Having built 1,300 monohulls over five decades, Oyster is a bluewater yacht leader. While these yachts will still form the cornerstone of its business, the new Berret Racoupeau-designed Oyster C60 widens the potential market for the UK yard by offering the space, stability and comfort of a modern luxury catamaran.

“A lot of people don’t want to sail at 20-30º heel,” explained owner and chairman Richard Hadida in Cannes. “I’m a monohull lover, but I know lots of people want that extra space. For the last few years they have been asking for things we can’t provide… until now.”

Oyster continues to promote ‘bluewater’ ocean sailing first and foremost but says its new catamaran is designed to be versatile and as equally appealing for coastal cruising. It turned to French firm Berret Racoupeau, which designs the extensive Fountaine Pajot fleet, and has more than 30 years of experience designing monohulls and multihulls for production yards.

Large forward cockpit creates another social area, saloon-linked via a watertight door

Coastal and bluewater

Stefan Zimmermann Zschocke, who was appointed Oyster’s CEO in July 2025, pointed out some design highlights and a few of the features that will help make the C60 an Oyster.
“We need to make sure that we are creating the most space but also [for] bluewater, and something that is not existing: high quality, high luxury.” (Privilege, Kynsna, Kinetic, Discovery etc may of course disagree with this statement).

The C60 provides 110m2 of connected exterior and interior space, and includes a flybridge and huge forward cockpit. Foldable transom platforms add extra space and encourage access to the sea, while a lifting platform or davits are offered for the tender. It is designed to suit both private or crewed use and includes the choice of galley up or down formats. “There is no cat that can do what ours will do,” notes Zschocke.

Superyacht-style trappings: vast social spaces, twin folding transoms and a lifting tender platform

The wraparound coachroof windows and triple seascape hull portlights, a feature Humphreys Yacht Design has long included in its Oyster monohulls, are the only visible Oyster traits, the latter offering prime views for the athwartships berths in the owner and guest cabins. The 30-tonne C60 also provides Oyster’s typical ocean-ready tankage, including 1,200lt of fuel and an optional 600lt extra.

And when asked which features add bluewater appeal, Zschocke points to the rigging, engines, onboard capacity, bridgedeck clearance (up to 1m), combined with “low superstructure and trampolines”. [The flybridge does push the boom and helmsman position up high, however.

Saloon and master cabin renders show a level of space and luxury that monohulls struggle to match

A long time coming

Hadida was bubbling with excitement during the announcement, but explains he has had to curb such feelings for the last four years. “I’ve wanted to do cats since 2022,” he stated, explaining how he reached out to Torsten Müller-Ötvös, former Rolls-Royce CEO, who then became a strategic advisor to Oyster. “He said, ‘You have to get your house in order first…’ and once Stefan came on board last year, that was finally the time.”

It was an impressive show of force and conviction, when Müller-Ötvös stepped up and likened Oyster’s surprise turn to when Rolls-Royce was developing a SUV (the Cullinan in 2019). “We had quite a lot of negative feedback! At the time I said we’d prove it works for the brand… It was a Rolls-Royce first and an SUV second – which is the same here. This is an Oyster first and a catamaran second.” SUVs now account for over 50% of Rolls-Royce’s car business.

Saloon and master cabin renders show a level of space and luxury that monohulls struggle to match

French oysters?

Where will Oyster source the technical skills and multihull building experience to produce catamarans, I asked? Hadida confirms its main yard and centre of excellence is inland at Wroxham, which makes it impractical to transport catamarans to the coast, so the C60 will ‘probably be built in France’ – albeit ‘steered by Oyster UK’.

Oyster considers this the sweet spot size-wise, a cat that’s comparable to an 80ft monohull. It also has a new monohull currently in development within the 50ft range.

Oyster points out that C60 owners will get the same ownership experience, including the preparation, technical support and access to its global services, aftersales network, regattas and, crucially, its ever popular world rally. On top of this it plans to offer a multihull training scheme to prepare owners for bluewater sailing.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.