminded that he is
100% responsible for his own vessel and the safety of
his crew. www.vascodagamarally.nl
Photographs: Jamie furlong
90 wiNter 2010 91
100
09/03/10 Aden Al mukala 290
14/03/10 Al mukalla salalah, oman 350
Leg total 850
05/04/10 salalah ras al hallaniyah 125
07/04/10 ras al hallaniyah mumbai, india 990
26/04/10 mumbai Jaigarh 110
28/04/10 Jaigarh Goa 127
04/05/10 Goa Kochi 390
Leg total 1742
Rally total: 4354
you can follow liz and Jamie’s worldwide adventure on their website www.followtheboat.com where you will
also find more of Jamie’s photographs. Their popular weekly podcast is available through the website or itunes.
110

oyster News
owNer rePort – uhuru
TO
BArTiCA
AND BACK
UHURU takes on the essequibo river, Guyana.
we left Grenada on the 1st of october having spent the
summer ashore at spice island marine, where we took full
advantage of their excellent facilities to prepare UHURU for
our next challenging nine-month leg – down the east Coast
of south America, British Guyana, french Guiana, Brazil,
Argentina, then over to the falklands for Christmas. Before
heading over to the Antarctic Peninsula for January and back
up to ushuaia, the Chilean Archipelagos, Peru, Galapagos,
mexico and fi nally los Angeles, by early July.
By steve Powell, oyster 62 UHURU
92 wiNter 2010 93

oyster News
in Grenada we were joined by david ‘Botty’ Botterill,
olly Pettifer (my 1st mate) and david and tamsin Kidwell
from Twice Eleven, a renowned and popular oyster 435.
we set off just as Grenada went on to storm watch
status. tropical storm ‘otto’ was developing several
hundred miles east of us and heading directly towards
the eastern Caribbean.
one of the useful side eff ects of this was that it was
sucking all the wind out of the Caribbean and what are
normally steady easterlies dropped to almost no wind at
all and fl at calm seas. so our strategy was to use this lack
of wind and sea on the nose to motor as hard and fast
as we could directly towards ‘otto’, making as much east
as we could in the process, until the wind picked up and
we could bear away (bounce off ‘otto’) and hopefully
sail as close to south as possible. it became known
onboard as the ‘Billiard Ball strategy’.
well, it was a strategy that worked really well for the fi rst
couple of days, and when the wind picked up we were
able to get a pretty good angle on Guyana. it wasn’t
until late on the third day that we really experienced
wind and sea on the nose. i had hoped to reach the
mouth of the essequibo river at low water on the
morning of the 4th october, but a combination of south
southeasterly winds and a little engine trouble kept us
tacking off shore until the morning of the 5th.
one of our early goals on this trip was to go up the
essequibo river, in Guyana, to Bartica, a small mining town
and the Guyanian gateway to the Amazon rain forest.
in Chris doyle’s latest cruising guide to trinidad and tobago
he included a section on Guyana, and simon ward, who
had spent a few months on the river in his 50ft sloop,
contributed a useful report with waypoints all the way up
to Bartica. on further inspection i realised that although the
waypoints formed a very useful start, we would draw too
much for a number of the sections and would have to fi nd
our own route. we draw 2.7m (9ft ) and i always want to
keep a minimum of 0.5m under the keel as a safety margin.
i think his sloop drew no more than 7ft , which can make a
very big diff erence in these waters.
we crossed the bar (2.7m) off the mouth of the river
about two hours aft er low water and motored through a
relatively easy section of about 25nm to a small riverside
boatyard at roeden rust, owned by Captain de silva,
a very aff able and knowledgeable river skipper. he had
arranged 150 gallons of diesel to be waiting for us when
we arrived and the next morning spent a good hour
talking us through what to expect as we went up river.
Aft er refuelling and spending a comfortable night in
roeden rust we prepared to set out as the tide started
to fl ood. Th en we encountered the fi rst challenge of
the day, our stern anchor had set hard in very sticky
mud, and it is a big heavy danforth. try as we might we
owNer rePort – uhuru
“All the time we were slipping along beside
beautiful, lush rain forest jungle and palm trees,
oft en no more than 30 feet away. Small fast,
colourful high-bowed boats charged up and
down the river, all intrigued with our slow and
oft en meandering progress.”
struggled to get it out, we tried several of the methods
recommended in those ‘yachty mags’ where it’s all done
in text book fashion, in a marina, and nothing goes
wrong. well, i can tell you with a 3-4 knot tide running
up a fast river, nothing goes ‘text book’!
we eventually managed to shift it but by this time we
were a little behind schedule and i had a very muddy
and slightly bruised crew (ego as well as physically).
our trip upriver was tense, i was on the helm for about
seven hours straight, what with shift ing mud banks,
narrow channels, brutal tidal fl ow and inaccurate charts,
it all made for exciting times. But we were egged on by the
certain knowledge that we are the biggest, (deepest draft )
modern sailboat to come up here, and the enthusiastic
waves we got from local fi shermen tended to confi rm it.
