Fifty-two years after the first Oyster sailed out of a British boatyard, the brand remains the most respected name in blue water sailing. At Monaco Grand Prix weekend, we were invited aboard Lush, an Oyster 885 that has already sailed around the world once, to understand what makes these yachts so special.

Founded in 1972 by Richard Matthews, the British brand has spent more than five decades quietly building some of the most capable ocean-going sailing yachts in the world. The range runs from the 495, a yacht manageable by its owner alone, right up to the 885, a 90-foot crewed sailing yacht that sits at the very top of the fleet. Every single one is built to order, by hand, across three yards in Norfolk and Hampshire. Between 16 and 24 hulls leave those yards each year. It is a small number by design, and the quality shows in every one.

Lush, the Oyster 885 that welcomed us to Monaco during Grand Prix weekend, is perhaps the finest example of what the brand can do. She has already sailed around the world once. She is currently doing it again. She is, in every sense, exactly what an Oyster is meant to be.

The Oyster way

Oyster yachts are built for the open ocean. For proper deep water sailing across thousands of miles of open sea. That has been the promise since 1972, and the brand has never deviated from it.

That focus shows in the way the yachts are constructed, they are solid, strong, and built to handle conditions that most boats would struggle with. Richard Hadida has long described the brand as the Rolls-Royce of blue water sailing, owners trust these boats with their families, their time, and in many cases their lives at sea. That is not something a brand maintains for half a century without doing the fundamentals properly.

“If you want to go anywhere on the planet, under sail, in comfort and safety, an Oyster is the boat for the job.”

Richard Hadida, Chief Executive Officer, Oyster Yachts

The Oyster fleet currently spans six models. At the smaller end, the 495, 565, and 595 are designed for owners who want to sail themselves, whether short-handed or solo. They are serious ocean yachts in their own right, and many have completed long offshore passages with just their owners at the helm. As the range grows, so does the crew requirement. The 675 is typically run with a small professional crew, and the 745 and 885 are firmly in crewed territory, where a dedicated team manages the sailing and the owner simply gets to enjoy the ride.

That distinction changes what the yacht can be. A crewed 885 is not just a sailing vessel, it is a home at sea, one that can be anywhere in the world within a matter of weeks and offer the same level of comfort whether anchored off a Caribbean island or working through a Mediterranean swell. The owner decides when to sail and when to sit back and watch the water go past. Both options are equally valid.

What makes the 885 remarkable

At 90 feet, the Oyster 885 is a serious piece of yacht. She carries a fixed keel of three metres and requires a professional crew to sail well, but she carries her size lightly. Step aboard and she feels considered rather than vast, every space designed around how people actually live on a boat rather than how they might in theory.

The most talked-about feature in the cabins is the seascape windows. Set low in the hull and running wide across the sides, they sit almost at water level, so that lying in a berth, the sea fills the entire frame. At anchor in calm Caribbean water, with the light coming up at dawn, it is the kind of view that reminds you exactly why sailing yachts exist. Forward on deck, the bow snug offers a wide, comfortable seating area right at the front of the boat, a spot that sounds simple but is genuinely rare on a yacht of this size and type. It is where people end up spending their afternoons. The cockpit carries an outdoor cinema screen for evenings at anchor, and the saloon below converts between a relaxed daybed layout and a proper dining room depending on where in the world the boat happens to be.

Built bespoke, every time

Every Oyster is built to order, and no two are the same. The degree of customisation on offer goes well beyond choosing a colour scheme. Adrian Newey, the celebrated Formula 1 designer, recently took delivery of his own 885 with a swim platform engineered to open out on both sides, creating a dining terrace sitting just ten centimetres above the water’s surface. He also drew and built a bespoke carbon fibre cockpit canopy himself, bringing a predictably precise approach to a space that most owners simply leave to the yard.

The three shipyards at Rackheath, Southampton, and Hythe each focus on different parts of the range, and the build process is careful enough to absorb this level of individual input without compromising the quality that the brand’s reputation rests on. It is one of the reasons the waiting list for a new Oyster tends to be a patient one.

The world rally

Every two years, Oyster sends up to 30 of its yachts around the world together. The route covers 27,000 miles, taking the fleet through the Panama Canal, across the Pacific, through French Polynesia, down to Australia, and back to the start in Antigua. The company handles the logistics, the technical support, and the planning at every stop along the way, which means owners with relatively limited offshore experience can take on a full circumnavigation with confidence.

It has become one of the most compelling reasons to own an Oyster. Around half of all new boats sold today go to owners whose primary goal is to join the rally, which speaks to how much the event has come to define the brand. The last rally departed Antigua in January 2026 and returns in April 2027.

Lush: her story so far

Lush was bought new by Eddie Jordan, who purchased her specifically to sail the first Oyster World Rally. He went straight around the world on her, and she never really left his affections after that. Jordan was a man who owned many boats and was never shy about ranking them, and he consistently put this one at the top of the list. His reasoning was straightforward: the 885 gives you everything a larger yacht offers, but at a scale that still feels like yours. Nothing about her feels remote or impersonal.

Hadida began chartering Lush from Jordan years later, and the two men became firm friends, sharing anchorages and adventures across warm-water seasons. When Hadida eventually bought the yacht, the connection between the two men only deepened. Since Jordan’s passing, Lush has carried that friendship forward in the best way possible: by doing exactly what she was built to do. She is currently at sea, somewhere between Antigua and the Pacific, on her second lap of the planet.