Engineered for adventure - Oyster Yachts

Yard insightEngineeredfor adventureAs a wholly owned subsidiary of Oyster Marine for 10 years,custom and refit specialist Southampton Yacht Services isnow being rebranded for greater global awarenessJake Kavanagh reportsBased at a strategic location onthe UK’s central south coast,Oyster’s Southampton yard isenjoying a healthy order book,not just for the latest range ofnew build Oyster yachts, butalso for some classic refits.Oyster has recently launched two newdesigns in the 24-metre plus category, and isrestyling the rest of the range. The emphasisis on producing well-engineered yachts andsuperyachts that will appeal to theadventurous owner, and with the flexibilityfor a high level of customisation, even on thesmaller models.At the very heart of this sleekmanufacturing enterprise is the Southamptonfacility. The company has been in operationsince 1980, formerly as Southampton YachtServices (SYS), a new build and refit yard atanother Southampton location before movingto its current site beside the River Itchen. Thecompany’s premises total around 7,500m 2 ,including 2,500m 2 under cover.The site was designed as a shipyard fromthe outset, so has a wide expanse of fullyreinforced hard standing, a large slipway, deepwater moorings, two large construction hallsand a 200-tonne travel lift. Previous ownershad been the military contractors VosperThornycroft, followed by Halmatic, before thetenancy passed to SYS.Currently, Oysters are being built in threekey locations—the smaller yachts are beingproduced in Wroxham (Norfolk), the largermodels, up to 88ft (28m) are produced at SYSin Southampton, and the top of the range, the“The emphasis is on producing wellengineeredyachts and superyachts that willappeal to the adventurous owner”Ed Dubois-designed 100, 125 and 125flybridge, are being built at RMK’s facility inTuzla, Turkey.Apart from establishing a reputation as anew build facility, SYS has also carved a nicheas a refit yard of note, working on such40 www.SUPERYACHTBUSINESS.net | DECEMBER 2012

Oyster SouthamptonThe Oyster 825 is the latest model to be builtat the Oyster facility at Southamptonprestigious classics as Altair, Thendara, BelleAdventure, Ticonderoga and probably the mostfamous J-Class of them all, Velsheda. SYS willcontinue to carry out these type of refits onclassic yachts under this well establishedbrand name.Over the years, the company gained anenviable reputation for being able to restorevirtually anything to its former glory—andoften beyond. “Velsheda probably involvedmore work than a new build,” remarkedHarvey Jones, the Oyster Group technicaldirector. “But the same craftsmen who didsuch a great job on her are now building thenew Oysters. We move their skills betweenvarious projects, resulting in a consistentlyhigh standard.”The Southampton yard fitted Leopard with anultra-lightweight carbon interiorTaking a tour of the Southampton facility,we began in the design office, a modern twostorey brick building in the shadow of themain construction halls.In charge of the design team is WayneHuntley, who demonstrated the workings of apowerful 3D design package.“The whole office works with Catia, acomplex package used predominantly in thecar and aerospace industries,” he said. “It’s apowerful tool, so my job is to work out whereit can be used most efficiently. We take all theengineering spaces and fully 3D model them,and also model the accommodation, unless it’sa straightforward refit job. We have to becareful not to over-engineer some items, butwith the production Oysters, we modelvirtually everything.”Gyrating on the screen was a complexplan of the new 885, with many of theparts fully colour coded. This, we were told,is a production model to identify notonly the type of material being used,TOp viewDescribing himself as a‘fanatical’ yachtsman,David Tydeman is atrained naval architectand Lloyds surveyor. Hebegan his career in Britishshipbuilding, working for 15 years in theNorth Sea oil industry before runningBeneteau UK. He has been a flag officer ofthe Royal Ocean Racing Club and owned astring of 16 race boats that have provideda ‘reasonable’ trophy cupboard. In the mid‘90s he bought the Melges 24 licence andset up the class. Tydeman has alsoworked in the private equity sector,overseeing large mergers and acquisitionsin the City of London .