Humphreys Yacht Design

The Humphreys office is becoming increasingly immersed in cruising yacht design, which is an altogether happy state of affairs. Even in the office’s grand prix days huge effort went into the manageability of the yachts, their aesthetic qualities and their seakindliness. Sometimes there was a compromise too far - away from winning at all costs, that is - but the very effort that made this philosophy a frequent success now works to great advantage in reverse, where the best in cruising capability can be made to travel fast.

Oyster Marine found this out soon enough when they commissioned Rob Humphreys to draw the lines and carry out the naval architectural work on the Oyster 56. It was immediately evident that here was a stunningly fast passagemaker, as Richard Matthews’ Oystercatcher XXII went on to prove in the 1998 ARC (1st in class), 1999 Antigua Race Week (1st in class) and her trans-Pacific cruise from the Panama Canal to Auckland where 200-mile days were frequent occurrences.

When this Oyster job was taken on there was no firm promise of further projects, but with ten Oyster 56’s sold from the drawing board - an Oyster record - it seemed that the owners were voting with their chequebooks and things very quickly progressed to a succession of new Humphreys-led Oyster designs. In subsequent years the office went on to develop five further models, chronologically the Oyster 53 (British Yacht of the Year for 2000), the 66, the 62, the 49 and the 82 (the first of this range due to be launched shortly). Then, over the past year the studio has been working on the new 72 and 72 Fast Track (a very recent Oyster development) and the very new Oyster 46. Finally, Rob Humphreys has been deeply immersed in the development of the projected Oyster 100, a yacht which should extend the Oyster tradition into the Superyacht world.

In a similar vein, the studio has produced seven models for Elan Marine, with another three on the way. These boats live happily in the best-of-both-worlds, with racing success alternating with cruising achievements. It has been a really strong platform for Elan and a springboard for their next venture, a more dedicated cruising range which will go by the label Impression by Elan, starting with a 43 footer which is due to be launched in the Spring of 2004. These boats are expected to appeal to the charter market as well as to the private owner.

Talking of the best-of-both-worlds, Northshore’s Southerly range, for which we have designed two models with another on the way, represents multidimensionality of another kind. These comfortable cruising yachts combine oceanic capability with easy access to the shallowest waters, using their unique Swing Keel concept. Whether one’s preference is for isolated creeks or the clear waters of the Bahamas, the concept offers this very capability.

Cruising as a pastime, a way of life even, presents many challenges for the designer and Humphreys is finding the task extremely stimulating. Creature comforts require a generous provision for weight, and while the Humphreys studio has produced a number of light displacement racers over the years it has also been prolific in the medium- to heavy-displacement end of the performance spectrum. A conflict in terms? With considerable success in CHS and IRC events Humphreys has demonstrated on countless occasions that heavy displacement can travel very fast.

It is through this wide-ranging experience that the Humphreys office knows how to deal with both ends of the displacement spectrum, and indeed enjoys working throughout the range, meeting a customer’s individual requirements. There may be no such thing as a perfect, ultimate cruising yacht for the masses, but there is potentially the perfect yacht for an individual owner, and one of the great design pleasures is to work with a client to find and optimise a particular solution for him.

Humphreys Yacht Design Lower Seaforth House Bath Road Lymington Hampshire SO41 3RW UK Tel. +44 (0)1590 679344 Fax. +44 (0)1590 671651 info@humphreysdesign.com