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It was aſt er buying the house in Cornwall that David’s interest in sailing started in earnest. “Once we had settled in, friends suggested we learn to sail and while looking around the harbour for something to have some fun with, I saw the most beautiful boat – the Sunbeam. It was designed in 1922 and only 47 were built, so I commissioned number 48 to learn to sail and race. It’s very elegant and great fun but a bit like somebody buying a vintage Ferrari racing car to learn to drive,” he grins. Karen, a keen horsewoman, learned to sail as well. “We’re both at a similar level and both go racing when time allows. T ere are weekly races locally and there’s Falmouth Week which we always like to take part in.”
He views his choice of training vessel with a sense of irony. “In the motor racing world there are lots of cars which, having spent their lives with our top drivers, we sell to private collectors. I watch them go out of the door and I know they’re unlikely to be driven quickly again in events like Le Mans. But I realise that in the yachting world, I’ve become one of these people. I’ve got one of these great boats, which I perhaps can’t sail quite as well as the designers intended, but I am slowly getting there!”
Before long, David realised there could be much more to water-born recreation than sailing and he started looking for a boat he could use for socialising and travelling. “I was particularly interested in a motor yacht to use locally, take friends and business contacts out for lunch. I started doing some research into who made the best British boats out there and soon realised there wasn’t much decision making to be done, it was Oyster.”
David is generally quite decisive about acquisitions. “I’m very focussed once I’ve found something I think fi ts the bill. I saw an LD43 at a boat show and thought it was the one for me. I tend to be a bit like that, whether it’s aeroplanes, helicopters, cars or boats. Once I’ve found the right thing I’ll just home in on it and the Oyster ticked all the boxes in every respect.” Oyster went down to demonstrate its motor yacht on two occasions “just to give me a run through and show me how everything works,” said David. I think they were a bit surprised at my two sons wanting to water ski from the boat but by lunchtime they were in full swing!
“I STARTED DOING SOME RESEARCH INTO WHO MADE THE BEST BRITISH BOATS OUT THERE AND SOON REALISED THERE WASN’T MUCH DECISION MAKING TO BE DONE, IT WAS OYSTER.”
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