“It’s nice to be back in the leisureindustry, although I didn’t expect to haveto dust off my Lloyds surveying expertisewhen joining Oyster—it’s been helpfulwhen dealing with the superyacht buildsin Turkey!Into Europe“When it comes to markets, we’reexpanding the geography. If you lookat our sales record over the last twodecades, it’s been 70 per cent English/American until five years ago. We had leadtimes of perhaps two to three years; andwere selling easily only in English. But overthe last three to four years, as we’ve beenputting more determined marketing intoEurope, that’s been changing. Now wemarket in five languages, and we’ve liftedthe styling of the boats, the engineering,the production, and the emphasis onowners’ regattas.“We sell boats to people who wantto go sailing. We build boats to have anadventure on, so it’s a lifestyle choice.“I would like us to be a truly globalbrand, although we’re being selectiveon overseas marketing. After all, we’renot talking about building 100 boatsper annum—we’re still only building to acapacity of about 20 to 30 per annum,David TydemanOyster Group CEODavid Tydeman is a ‘fanatical’ yachtsmanwith a little less whilst things are quiet,but we just want to change the mix. Weaim for us to have as strong a reputationin Europe as we have in the UK.“We’re pretty stretched on the successof the 825 and 885, but are still workingon a couple of feasibility studies withOyster clients who would like a biggerboat built in Southampton.“We want to make it known that SYSis clearly part of the Oyster group. Ourbest big boat talents are here, refittingeverything from large motoryachts tolightweight racing yachts, and doinga lot more customising of the biggerOysters than most people are aware.The engineering team’s expertise herehas been a core part of delivering the100 and the 125 models in Turkey. It’simportant that we keep the SYS brandsynonymous with the things it used todo, particularly the association with theclassic yacht refits.“Future market trends are anybody’sguess, but we’ve made some changesrecently, and we’re as lean as we needto be. We have invested in new products;we’ve got a fantastic marketing team andwe’re selling boats. We have some newprivate individual shareholders who makefast decisions and don’t have to report tobanks or committees. This relationship isworking, so we’re doing well. I can see ourstrong position continuing.”“Future market trends are anybody’sguess, but we’ve made some changes recently,and we’re as lean as we need to be”DECEMBER 2012 | www.SUPERYACHTBUSINESS.net 41

Yard insightw 885 PROFILE885 CUTAWAYThe in-house design teamwork withcelebrated naval architects suchas Rob Humphreys to create highlyprecise build plans using Catia 3Dsoftware. Every aspect of a newbuild, and also many reworkedrefits, are ‘virtually fitted’ on thepowerful computers to optimise theengineering and servicing access.Data for CNC cutting is sent directlyto the machines in the joinery shop.Building the new Oyster 885TOP CLASS JOINERYbut also its thickness.“There are about 3,000 parts that need tobe CNC cut on the 885,” explained Huntley.“We design all the engineering racks, and allthe routing for the components to optimisethe space, working closely with the engineersand technical guys. Whatever we fit on theshop floor, we ‘virtually fit’ here first,particularly useful to identify the allimportantaccess points for maintenance.”In the joinery shop, complex moduleswere being ‘dry’ assembled, temporarilyheld together and finished as far as possiblebefore being stripped down and shippedas a kit to the assembly hall. The interiors,however, aren’t always made with timber.The yard prides itself on being able to workwith virtually any modern material, includingcarbon fibre, Nomex and other advancedlightweight composite panels.