Oyster 745 – Boat of the Year 2018

Cruising World magazine in the US has announced the Oyster 745 is the winner of the 2018 Boat of The Year Award for the Best Luxury Cruiser.

Now in its 23rd year of competition, judging of this latest edition annual Boat of the Year contest consisted of separate dockside inspections and sea trials, and took place during and after the US Sailboat Show in the Autumn by three expert judges: Ed Sherman – Vice President of educational programming for the American Boat and Yacht Council, Tim Murphy – Cruising World editor-at-large and Bill Bolin – Marine Patrol Officer.

“The Oyster 745 absolutely blew me away for a lot of reasons,” said Sherman. “It was an extremely complex boat. It’s got a day generator and a night generator. It’s a big shaft-drive engine setup with a lot of systems. But when you climb down into the engine room, all the primary systems are located around the perimeter of the space, with really great access.”

“This boat is beautifully built, nicely engineered, and the systems were good and accessible,” said Bolin.
“I also made a note that this was the first boat with a real companionway that wasn’t a ladder. It was a stairway to heaven. Plus, the speed and manoeuvrability surprised me. It felt good. It was easy to move around on deck and below, and very comfortable. I’d like to spend more time on it.”

We’ve seen a lot of Oysters over the years, and I think we’ve found the boat where the company really knows where its feet are and hits the sweet spot,” added Murphy, Cruising World Editor.

Oyster chief executive David Tydeman said: “We’re delighted to receive this recognition for the Oyster 745. It’s a difficult size to get right; the larger yachts are always run with 3 or more professional crew and the yachts sub-60ft are generally family-run yachts. Our approach to this mid-range Oyster 745 – and her smaller sister the 675 – was to work out how owners could run the yacht themselves or choose to have a couple of crew. Finding the versatility in the layout options to enable these choices was the challenge and we’re very pleased that this has been noted and recognised!”

“It is an honour to receive this award and to start 2018 with the Boat of the Year accolade,” he added. “We are delighted to be able to show the Oyster 745 at the Düsseldorf boat show in January.”

The judging panel unanimously named the Oyster 745 the Best Luxury Cruiser for 2018.