All the time we were slipping along beside beautiful lush
rain forest jungle and palm trees, oft en no more than
30 feet away. every now and then we’d come across a
clearing with a small farm or, on one occasion, a school.
small fast, colourful high-bowed boats charged up and
down the river, all intrigued with our slow and oft en
meandering progress.
Although we had prepared everything right on this leg,
and we had it all going for us – spring tides, going up on a
rising tide, etc. when our depth dropped to just 0.4m while
94 wiNter 2010 95

“Had we run aground hard we would have
probably had to wait for the next Spring tides.
i suspect the crew would have all had a little
sense of humour failure at that moment.”
crossing a bar that wasn’t supposed to be there, all hearts
stopped for a moment. i did some rapid reversing and
manoeuvering, eventually managing to fi nd a path through,
but i don’t think i took a breath for a good fi ve minutes!
i’ve run aground many times in my little race boat, E’Tu
and even, i confess, a couple of times in UHURU,
sand/mud banks etc. and as long as you’re not going
too fast and are prepared for it, it’s not normally a major
problem. But half way up a rain forest river in Guyana,
at the top of spring tides with a 3-4 knot tide running,
that’s a diff erent ball game. had we run aground hard
we would have probably had to wait for the next spring
tides. i suspect the crew would have all had a little sense
of humour failure at that moment.
if i did it again i wouldn’t do it at spring tides, although
it does give you a little extra water at high tide, the
downside of increased tidal fl ow and a potentially very
long wait if you do go aground outweigh the benefi ts.
Th e biggest challenge was the mental one of constantly
trying to divine what was really happening under this
fast fl owing muddy water just from our depth sounder.
i used the tried and tested method of sailing into a
shallow then bearing away into deeper water until you
again hit shallow water, this helps defi ne the channel.
But when shallows suddenly loom at you where they
have no right to be, it makes it very diffi cult. in the
end i spent the whole time trying to extrapolate from
inaccurate charts, depth sounder info, and mark one
eyeball where we were and what was ‘likely’ to happen
next. i was exhausted by the time we arrived.
oyster News
we had a number of other ‘tight squeezes’, but all in
areas that we expected shallow water. i managed to
realign our chart plotter fairly accurately using local
landmarks and paper charts as the reference. so as
we progressed we became more and more confi dent.
we arrived in Bartica at sunset, the last section a nasty
tight little run through rocks known as ‘rattlesnake rocks’,
which might give you an idea of the course we had to
take. finding the only piece of ‘deepish’ water we could
safely anchor in was just off the commercial dock where
the riverboats take gold, diamonds and people up and
down the river, we settled down for a G&t. Job done!
i am not going to bore you with the detail of our return
down river, as it was a repeat of the same without too
much drama. And i am not going to bore you with tales
of Bartica because to be honest we didn’t have enough
time to really go exploring, but it is a very vibrant, busy,
mining town and the gateway to the interior. you wouldn’t
necessarily want to spend your summer holidays here,
but it had a lot of charm, and they take a lot of pride
in the ‘melting pot’ nature of the racial mix here.
we spoke with a number of locals about ‘life, the
universe and everything’ and they were nothing but
charming and helpful. in fact i spent a charming hour
or two on UHURU with the head of Cid, Th e head of
immigration, the Chief Customs offi cer, Th e Chief of
Police, and two other various ‘offi cers’, all onboard to
check that i didn’t have any drugs or contraband.
But it soon became very obvious all they wanted to do
was sit on the boat and drink my precious tonic water.
Th ey took pictures of themselves at the chart table,
wandered around and asked questions about all the toys,
and generally had a lot of fun. Th ey all confi rmed that we
were the biggest boat they’d seen in Bartica, and loved the
fact that we were on our way to Antarctica, via Bartica.
to be absolutely honest, the adventure for us was the
journey and it was very special.
Photos: steve Powell
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96 wiNter 2010 97

oyster News
D E S T I N A T I O N H O N g K O N g
when you think of hong Kong, what pops into your mind? An iconic harbour, high-rise
skyline, can-do attitude, busy Blade runner streetscapes, dim sum and sailing junks,
perhaps. you’d be right. one of the most exciting cities in Asia, with world-class shopping,
dining and entertainment, hong Kong does 'urban' extraordinarily well.
BY BART KIMMAN
Th ere’s another side to hong Kong.
surprising to visitors and cherished by
residents are the beautiful seascapes.
looking like a cross between the west coast of
scotland and Australia’s whitsunday islands,
it remains unmistakably Chinese as the morning
mist lift s across layer upon layer of rugged green
mountains. with 236 islands studded with
golden beaches and set in jade seas, these are
stunning cruising grounds, and a watery release
valve for hong Kong’s seven million residents.
Th e territory is divided into four main areas:
hong Kong island, Kowloon, the New territories
and the outlying islands. At its heart lies dramatic
Victoria harbour, splitting the city in two, with
hong Kong island to the south and urban Kowloon
to the north. Beyond Kowloon, between the
Nine dragons mountains and China, is the
New territories. And surrounding the whole
lot are the outlying islands.
destiNAtioN hoNG KoNG
with a subtropical climate, calm waters and little
tidal drop, the sailing is easy. hazards are few
and all those islands protect the cruising grounds
from big swells. outside the harbour, you can
anchor almost anywhere you like for as long as
you want, hassle-free. Alternatively dock at one
of the yacht clubs, most of which have pools,
restaurants, boatyard facilities and visitors’
moorings or berths. And, of course, friendly
bars for spinning a yarn with fellow yachties.