“We have produced a lot of lightweightyachts with cored joinery and hulls, and arevery familiar with ultra lightweightconstruction,” Jones said. “The recent refit ofEvery yacht is unique, althoughmany of the interior carcasses havea certain commonality. The team ofhighly experienced craftsmen dryassembleas much of the joinery aspossible, including hinges, latches andveneers before the units are strippeddown into manageable modules forreassembly on board. These skills arealso transferred to classic refits.the racing yacht Leopard 3 was an incrediblylight build. We worked with Chris Sherlock,the captain, and Mark Tucker and his team atDesign Unlimited to come up with practicalsolutions using carbon Nomex panels. She issimilar in many ways to our refit of Mari-ChaIII, with a lot of the equipment being“The yard prides itself on being able towork with virtually any modern material,including carbon fibre, Nomex and otheradvanced lightweight composite panels. ”engineered for temporary removal for racing.”Oyster is careful to keep the highly skilledworkforce on the mainstream jobs, andsubcontract out the tasks that tend to peakand trough. Stainless steel fabrication is agood example. The metal workshop is capableof producing steel supports and frames forengineering spaces, but won’t tackle pulpitsor deck hardware, which is outsourced.Moving into the main production hall, wesaw that all five of the 28m (92ft) bays wereoccupied with new builds. The large shed isopen plan, with a mezzanine floor across therear giving access to work platforms at justbelow deck height on each yacht. These are allsupported on a complex system of steelscaffolding, which is easy to modify ordissemble to slide the finished boats out. It issafety-checked every week by a specialistcontractor.Fitting out the hullsFrom the mezzanine we saw the first-of-class825 hull in the early stages of fit-out, with two885s (hulls 2 and 3) in the next bays. Thefourth bay held a 625 (hull 8) whilst on thefloor of the fifth bay was the 825’s deckstructure. This was due to be lifted by largeoverhead cranes to allow the hull to bepositioned underneath. Each hull rests on acustom made steel trolley, jacked up from itswheels during the construction process, buteasy to move using a tractor unit.“We don’t mould any of the hulls or deckshere,” Jones said. “This would take up just toomuch production room. We are still able totransport the largest Oyster hull and deck42 www.SUPERYACHTBUSINESS.net | DECEMBER 2012

Oyster SouthamptonPRACTICAL ENGINEERINGThe engineering team constantlystrives to reduce noise and vibrationin critical systems, whilst alsoensuring that they are easy tomaintain and service anywhere in theworld. Here, the engine room is beingassembled. Note the large stringersand separate cable ducts. The use ofcarbon/epoxy I beams reduces noisetransfer to the saloon above.mouldings by road from our specialistmoulders in Norfolk, so they arrive in theearly hours with a police escort. We alsohave specialist hull suppliers who can supplyany hull, in any material, including timberfor custom new builds, so this keeps usvery flexible.”All the Oyster hulls are built in vinylester/polyester GRP, with gelcoat as the final finish.The high degree of customisation means thatthe basic hull shapes are open to change.There is, for example, a choice of transomdesigns, with stretched versions also available.CUSTOM FITOUTThe main assembly hall has five bays,where two models being built side byside can be radically different, evendown to the basic hull shape at thestern. Here a 625 is in the foreground,with an 885 beyond. Group technicaldirector Harvey Jones describes thebuilds as ‘Production engineering forone-off yachts’.One customer’s good idea can often lead toother owner’s requests.“Of the 17 Oyster 82s we’ve produced todate, no two boats have been identical,” Jonessaid. “They are modified hugely—differenttransoms, different layouts, galleys in oppositeends and so on, but a lot of the joinerycarcasses are common to all, and this helpsreduce costs. Unlike some other semi-custombuilders, we’re willing to move structuralbulkheads, providing the yacht still conformsto certification requirements.