Oyster News 62
5/6/07
12:05 PM
Page 54
Cruising the Grenadines And a ten year test for the Oyster 70 by Richard Matthews
Some might call it a busman’s holiday but when the chance came for a two week cruise aboard the Holman & Pye designed Ravenous, now ten years old, I grabbed it with both hands. I can remember Oyster’s David Blacklaws selling Ravenous to her original US owner, Bill Dockser, at the London Boat Show. Bill was an experienced yachtsman, having previously owned the 70ft Ocean Mermaid. He wanted the very best Oyster we could build at that time and over the years Ravenous has been greatly admired for her immaculately maintained dark blue hull and for those lucky enough to get aboard her lovely American Oak joinery with butterfly veneers. Oyster took Ravenous in trade against Bill’s new yacht, an Oyster 82, which will no doubt set similarly high standards when she appears for the first time, probably at the Southampton Boat Show. Ravenous had been laid up ashore in Newport RI pending sale and working on the basis that yachts always look better in commission and in sunshine we opted to relocate her to Antigua. A new crew, Quentin and Florence, were engaged and, as so often happens, the yacht was sold unseen to an owner from Turkey almost as soon as she left Newport. With delivery agreed for early May we had the opportunity to do some cruising as well as taking part in the Montpelier Oyster Regatta in Antigua and Antigua Sailing Week. Sailing Ravenous created a really good opportunity to make some direct comparisons in how our yachts have developed and improved over the last ten years. Making a direct comparison with my own 72, Oystercatcher XXV there were some significant differences, but to say one yacht was better than the other would be a little like saying the new Porsche 911 Carrera is a better car than the Jaguar E Type. In their day both cars were considered amongst the best of their era. When Ravenous was in her prime, Bill Dockser happened to be in Sardinia during a Swan regatta and was constantly approached by people walking the dock asking about what they thought was the prettiest boat in the harbour. As a result of that experience Bill convinced me to start the Oyster regatta series and, as they say, the rest is history.
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