After the launch in London at the weekend, the new Oyster will be travelling onwards, first to Sweden and Denmark, then to Germany and further south to Barcelona, Cannes and Palma. The Oyster 495 will also be on show at the Hamburg Ancora Yacht Festival will be presented in Neustadt. The Inwater trade fair on the Baltic Sea will take place from Friday, 20 May to Sunday, 22 May. The big preview with all the new products and attractions will follow in YACHT, issue 11/2022.
The large formats are the domain of the renowned luxury shipyard in England. However, as the smallest ship in the exclusive line from Southampton, the new Oyster 495 is still more than 15 metres long - an impressive size. The new model is now coming to replace the Oyster 475, which has been in the yacht builder's programme in England for seven years (YACHT 21/2016 test). Oyster's in-house designers, Tom and Rob Humphreys, have worked together with the in-house design team to transfer the brand's recognisable features to the latest and smallest model in the range. The striking deckhouse with its dark-tinted and beautifully curved window strip, the foredeck that is completely unobstructed up to the mast passage with its flush recessed hatches and the eye-catching triple vertical hull windows, which provide more light and views in the aft cabins of the new boat, are particularly recognisable.
Like all recent Oyster models, the new yacht will also be built with two rudder blades. The owner will be able to choose whether to have the boat with a furling mast or rather with a conventional rig and a battened mainsail. With shrouds attached to the outside of the hull, the size of the furling genoa will be reduced to an overlap of 106 per cent. A self-tacking jib will also not be available as an option. An almost one metre long bow nose for additional sails such as Code Zero or gennaker with anchor holder is firmly laminated to the hull.
The arrangement of the cockpit is special, similar to the larger sister Oyster 565 (test YACHT 2/2020). The guest cockpit is installed low down and is well protected by the high coaming and a flexible sprayhood. The helm stations are installed behind and slightly raised. This gives the helmsman a good overview when sailing and manoeuvring in the harbour.
The Oyster concept provides for a combination of centre cockpit and raised saloon, which is rather rare. This means that the level below deck is stepped several times and the saloon is significantly raised. The interior design provides for a classic centre cockpit arrangement with a large master cabin aft and en-suite bathroom with shower compartment. The very spacious U-shaped galley is recessed on the port side at the companionway. Access to the aft cabin is via the starboard side, where the navigation system is also integrated. The large superstructure windows provide an unrestricted view when standing. In the foredeck there is an owner's cabin with island bed and en-suite bathroom as well as an additional guest cabin with two bunk berths. The layout of the interior can be seen in the attached picture gallery.
Not only the dimensions of the Oyster 495 are impressive, but also its price. Unfortunately, an exact price list is not available from the shipyard, only an approximate base price. This is now £1.2 million for the market launch. At the current exchange rate, that is around 1.46 million euros and 1.69 million euros including VAT.
