of which are still in development. This had
put a strain on the company’s financial
needs. Lurking in the background was the
prospect of a court case over the costs
of a claim following the loss of the Oyster
825 Polina Star III in 2015, and remedial
work to three other Oyster 825s affected
(including hull 3, Maegan, built for the
two Dutch investment partners). This
generated a claim and counter-claims
of £7.3m, and a deficit of over £6m had
been sitting on Oyster’s balance sheet
since 2016.
Polina Star’s keel had ripped off,
suddenly and catastrophically, on the
afternoon of 3 May 2015, while sailing off
the coast of Spain. As the keel structure
failed, it ripped off an area of the yacht’s
starboard hull, causing the yacht to
capsize and sink in a matter of minutes.
(We investigated this and reported on our
conclusions in June 2016.)
Oyster’s own insurance paid out
around £400,000 but the company was
attempting to recoup the total expense
from Bridgland Moulders, the Norfolk-
based subcontractor that made the hull
and deck mouldings. Oyster’s counter-
claim against Bridgland’s insurers had
dragged on for over two years. Attempts
were made to resolve the dispute through
mediation, and Oyster’s CEO David
Tydeman had said he was confident it
would be settled by May or June, but
there was still uncertainty about whether
Oyster’s own design management team
might be found liable.
Tydeman described to us ‘a post-
Polina Star recovery plan’, a two-year
investment in Oyster 565 and 595
designs aimed at Mediterranean sailing,
a new 835 and 895 to replace earlier
80-footer models, and another Oyster
World Rally, a circumnavigation event
that has helped generate new orders.
But while the Düsseldorf show was
drawing to a close, the shareholders
reached a crucial decision. Tydeman said:
“The date [of arbitration] slipped back
to around May and that influenced the
appetite of the investors.”
Whatever the reason, the shareholders
would appear to have lost confidence in
the business and withdrew their support.Belief in the brand
At the time of writing, KPMG had
taken Oyster’s holding company
into administration. This owns the
primary assets: the rights to the
brand, the tooling and technical
drawings. It is expected to package
this with the subsidiary interests: theOyster brokerage; crew and charter
management business; and events
company. A buyer would hope to take
these on liability-free, forming a new
company and starting with a clean sheet.
Oyster’s reputation, however, will
need to be rebuilt. Here, Richard
Matthews’s long ties with the business
could be a considerable asset. His
marketing acumen, sailing experience
and galvanising character defined the
Oyster brand, and he is still intrinsically
associated with it. Indeed, he still owns
and cruises in an Oyster, his 82, Midnight.
“I’m really sad about what’s happened
and upset that the business now is in
such a mess because I spent years
building it up. It was highly successful, it
was profitable, it was a great brand with
a very strong balance sheet, and was well
financed. We never let a supplier down,
ever, never let a customer down, ever, or
had any litigation with anybody, ever.”
“But I’m a great believer in the
Oyster brand,” he continues. “I think it
will continue to survive. It has a lot of
enthusiasm for it, not least of which is
from some of the owners.”
Matthews says he would want to “find
a way of getting those boats built. The
most likely solution there is to use the
existing facilities, especially those in
Norfolk, as opposed to Southampton.”
He is adamant that Oyster’s future
should belong in the UK. “I would go
further than that and say that my
personal interest would expire very
quickly if a non-UK bidder were to
be involved. I believe that Oyster is
effectively the Bentley of cruising yachts
and I think the Britishness of the brand is
an integral part of it.”
But he says: “Confidence is going to
be big problem. It’s no secret that people
with boats under construction are going
to be left in a difficult situation and in
the future trying to sell boats getting the
normal progress payments and to have
the support of the marine trade from a
supplier perspective is going to require
some careful consideration.”
For his own bid, he says: “I am not
going to comment on the components
other than to say I have got quite a lot of
people behind it. And I don’t know how
many of them, at the end of the day, will
spring out and attempt to do their own
independent bid. Some of the people
I’m talking to are in every way capable of
going it alone and I daresay one or two of
them will. So I am sure the Oyster brand
will be restored by someone and I hope
they have the heart and love to see it
through. It would be great to see it going
forward for another 30 years.”The new Oyster
745 was the
largest yacht
on show at boot
Düsseldorf