Two metres longer than the Oyster 675, three shorter than the 825, the sleek-topped 22.7m Oyster 745, announced in 2013 and now fully in build, brings interesting new thinking and great new opportunity, drawing as she does on the particular experience of the 12 very varied 825s and 885s.
Through these 12 80-plus-footers there are very different expressions of layout and balance between owner, guest and crew requirements, adding into the mix up to three levels of saloon roof and floor, with apportionment of space essentially based on six cabins, six heads for the 885, five cabins, five heads, for the 825 – a huge versatility within the strengthening Oyster approach of ‘say yes’ to owners requests.
Next in line, within the previous single rudder generation, was the 72/725 with five cabins, four heads. Beautiful lines and handling but with two guest cabins aft sharing heads and shower, and the forward guest cabin accessed via the crew and galley area, not everyone’s optimal solution. The key difference between the 725 and the 72 was the incorporation of the vertical, three-stripe Seascape windows into the same hull and floorplan initially at the request of one owner which was then picked up by others. The rebadging as the 725 was driven by the owners who wanted to enjoy the difference between their 725s and the successful 72s – from this partnership, three Oyster 725s have been built.
For the new Oyster 745, with a clean design slate, these issues have been swept aside, making way for a very spacious four cabin, four head layout by electing to have not three full cabins aft, just two with a very versatile side-space bridging the sleeping and living areas aft and the amidships, and also resolving private forward access by adopting the bigger 825’s successful walkway either side of the mast. With this, guests have one side forward, crew the other, and the galley/crew door can close the whole of that area.
Of these significant introductions, Oyster CEO David Tydeman says, “You get a really nice master cabin with big ensuite, and a very good guest double cabin which can be either double, twin, or Pullmans, or combination of all of these. And rather than use the leftover space as a fourth guest cabin, we designed this area with a number of options. Given this is more of an owner-driver’s boat, this can be a ship’s office for the owner, with a desk, with a chart table, enclosed or open plan, and a comfortable L-shaped snug just off the main saloon and dining area."
Left open plan, it creates a great space for sitting and relaxing, while pouring even more light and space into that aft guest deck, a convivial or quiet lower deck saloon with library or any level of AV equipment including 40in (100cm) deckhead fold- down television. Alternatively it can be laundry and store or a bunked space for extra occasional berthing.
The evolution through design generations to the current wide beam aft and high freeboard has contributed to a leap in interior volume for this new, more open accommodation plan. Below the sheerline volume is a full 210m3, astonishingly just 20 less than the Oyster 82 which despite its three metres extra length measured 230m3.
In the Oyster 675 update in the Oyster Magazine (Issue 77) we talk of a new Oyster construction method and the 745 was the first in the line built this way with hull shell completely of vinylester resin with continuous rather than conventional multi-directional fibres, and a vacuum infused girder structure within, giving greater rigidity and strength for weight. And as with the 675, taking advantage of the construction processes and using them to enhance the cruising experience, here again a little more power has been designed into the rig and keel, the latter with a little more chord length fore and aft and slightly deeper draft complementing the twin rudder hull and full beam aft. There’s also a centreboard option if shallower draft capability is sought.
