Oyster Yachts (formerly Oyster Marine) is a British brand of luxury cruising sailing yachts established in 1973. The company is based in Southampton but with foundation and ongoing strong links to Wroxham and Ipswich.
In 1973 Richard Matthews founded Oyster Marine and commissioned the 32ft prototype three quarter tonner sailing yacht UFO II, designed by British Naval Architects Holman and Pye[fr] and built by Norfolk based boatbuilder, Landamores.[1]UFO won the Royal Yacht Squadron's de Maas Cup at Cowes in 1974.[2] The design was developed into the UFO 34,[2][3] and this became the first yacht to be produced by Oyster Marine.
In 1978 Oyster Marine introduced a 46ft cruising ketch designed by Holman & Pye, pioneering the Deck Saloon feature that has since become the company's trademark.[4] Oyster continued to increase the size of its vessels, launching a 53ft design by Rob Humphreys in 1997 followed by a 62ft Humphreys' design in 2002.[5] Today, Oyster Yachts builds sailboats ranging from 56ft to 125ft, all designed by Rob Humphreys and the Oyster Design Team.
British Manufacture
Even during the company’s beginnings, when a lot of its boat building was subcontracted out, production was always awarded to other British yards. The most notable of these were Landamores in Hoveton (Wroxham) who were responsible for the majority of Oysters produced.
Only a couple of models in the company’s history have ever been built outside the UK. These are the Oyster 49, Oyster 54 and LD43 [6] parts of the production run was produced in New Zealand by McDell Marine[7] and the 100ft and 125ft yachts designed by Ed Dubois built at RMK Marine in Turkey.[8][9]
Oyster have moved from being a marketing company which it was for the majority of its history, to taking assembly in-house in 2000s and in 2019 it took the final step in this process taking hull moulding in-house in a partnership with Lloyds Register.
Ownership, Administration and Acquisition
In 2008 the company was sold to private equity house Balmoral Capital in 2008 for around £70m[10][11] who then sold it in 2012 to Dutch private equity firm HTP Investments BV for around £15m.[12]
On 5 February 2018, Oyster Marine, the boat-building arm of the Oyster group (which also includes Oyster Brokerage and Oyster Charter) went into administration.
In July 2015, there was a failure of the internal hull structure of an Oyster 825 "Polina Star III".[13] An investigation found the manufacturing process of the inner structure of the Oyster 825 led to the vessel sinking.[14] Following the successful launch of several new models the company closed at the end of 2017 due to cash flow issues.[15] The then owner, Dutch Private Equity owner H.T.P. Investments BV withdrew their support, leaving the directors with no alternative but to appoint Administrators.[16]
KPMG was appointed as administrator to Oyster Marine Holdings (the holding company for Oyster Yachts) on 7 February 2018.[10]
On 20 March 2018, British tech entrepreneur and founder of Evolution Gaming Group Richard Hadida acquired Oyster Yachts in its entirety.[17] Hadida began re-employing many previous employees of Oyster Yachts.[16] The Oyster Board consists of Hadida and CFO Becky Bridgen together with Non-Executives Ashley Highfield (Senior Independent Director), Eddie Jordan, Ivan Ritossa and Rob Humphreys.[18]
Reinvestment and Growth
Under Hadida’s ownership the company restarted manufacturing in its Wroxham yard on 15 May 2018, beginning to fulfil the contracts that Oyster held before it entered administration.[19] This included rehiring 50 of Oyster’s former shipwrights.[19]
In 2016, the Oyster 675 was voted Sailing Today’s Best Luxury Cruiser,[23] with the Oyster 565 the same award in 2017.[24] Then, in 2018, the Oyster 745 was named Cruising World’s Boat of the Year.[25]
Oyster Yachts was featured in the American documentary series Building the Brand in 2011,[26] which looked at the production processes behind iconic brands. Other companies featured include Gibson Guitars and Rolls-Royce.
Oyster World Rally
The Oyster World Rally refers to the 2-3 year worldwide sailing expeditions that Oyster Yachts organises for its owners.[27] All owners of the company’s yachts are invited to sail the world together, following a route pre-planned and organised by Oyster and with support from the Oyster After Sales team.[28]
The rally was initially organised to celebrate 35 years of Oyster Yachts in 2013, but with the success of the first event the company decided to make the World Rally a regular feature in the Oyster social calendar. The first rally ran from 2013-14, then another from 2017-19, 2021-23 and the most recent started in January 2024.[28] The next rally is planned to run from 2028-2029.[29]
Oyster is the only yachting brand currently running its own global circumnavigation.
Owner Events
Oyster puts on regular regattas, dinners and other events for their community.[30] These events are run by the Oyster Yachts Event team[30] and generally this include two regattas per year - the Oyster Antigua Regatta in the Caribbean at Easter and the Oyster Palma Regatta one in the Mediterranean in September/October - as well as parties and dinners for owners during the London, Southampton and Annapolis boat shows and other sailing events.[30] Another popular event on the Oyster Yachts event calendar is the Oyster Rendezvous which takes place every summer in the Mediterranean.
Models
Sailing Yachts
Current and previous Oyster yacht models[8] are listed below, with current models in bold:
(CC = Centre Cockpit; AC = Aft Cockpit; RS = Raised Saloon; DH = Deck House) (Current Oyster Models in bold)
Sail Training Boats
The majority of Oyster boats have been luxury cruisers, however Oyster has produced four sail training vessels:
- The Oyster 68 ketch RONA II,[36] provided as a kit for completion by the then London Sailing Project - now Rona Sailing Project which sails out of Hamble - The Oyster 68 ketch LORD RANK produced for the Ocean Youth Club. LORD RANK was lost, with no loss of life, during a delivery in June 2010 when she struck and sank on the Carrickmannon Rocks off Northern Ireland.[37] - The Oyster 80 ketch TEAM SPIRIT OF WIGHT produced for the Ocean Youth Club and subsequently sold to Gordonstoun School as OCEAN SPIRIT OF MORAY.[38] - The Oyster 70 ketch ALBA VENTURER, produced for the Ocean Youth Trust Scotland.[39]
Oyster-owners.com An independent website and forum for owners of an Oyster
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