Th e yacht clubs are spread throughout the
territory, close to the best cruising grounds.
the Gold Coast yacht and Country Club, in the
western New territories, is conveniently located
for access to hong Kong international Airport
and the long beaches of lantau island. it’s the
only yacht club with typhoon-proof berths for
superyachts, several of which are reserved for
visitors. Th e Gold Coast is also home to oyster
marine representative, Asia yacht services, who
off er a full range of services for boat owners,
including top-quality repairs and maintenance
and yacht management services.
Above: mark talbot's, oyster 46 Tigress anchored off Crooked island, hong Kong
Asia yacht services can organize immigration
and marine department formalities for visiting
yachts, including registration and entry/exit
permits. formalities are fairly relaxed, but you
do need to make sure your papers are in order.
for most nationalities, visas can be granted on
arrival. And there are no corruption issues –
hong Kong has the reputation for being one of the
'cleanest' cities in Asia thanks to the independent
Commission Against Corruption (iCAC).
Aft er weeks or months cruising around Asia,
many visiting boats need some maintenance.
hong Kong has an excellent reputation for the
quality of its marine servicing, with plenty of
experienced boatyards and ready access to
spares for repairs or even refi ts. Asia yacht
services has a well-equipped yard that can
lift boats of up to 50 tons, or 70ft loA, with
associated shipyards for larger yachts.
it’s no surprise that one of the world’s busiest
ports has an active sailing community. As well
as a packed racing-series calendar, there are
98 wiNter 2010 99

several offshore events where you may be
able to put your oyster to the test. one of the
biggest is the 480nm san fernando race from
hong Kong to the Philippines in April, organized
by the royal hong Kong yacht Club (rhKyC;
the only institution in the city that voted to retain
its 'royal' moniker after the 1997 handover to
China). The rhKyC also organizes races to
macau and back in february and may, and the
China Coast regatta in october. staying within
local waters is the club’s famous Around the
island race, the biggest and most inclusive on
the calendar, held in November. But the most
challenging local event is the Aberdeen Boat Club’s
four Peaks race, a gruelling overnight sailing and
mountain-running combo held in January.
for most visiting sailors, the big attraction is easy
cruising in accurately charted waters. The most
popular areas are around lantau, lamma island
and the southside of hong Kong island, and sai
Kung, on the eastern side of the New territories.
The long beaches in the country park on the
southside of lantau island are a magnet for
oyster News
weekend leisure junks. Call in at the Chinese
fishing villages on the islands of Cheung Chau
and Peng Chau – no cars allowed – and amble
down the backstreets, or stop for seafood.
At night, anchor off hong Kong disneyland for
the nightly fireworks display – a wonderful
backdrop to a meal onboard. And keep an eye
out for hong Kong’s famous pink dolphins, the
“national” animal and a truly astonishing sight.
A string of lovely beaches on the south side of
hong Kong island are popular anchorages, with
moorings and yacht club facilities at middle
island between repulse and deep water bays.
Cross the busy lamma Channel to the beaches
of lamma island, where green turtles are known
to nest, then feast on the freshest Cantonese
seafood at a string of restaurants in the village of
sok Kwu wan. Pick a fish from a tank, and have
it served up steaming hot and laden with ginger
and spring onion minutes later. Alternatively,
head to quiet Po toi, an island off stanley, with a
small beach and an excellent seafood restaurant
(make sure you try the black-pepper prawns).
Above: Big Buddha – the tallest outdoor, bronze Buddha on the planet.
sai Kung is known locally as 'the garden of
hong Kong', thanks to its large country park
and spectacular coastline. The calm waters
of Port shelter feature several little beaches
popular with local sailors, and further afield lie
the long and often deserted sweeps of beach at
tai long wan. The area has recently been anointed
a Geopark in an effort to conserve its magnificent
rock formations, including caves and arches that
are navigable by kayak, and one of the world’s
largest collections of hexagonal columns (very
similar to the Giant’s Causeway in ireland).
The marine Park at hoi ha features a surprising
array of coral and marine life for divers –
hong Kong has more than 100 species of coral
and 300 species of fish.
to truly get away from it all, head north to the
serene and usually empty waters of double
haven, which can be reached only by foot
– or by your oyster!
TOP 10 ATTRACTIONS
destiNAtioN hoNG KoNG
The Peak. The iconic view across the city from the highest point on hong Kong
island is a must-see. Pick a clear day and catch the Peak tram from Central for a
10-minute trip on the world’s steepest funicular railway.
Big Buddha. The tallest, seated, outdoor bronze Buddha statue on the planet
gazes serenely across lantau island.
VicToria harBour. The glittering heart of hong Kong, best viewed from the
deck of your oyster. Go at 8pm, when lasers dance across the skyline nightly for
the world’s biggest son et lumière display, the symphony of lights.
NgoNg PiNg 360. A fascinating 20-minute cable car trip that offers amazing views
of hong Kong international Airport before passing over the spine of lantau island to the
feet of the Big Buddha.
