Donald Johnston makes Superyacht Hall of Fame

by Jeni Bone on 1 Jun 2008 Don Johnston, one of Perth’s quiet achievers, has been inducted into the SYBA Hall of Fame for his achievements and contribution over a lifetime.

There are only a few shipbuilding yards around the world that have the ability to build to any artistic design. Western Australia has a reputation as being home to some of the best and this is the legacy of one of the industry pioneers, Don Johnston.

Superyacht Base Australia (SYBA) hosted the third annual Australian Superyacht Awards at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Saturday 24 May.

This year saw the introduction of the Hall of Fame Award, open to outstanding individuals who have dedicated over ten years to the Australian superyacht industry. The inaugural inductee was Mr Don Johnston, founder of Oceanfast Western Australia.

Don Johnston undertook a complete refurbishment of one his assets, Perth’s Ansett International Hotel, in the early 80s, which impressed the operators, Ansett.

Ansett owned and operated Hayman Island Resort in the Whitsundays and planned it to be one of the best resorts in Australia.

Sir Peter Ables heard about the 'Hydraflyte', a 27metre high-speed ferry operating from Fremantle to Rottnest, and decided they needed a similar vessel to ferry guests to Hayman Island from Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island airport

Ansett contracted Riverfront Boat Builders to build a similar high speed boat from aluminium and asked Don Johnston to project manage the build and create an interior similar to a hotel foyer.

Guests were collected from Airlie and Hamilton, checked in onboard and taken directly to Hayman with champagne in hand. As soon as the guests were onboard the ferry, their holiday had begun, and Hayman became one of the most exclusive resorts in Australia.

After the successful launch of the 30 metre 30 knot ‘Sun Goddess’ Mr Johnston decided that spending a few more dollars on the interior would result in a high speed motor yacht for the international market and decided to take on the challenge.

Research revealed the most prominent designer of the period was Jon Bannenberg, an expatriate Australian living in London.

Bannenberg was a concert pianist who had an extraordinary flair for design and had gained an incredible reputation in a relatively short time in Europe. After taking over Riverfront, the company who built the Hayman Ferry, work commenced on the very first, high-speed aluminium motor yacht combining the talents of Bannenberg and Phil Curran.

In 1985 Don Johnston registered the name ‘OCEANFAST’ and the OCEANFAST 3000, a 30 metre revolutionary designed motor yacht was built, and with its radical design and high-speed performance, made its world debut with a very large splash.

With the next model, the OCEANFAST 4000 under construction, the 3000 was sold to an American who named it ‘Never Say Never’ and then in turn bought the 4000 and extended it to 46 metres.

This yacht, later named ‘Parts VI’ as the owner was a car parts dealer, became the flagship for Australia’s Defence of the America’s Cup in 1986/7 operated by the Royal Perth Yacht Club.

Over the next 15 years, Don Johnston, through OCEANFAST, built a total of 15 luxury yachts with all except one designed by Bannenberg, who continued to design for and support the yard until his sad and untimely passing.

OCEANFAST also built 7 luxury ferries, half a dozen 70 to 100 foot private vessels and educated hundreds in the skills of high quality ship construction before being taken over by Austal.

The strength of this industry in Western Australia is in a large part due to the tenacity and vision Don Johnston had during this time.

OCEANFAST for many years provided the articulate training for those who continue the industry today, and this is the basis of its strength.

Many of those people are still in the industry and now run or are involved in new companies and continue the great tradition of superyacht construction in Western Australia.