Oyster News 49 - Oyster Yachts

Caribbean
WE RACE – OUR OWNERS GET THE RESULTS!
Built as a research and development platform for Oyster, "Flirt"
started life in 2002 as a fifty footer but shrunk a little during the
winter. We wanted to experiment with a different stern shape to see if
we could get more performance from a slightly shorter hull.
Oyster designer, Rob Humphreys, helped Flirt's original designer,
John Corby, with some computer generated performance analysis,
VPP, the result being two months of surgery in Oyster's SYS yard at
Southampton. The bow was made slightly deeper while the stern was
made a lot fuller by the addition of foam and microballons. Fifteen
inches was lopped off the stern reducing Flirt's LOA to just under 49
feet. The original keel bulb was thought to have rather too much drag
so was replaced with an alternative bulb design, but fitted to the
original fin.
A passage across the North Sea in freezing conditions just before
Christmas took Flirt to Antwerp and thence as deck cargo to Puerto
Rico in preparation for a series of Caribbean races.
First up was the Heineken Regatta out of St Martin where, with team
GBR America's Cup skipper, Andy Green, as tactician and GBR
bowman Nic Pearson at the sharp end we won two races. In blustery
conditions our new wide-body stern seemed to be working well with
off wind speeds up to 19 knots, while retaining very positive control.
The next event was the Rolex Regatta sailed from St Thomas in the
US Virgin Islands. With a variety of conditions from boisterous to light
we won 4 races and were second in another three giving us an overall
racing class win and a Rolex watch! The BVI Regatta that followed
was a disappointment, since the event was compromised by freaky
conditions in which we decided not to sail. A good decision perhaps
because three yachts were struck by lightening in a single morning.
12 www.oystermarine.com
F L I R T I N G I N T H E
Antigua Sailing Week is the traditional finale to the Caribbean season
and here Flirt did well, winning the first race and being placed in all 7
races to end up a close 2nd in a hotly contested fleet.
All in all the winter's modifications were successful and provided
some useful design feedback. We may well experiment with another
keel bulb this summer and intend to try a series of tests comparing
asymmetric downwind sails with conventional spinnakers.
Oyster have always been recognised as being serious about
performance and we are determined that in this, our 30th year,
performance will continue to be an important criteria in our new
designs. Active participation on the racing circuit and the data and
feedback that provides really does help us design and build fast
cruising yachts that are fun to sail. We race – Oyster owners get
the results.
OYSTERS AT ANTIGUA SAILING WEEK
With Flirt taking on the racing fleet, 22 Oysters were in and around
Antigua during the 36th Antigua Sailing Week. In previous years
Oyster has twice been top scoring yacht and last year an Oyster 62
won all five races in Cruising Class 1.
On the racecourse this year, Sir David Cooksey’s Oyster 53 Illyria,
sailing in Cruising Class 1 with local navigator Geoffrey Pidduck
aboard to help cut a few corners, took first place in Race 1. John
Marshall’s Oyster 45 Josbarrola was looking good in Cruising Class II.
The now traditional Lay Day party held at Galleon House, in English
Harbour, was well supported by Oyster owners and crews.
John Marshall's Oyster 45 Josbarrola Photo: Tim Wright
Sir David Cooksey's Oyster 53 Illyria Photo: Tim Wright