WoNg Tai SiN TemPle. have your fortune told in this 18,000-square-foot
temple complex that serves hong Kong’s three major religions: taoism, Buddhism
and Confucianism.
STaNley markeT. Packed with fashion, paintings, antiques and trinkets, with a
seafront strip of bars and restaurants ready to perk you up after you’ve shopped till
you’re ready to drop.
dim Sum. literally translated as 'little pieces of the heart', this morning institution
is the best meal of the day. traditionally served by ladies pushing trolleys through
packed restaurants, order as many of the dumplings and other little dishes as you
want. Always eaten with tea.
hollyWood road. 'Antique street' is like a museum with price tags. Browse
the ming furniture, mandarin robes, ancient Chinese ceramics and junk-store finds.
Then meander up the hill to the restaurants of soho to take a break.
raciNg aT haPPy Valley. it’s not every day you see a racecourse surrounded
by skyscrapers. Join the throng trackside to cheer your horse down the home
straight, or book into a box for a taste of the high life.
The dragoN’S Back. Voted Asia’s best urban hike by time magazine, the
dragon’s Back is an 8.5km trail through bamboo forests and past gurgling streams
along the spine of hong Kong island. Just 20 minutes and a world away from the city.
OYSTER'S REPRESENTATIVE IN ASIA
BarT kimmaN
Asia yacht services limited
Gold Coast yacht and Country Club
1 Castle Peak road
New territories
hong Kong
tel: (852) 2815 0404
email: bart.kimman@oystermarine.hk
100 wiNter 2010 101
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WHEN TO gO
hong Kong has a subtropical climate with distinct
seasons, and can be affected by typhoons from
may-November. Autumn (october-december)
is the best time to visit, with pleasantly warm
temperatures, low humidity and plenty of sunshine.
winter (January-march) is cool, dry and cloudy.
spring (April-June) is humid and often wet. summer
(July-september) is hot and humid with occasional
thunderstorms and temperatures hovering around
30ºC. for up-to-date forecasts and marine
meteorological services, visit the hong Kong
observatory website: www.hko.gov.hk.
YACHT CLUBS
gold coaST yachT aNd couNTry cluB
full-service yacht club, with typhoon-proof berths
for superyachts and smaller boats (including visitor's
berths). facilities include pool, restaurants, spa,
on-site hotel, boatyard.
1 Castle Peak road
Castle Peak Bay
New territories
hong Kong
Above left: hong Kong ting Kau Bridge
Above right: sai Kung – the garden of hong Kong
tel: (852) 2404 3257
fax : (852) 2457 8940
email: info@goldcoastclub.com.hk
web: www.goldcoastclub.com.hk

whilst meandering along the
turkish coast from Antalya in
the eastern mediterranean to
istanbul (with incursions into
the Black sea) my wife doreen
and i agreed, without a second’s
hesitation, that we have loved
every minute of the three years
we have spent sailing these
warm waters.
oyster News
TURKISH DELIgHT
By BriAN loNG,
oyster 56, Chinook
to avoid the heat and crowds of summer, our
sailing adventures have been enjoyed during
the spring and autumn seasons as we eased
our way, without a schedule, along one of the
most benign coastlines in the world. stopping
in places like Kusedasi, fethiye, Kemer, izmir,
Cesme plus the popular sailing meccas of
marmaris and Bodrum.
turkey is a beautiful country with lovely people
and a fabulous southern coastline studded
with historic remnants of ancient civilizations.
monuments like ephesus, hadrian’s Gate and
the wonderful outdoor concert hall, built in the
5th Century called Aspendos and a great many
more, too numerous to mention.
our latest sojourn in spring 2010 started by
dropping Chinook back into the water in
Ayvalik and hoisting the sails, before pointing
towards istanbul and the Black sea, passing
through the dardanelles to the sea of marmaris
and the Bosphorus.
Th e island of Bozcaada has stood guard over the
entrance to the dardanelles for centuries, but is
now noted more as a tourist destination than a
military outpost and people arrive in droves
from ferries to inhabit the many fi sh restaurants
in the town of the same name.
manoeuvring very carefully to avoid the
swimmers in the pristine waters of the bay,
doreen dropped the anchor as i backed up to
the dock and tied up. Zipping out the hydraulic
passerelle i stepped ashore to connect the
power and take a look around.
Bozcaada is a great place to explore, a pretty
old town surrounding the bay, charming old
hotels and a restored Venetian fortress rising
up high over the sea, providing wonderful
panoramic views. it’s an easy, pleasant place
to relax in and enjoy the local wine.
we were reminded of the strategic military
value of the area when, just outside the entrance
to the dardanelles, what appeared at fi rst sight
to be a small rock standing just above the water
materialised ominously into a turkish Navy
submarine! At the time we had no inkling that
another interesting encounter with a naval
vessel would occur sometime later.
our pilot book contained stern warnings about
the shallows in the south entrance area to the
dardanelles advising of considerable silting,
so we followed the sub into the channel but it
soon pulled away from us at a good pace as
we passed the ancient cities of troy on our
starboard side.
once inside the sea of marmara we decided
to visit Karagbiga on the south coast before
threading our way through the astonishing
beauty of the Adasis of trumeili and Pasalilmani
with the tricky shallow entrance between a tiny
island and the picturesque mini Pasha harbour.