“We haven’t fitted horribly complexsystems that could fail when furthest fromtechnical help,” Jones said. “Crewed boatsalways have expertise on board, but they stillhave to be fixable anywhere in the world withrelatively basic equipment. You can have a niceCAN-bus driven touch pad to work yoursystems, but critical components have manualoverrides as well.”Clever engineering systems are everywhere,such as the hydraulic power feeds for the bowand stern thrusters on the 885. These drawtheir power from the main engine gearbox,with variable trolling which adjustsautomatically. This allows the generators to beconfigured for the electrical loads, rather thanthe demands of the thrusters, so can besmaller. Additionally, a great deal of attentionhas been applied to soundproofing, withpumps attached to isolated bases and carbon Ibeams to minimise noise transfer.“Engineering is all part of the fun,” Jones said.“We get a lot of feedback from captains withideas we can use in future boats.”Adventurous sailing also extends to refitcustomers. The 34m (112ft) 1904 Gaff cutterMerrymaid at the Seno Pia glacier, PatagoniaRefitsAlongside the main production hall is anexpandable shed measuring 43m (141ft),which can be expanded for larger projects.This is entirely dedicated to refits, and hasbeen the focus of many of the Oyster Group’srecent high profile projects. During our visit, a25m (82ft) wooden schooner was havingmajor work done to her keel, with newgarboard planks and the removal of most ofher keel bolts. “This type of wooden classic iswhat SYS is traditionally known for,” Jonesexplained. “We really made our mark withthese kind of projects, something we willcontinue under the SYS brand.” The mostrecent refit has been the 1901 steamshipWindsor Belle, which involved the refitting ofthe triple expansion steam engine. The biggerthe challenge, the more the team seems toenjoy it.Going globalTo manoeuvre the Oyster brand onto more of aglobal platform, whilst promoting SYS’s longheritage of classic refits, a rebranding exerciseis underway. “Half our sales are to repeatcustomers, who want to see the Oyster logowhen they arrive here,” Jones said. “As such,we are now rebranding as Oyster YachtsSouthampton - Custom & Refit. This willdifferentiate us from Oyster Yachts Wroxham,where the smaller yachts are ‘personalised’rather than customised.”With the new build hall full, and plenty ofrefit enquiries, the rebranded operation isupbeat. “We’re going to be profitable this yearand the next,” Jones said. “We’re not a massmanufacturer, therefore the level we’re seeingnow is sustainable, so any pickup from here isa bonus. We’re lucky to have diversificationwith refits to fill any gaps in new builds, but,”he grins, without bothering to touch anywood, “recently we haven’t had any gaps.”Long may that continue.DECEMBER 2012 | www.SUPERYACHTBUSINESS.net 43

Yard insightOyster SouthamptonThe Saxon Wharffacility covers 7,500m 2➊ Expandable refit hall➋ Main assembly area and workshops➌ Large slipway for oversized projects➍ Design office➎ 200-tonne travel hoist➏ Marina and deep water berthing➐ Travel hoist dock➑ Reinforced hard standing➒ Satellite workshopsoyster & sys projectsNew builds launched or under constructionsince 2006 – 2012Yachts over 24m delivered – 2010 -2012Name Length Power/Sail Designer Deliveredw Oyster 82 24m sail rob Humphreys 2010w Oyster 82 24m sail rob Humphreys 2010w Oyster 82 24m sail rob Humphreys 2011w Oyster 885 27m sail rob Humphreys 2012Yachts on order/under constructionName Length Power/Sail Designer Deliveredw Oyster885 27m sail rob Humphreys 2013w Oyster 885 27m sail rob Humphreys 2013w Oyster 825 24m sail rob Humphreys 2013sys Refits delivered – 2009 - 2010Name Length Power/Sail Designer Deliveredw Cambria 34.7m sail 1928 Fife Engineering Refit 2009w Caneli 43.2m Motor royal Denship Interior restyle 2009w Waterlily 43.2m Motor royal Denship Interior restyle 2009w Fiumara 28.6m sail Alfred Milne Full refit 2010w Bystander 42m sail JFA Chantier Naval Engineering refit 2010w Hetairos 42.8m sail Abeking & Rasmussen Refit 2011w Windsor Belle 21.4m power Steam launch Refit 2011w Leopard 3 3 29.7m sail racing yacht Refit 2011sys Refits under constructionName Length Power/Sail Designer Deliveredw Yali 23.5m sail 1925 ketch Refit/keel works 2013The travel lift can handle up to 200 tonnes, butlarger projects can be hauled out on the slipwayContactw Address:Southampton Yacht Services LtdSaxon WharfLower York StreetNorthamSouthamptonHampshireSO14 5QFUKw Phone:+44 (0)23 8033 5266w Fax:+44 (0)23 8063 4275w Email:enquiry@southamptonyachtservices.co.uk44 www.SUPERYACHTBUSINESS.net | DECEMBER 2012