Th en on to marmara Adasi, the largest island in
the sea, famous for its white marble quarried
from the north side of the island.
many of the best views of the most famous
landmarks in istanbul are from the water and
motoring up the Bosphorus, where all forms
of sailing are prohibited, provides photogenic
angles of the topkapi Palace, the Blue mosque
and dolmabache Palace.
Th ere are scores of vessels large and small
crossing east and west, as well as container
ships transiting the Bosphorus north and south,
so the entrance is not a place for the faint
hearted in holiday season. innumerable ferries
crisscross the entrance from the Golden horn
to the tourist areas on the Asian side and are
too fast and too many to attempt picking a
way through them, so gambling that no ferry
skipper wanted the sinking of a Canadian
fl agged oyster 56 on his resumé and
owNer rePort – BriAN loNG
possessed the skills to avoid us, i held my
course and 3-knot speed!
we stopped at a port just inside the Black sea
on the european side called rumeli feneri,
which was jammed tightly with fi shing boats:
we were a bit apprehensive about fi shy smells
surrounding us all night and almost left again,
until beckoned by a worker to tie alongside
him, where we nestled, raft ed four deep.
But there were no odours at all as the fi shing
boats there were being refi tted and repaired
and none were actively involved in fi shing.
Th is is a point of entry into turkey and it wasn’t
long before a casually dressed offi cial dropped
by asking for our papers and collecting 20 lire
from our kitty.
early next morning saw us heading east along
the rarely sailed north coast of turkey towards
sile, about 45 miles distant, motoring smartly
across the North and south traffi c separation
lines at the Bosphorus entrance, which
were busy in both directions. A light wind
came from the north east and the ever
present swell we’d heard of was evident
and uncomfortable, but we managed about
5 knots, sailing just off the wind for a few hours
until it died and our faithful yanmar kicked in to
help our progress.
As we were motoring i decided to ease further
north until the wind strengthened, as this would
give us a better angle to make the entrance to
the marina, and just before tacking we passed
close to a fl eet of four or fi ve smaller fi shing
boats; although no dive fl ag was visible, several
of the crew wore wet suits and one jumped into
the water. As we exchanged friendly waves we
wondered what they were doing, speculating
net-tangling problems were being attended to.
our south east tack was much smoother and
with fresher winds we made good time
approaching the breakwater and entrance
to the marina, which was located on the east
Pictures (from left to right):
• View from the Castle on Bozcaada
• Beach scene in the Black sea
• tourist tram on istikalal Ave istanbul
• Th e oyster 56, Chinook in full sail
• Canakalle
• fortress at Bozcaada
• rumeli feneri at the entrance to the Bosphorus
from the Black sea
102 wiNter 2010 103

side of a large bay, with a sandy beach covered
with red and yellow umbrellas shading the bathers
as we negotiated the sheltered entrance with
extreme caution.
our pilot book is several years old and had
warned of silting at the entrance three to fi ve
metres inside so we inched our way in, testing
my nerve with the depth fi nder showing less
than a metre under the keel at one point and
i held my breath for several seconds. once
inside there seemed to be lots of room in the
deeper water alongside the town dock in front
of a pretty fi sh restaurant and a sailor stepped
off a nearby fi shing boat, welcoming us with a
smile and taking our lines. for the umpteenth
time i thanked Chinook’s shoal keel for keeping
us off the bottom.
Th at aft ernoon we strolled along the waterfront to
the sandy bay, which was covered with hundreds
of bathers enjoying 29ºC water temperatures,
where we relaxed in a café with shade umbrellas,
cold eff es and free wifi. Th at evening the fi shing
fl eet returned and we realized we had taken their
spot on the dock, which didn’t seem to bother
them as they raft ed up to unload their catch.
Bright orange net sacks containing what
looked like small conch shells were tossed on
the dock, and we realized this was the fl eet
we had seen earlier and the men were divers
rather than fi shermen. Th eir boats equipped
with compressors and generators.
A large refrigerated truck arrived with a set of
scales, they weighed dozens of sacks of shells,
loaded them and drove off . one of the divers
spoke english and responding to our curiosity
explained they were a popular snail delicacy
Pictures (from left to right):
• raising the anchor at dawn on marmara Adasi
• loading the catapult
• doreen and Brian, Canakalle
• Th e lovely Chinook in yavlova’s marina
oyster News
of helix lucorum found only in the Black sea
and exported mainly to france. Th ey’d be out
diving again the next day.
Around the wide north entrance to the Bosphorus
on the Asian side, are numerous vacation towns
and villages with lots of beaches and crowds of
people enjoying the sun in all forms: campers in
tents, motor homes and vacation apartments
and we dropped into Poraz on the east bank
on our return to istanbul.
our chart showed a mole and fi nger-piers well
sheltered from the fast-running currents. when
we arrived it was full of trippers from istanbul
and dozens of small craft were anchored in
the bay adjacent to the marina. Th e main dock
was full of fi shing vessels of all sizes and again,
it seemed to be a major refi t/repair facility,
but with a nice beach. As we crept into the bay,
swimmers appeared oblivious to us, we dropped
anchor behind a large gulet and fell back near a
cardinal type marker warning of rocks near the
shore. local lads full of testosterone were using
the buoy as a catapult, launching themselves
in the air in a really novel way. it was great
entertainment for participants and spectators
alike and when they saw my camera they really
hammed it up.
early next morning doreen raised the anchor
and we slipped out of the bay heading south
with the current towards istanbul and a date
with the carpet salesmen at the world famous
Grand Bazaar.
About a dozen miles from the Golden horn
at the south end of the Bosphorus lay the
charming Princes islands, well inhabited, with
tourists and gorgeous holiday homes nestled
in the hills, there’s a distinctly european feel
to them. we’d heard of a shortness of marina
space around istanbul but aft er spending a
few days among the four main islands and two
smaller ones, we learned what tight anchoring
is all about, from people whose daily lives
are spent in close proximity to the rest of the
13 million inhabitants of istanbul.
At the south end of the island of heybaliada is
a large bay and apparently there’s no translation
for the phrase ‘swing room’. Th e mixture of large
and small power and sail craft are separated
pretty much by hope and a prayer. surprisingly
this seemed to work well enough as we witnessed
no problems that a heft y push didn’t solve quickly
and amicably. But by nightfall only a handful of
boats remained to enjoy the relative quiet and
solitude of well-sheltered anchorage.
Th ere were rumours of a new marina opening
in a town called yalova, so we decided to sail in
that direction. Almost fully operational but not
yet offi cially open, the setur-operated marina
off ered Chinook a complimentary slip and we
walked ashore to yalova which was jumping.
we experienced great food and atmosphere
here with crowded pedestrian seaside boulevards
surfaced in decorative paving stones, lots of
cafés and fi sh restaurants, which we visited,
where the food was tasty and very inexpensive.
we liked yavlova very much!
Th ere was no wind as we made our way to
Pendik just a few miles from the entrance to the
Bosphorus where a new marina had opened just
last year. we were motoring slowly the 12 miles
or so hoping for a breeze and a nice push but
typically the winds here are light in the mornings,
freshening in the aft ernoon, probably whipping
up 15 knots as we were docking just to make
it interesting.
it was then that we were intercepted by the
turkish Coast Guard! i saw them approaching at
high speed at an intercept angle as we listened
to the radio... Th e Commitments – mustang sally
– not the Vhf! Th ey swooped across our bow,
turning sharply in front of us with some skill,
almost colliding and leaving us wallowing in
their wash, in neutral. Grabbing the handheld
Vhf i hailed them on 16 and they responded
immediately in perfect english with instructions
to switch to channel zero eight.
“Chinook, do you see the Warship off your
stern quarter?” looking back i could see the
vessel a mile or so off and acknowledged.
“Yes I see it”.
“Chinook you are not to pass in front of the
warship”.
“OK. I am on passage to Pendik does that
confl ict with the warship?”
“Chinook, you must steer 270 degrees”
(we were steering 354 at the time of intercept).
“That’s a Roger. Steering 270 over”.
shortly aft er:
“Chinook you must follow us”.
“Roger that, following your vessel”.
we followed them on a zigzag course at about
six knots for some time as the warship closed
and it became clear she was patrolling in front
of the major port of tuzla, which is part of
istanbul and only a mile or so across the bay
from Pendik marina.
“Chinook turn left and maintain at least one
mile from the warship”.
“Roger, turning left, what course?
“Chinook”. (something unintelligible)
“Say again”.
“Do you understand?”
“No! Say again”.
muttering then silence.
Th e warship was cruising in a grid pattern back
and forth sometimes approaching us then turning
away in the opposite direction and we continued
to follow the coast guard, skirting the fringes of
the warship’s manoeuvres in a wide circle.
“Chinook”, “Captain, you may resume your
course to Pendik now”.
“That’s a Roger, resuming course”.
“Coastguard Coastguard – Chinook Chinook”
“steering 27 degrees” “Standing by on zero
eight and on one six”.
“Chinook” “OK have a good day”.
owNer rePort – BriAN loNG
And the drama was over! Th e turkish military’s
charming shyness to photography is well known
and because we were being watched very
carefully, i resisted the temptation of pointing my
camera or anything else in their direction. later
we enjoyed a chilled glass of white wine and a
cheese plate at a beautiful, italian-style café with
large shade umbrellas and comfortable couches;
it was 29ºC, clear and sunny with turkish jazz
playing soft ly in the background, overlooking
the marina and the loft y minaret towers of
downtown istanbul.
we casually pondered the reason for such high
security in the tuzla bay area, obviously there
was something very special about the shipyards
next to the marina, but it was some time later
that we learned the oyster superyachts are
being built right there!
we now know these two super oysters and
the two more in design stage are very special
vessels with new high tech hull fabrication
processes, which are a very good reason for
secrecy. we are aware of the exceptional
powers of persuasion and infl uence of oyster
but quite how the apparent enlistment of the
turkish Navy and Coastguard for oyster
superyacht security purposes is a mystery!
Chinook is hibernating in Ataturk marina in
istanbul this winter so we’ll return next spring to
awaken her and are looking forward to a special
tour of the oyster superyacht facility in tuzla,
arranged by liz whitman, where 100/01 will be
in the water and 100/2, 100/3 and 125/01 will
be in-build.
istanbul Park is the site of the turkish Grand Prix,
which is located just a few kilometres from the
shipyard and as avid fi fans we are excited to
be able to take in the race whilst in the area.
it’s not without a tinge of regret that we realize
our time in turkey is coming to an end, as next
spring we’ll begin making our way out of the
mediterranean, catching a few of the Greek
islands we’d missed earlier and heading south
west, stopping at a couple of ports in tunisia.
we then plan to sail down the coast of west
Africa to the Cape Verde islands, before the
long crossing of the Atlantic to the Caribbean
to join the oyster world rally fl eet by January
2013, for the fi rst leg through the Panama Canal
and on to Papieti in tahiti.
useful iNformAtioN
for sAiliNG iN turKey
CruisiNG iNformAtioN:
for all details relating to cruising in turkey,
including entry requirements, clearance
and immigration, go to the excellent
Noonsite website at: www.noonsite.com
CruisiNG Guides:
turkish waters and Cyprus Pilot
By rod heikell
Publisher: imray
turkey Cruising Companion:
A yachtsman’s Pilot and Cruising Guide to
the Ports and harbours from the Cesme
Peninsula to Antalya: izmir to Anatalya
By emma watson
Publisher: John wiley & sons
weAther:
weather forecasts from Antalya every
3 hours available in summer time on
Vhf Chanel 67
www.meteor.gov.tr
tourist iNformAtioN:
www.tourismturkey.org
104 wiNter 2010 105

oyster News
On their way... Recently launched Oysters
oyster 56 Sulana
An oyster 56 built for newly retired managing
director, Alan Brook and his wife sue, was
never going to be anything other than a very
special yacht.
with Alan’s 33 years of oyster yacht building
experience, it is no surprise that Sulana, built
at landamores, features many clever ideas and
extra touches that maximise stowage space
and will make the boat as comfortable as
possible to live aboard and confirms what many
of us already guessed, that Alan has in fact been
day-dreaming about this boat for decades!
The crown-cut teak joinery, complete with
custom teak saloon table and teak mast cover
complete Sulana’s stunning interior.
Alan’s previous ‘keep it simple’ approach to
electronics is demonstrated in the remote control
autopilot, four raymarine Graphic displays,
lifetag system, two Vhf radios, two GPs systems,
Navtex, bank of e series displays, Active radar
reflector, ssB radio, two tVs (one with mirrored
finish), touch-screen dVds, iPod docks, laptop
and fixed computer installation, and dimmable
led lights throughout. oh... and the two satellite
phone systems that will ensure he’s always able
to stay in touch with oyster After sales!
Sulana joined the fleet of 18 oysters taking
part in the 2010 ArC. After cruising the
Caribbean she is expected to lead the fleet
at the oyster Grenada regatta in April.
oyster 575 Boarding Pass III
Boarding Pass III was handed over to owner
Bill munro in the summer. Bill and his partner susan
were joined by their Project manager, Nigel leamon,
for the passage down the coast from oyster’s ipswich
headquarters, before they departed uK waters to join
oyster’s Jubilee regatta in Porto Cervo, sardinia.
An overall result of 2nd in Class 2 was a fantastic result
in their first regatta.
Bill commented ”We are keeping Boarding Pass III in
Malta for the winter, partly because we can fly direct
from Scotland on Wednesday and Saturday making a
long weekend on board a realistic possibility.
We intend to cruise/charter our 575 in the Eastern
Med next summer season then take in next year’s
Oyster Regatta in Palma on route to Las Palmas
for the 2011 ARC. We will most likely bring
Boarding Pass back to the Med for the
2012 summer season and then return to the
Caribbean with the 2012 ARC. We are still
interested in joining Oyster’s 2013 Round the
World Rally. We are enjoying the yacht very
much and, although not fully retired yet, we’re
planning to spend a lot of time on board going
forward. We are finding that a yacht of this
size certainly eats up the miles in comfort and
is exceptionally easy to handle by only Susan
and myself. We are hoping to discover lots of
out-of-the-way places as our new 575 will
open up many new horizons for us to explore.”
oyster 575 Can Do Too
Can Do Too was handed over to CAN holdings
and mike freeman in August and is named after
mike’s business and personal ethos of having a
‘Can do’ attitude to life. Can Do Too is the first
oyster 575 fitted with a performance carbon rig
complete with an oceanfurl inboom system, and
with her dark blue hull and gold lines she has a
really striking appearance on the water.
CAN holdings also own an oyster 46 called
Can Do, which is currently based in the med.
mike’s plan for the future is for the 46 to be
based on the west Coast of scotland and his
new 575 to be based in the med after she has
completed her first year’s season in the Caribbean.
we look forward to seeing mike and Can Do Too
take part in the Grenada regatta.
oN their wAy
oyster 56 Enjoy Life
lars Johansson took delivery of his new oyster 56,
Enjoy Life, in August and she is, by far, the most
highly specified example of an oyster 56 to date.
she mixes the traditional with the contemporary
both on deck and below and has an increasingly
rare, classic teak interior along with sumptuous
leather upholstery combined with an array of state
of the art audio-visual equipment.
on deck she looks resplendent with her Awlgrip
Blue hull and full hydraulically-controlled sail plan.
she is fully equipped for scandinavian cruising with
a custom stern anchor installation and teak bow
platform with boarding ladder.
Enjoy Life will begin her adventure in scandinavia
before heading south to the mediterranean next
year. she was certainly in good hands on her
maiden voyage to sweden, being skippered by
renowned yachtsman magnus olsson, who has
six whitbread/Volvo ocean races under his belt
– he will certainly have found the luxurious comfort
on board this oyster 56 a little different!
oyster 54 Pearl of Persia
The new oyster 54, Pearl of Persia was on show
at the southampton Boat show earlier this year.
finished in maple with tan upholstery she looks
really stunning below deck. New owners Andrew
and sussanne lock are delighted with their new
yacht and the experience of building her has far
exceeded their expectations. Andrew commented
“After launch we made for Jersey and spent an
enjoyable month getting to know the boat and
the tides around the Channel Islands. She is now
in Lymington for the winter where we hope to do
a little winter sailing, weather permitting, and
oyster 655 Neki
The new oyster 655 Neki, which means ‘nobility’
in hindu, was shown at this year’s southampton
Boat show before handover to her American
owner John Noble. she has joined the fleet of
18 oysters in this year’s ArC. Neki will have an
official launch party in the Caribbean on Boxing
day during a family cruise with John’s wife Anji
and young family on board.
owner lars Johansson commented ”Enjoy Life
is now well tucked in for the winter here in
Stockholm. Next May or June, we will sail her via
Southampton down to Cannes and the Med.
A colleague of mine, John McMonigall just
mentioned he has ordered a new Oyster 575,
which he will keep in Southampton, so I may race
him once or twice before I continue further south.
We will then keep her in the Med for three or four
years. If work permits, we may take a break from
the Med after a year or two to sail to Spitsbergen
and the Norwegian fjords. Once we have explored
the Med, we will take her to the Caribbean for
three or four years, and when I am properly retired,
and everything else permitting, we plan to do the
Pacific, and maybe Antarctica. So we keep the
post-delivery dreams alive. We are very pleased
with her and we really look forward to spending
more time onboard.”
then explore northern waters for much of next
summer, possibly heading for Ireland, before
sailing her into the Med next autumn, and
spending much of 2012 around Greece and
Turkey. The likely plans are to join the ARC 2012
to take her over to the Caribbean and then
most likely, and very tempting, join the Oyster
Round the World Rally, leaving January 2013.
As Sussanne is not keen to do the long transits,
but more than happy to join at the destinations,
I expect friends (old ones and those I haven’t
met yet) will make up the crew.”
oyster 46 Juno
oyster 46/25 Juno was recently handed
over to her new owner. following a few
weeks of sea trials around the uK, Juno set
sail for her new homeport of malta. she is
fitted out in teak with cream upholstery giving
her a luxurious yet traditional feel below deck.
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oyster News
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108 wiNter 2010 109
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Warning
VAT & TAX STATUS CHANGES COULD
SERIOUSLY AFFECT YOUR YACHT
Is your yacht operating under:
• The French Commercial Yacht Exemption?
• An Italian Lease?
• An Isle of Man Charter Structure?
If so then you may have serious issues with
regards to its VAT and tax status.
Contact us to discuss the potential problems and solutions:
Wealth Warning
Do you want to wait until the potential problem
becomes a very real issue, or would you prefer to
implement an effective solution now?
Declan O’Sullivan • dos@pelagosyachts.com • +441624 819867 (office) • +447624 461317 (mobile)
Chris Stewart • crs@pelagosyachts.com • +441624 819867 (office) • +447624461050 (mobile)
www.pelagosyachts.com
Oyster Marine Ltd
tel: +44 (0)1473 688888
sales team: tel: +44 (0)1473 695005
Aftersales: tel: +44 (0)1473 690198
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.hk
Oyster Marine in italy
tommy moscatelli
tel: +39 0564 830234
email: tommy.moscatelli@oystermarine.it
Oyster Marine in Russia
oscar Konyukhov
tel: +7 495 725 47 03
email: oscar.konyukhov@oystermarine.com
Oyster Marine in ukraine
Alex Krykanyuk
tel: +380 512 580 540
email: alex.krykanyuk@oystermarine.ru
Oyster Charter
tel: +1 401 846 7400
email: molly.marston@oystermarine.com
www.oystercharter.com
Oyster Brokerage Ltd
tel: +44 (0)1473 695100
email: brokerage@oystermarine.com
www.oysterbrokerage.com
southampton Yacht services Ltd
saxon wharf lower street
Northam southampton so14 5Qf england
tel: +44 (0)23 8033 5266
fax: +44 (0)23 8063 4275
email: sales@southamptonyachtservices.co.uk
www.southamptonyachtservices.co.uk

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