Sydney Yachts moving forward

by Sydney Yachts on 30 Mar 2010 Sydney Yachts is now operating under its own brand following the closure of Azzura Marine's Nowra facility, with a new team comprising several familiar faces.

Sydney Yachts has a long standing reputation as one of Australia leading yacht manufacturers. For seven years Darren Williams played a pivotal role in the company’s development with. In 2005 Darren left Sydney Yachts to concentrate on other projects in the USA and Europe.

Due to the Global Financial Crisis Azzura Marine was forced to cease all operations in their Nowra facility in October 2009 leaving a highly skilled work force unemployed.

Australia has a great reputation of manufacturing and producing racing yachts that have competed successfully throughout the World and rather than see the demise of one of the last great Australian Yacht manufacturing companies, Darren Williams was determined to revitalise the Sydney Yachts brand under new management.

'When I first came onboard with Sydney Yachts in 1998, we began the development of the highly successful Sydney 38 OD and as history has shown it became one of the most successful production yachts ever constructed in this Country. I have always been proud of what we achieved at the Sydney Yachts factory in Nowra whether it was the 32 or 38 One Designs, the very successful CR range or Custom Yachts, so when the opportunity presented itself late last year I decided to purchase the assets and to set about rebuilding a great Australian heritage.

Under his direction, Williams has retained some key staff and the team is poised to deliver an exciting new range of high performance yachts. 'Mark Rowed who has been the Factory manager at Sydney Yachts for the past 17 years has formed a new manufacturing company, 'Innovation Composites'. We have negotiated for Innovation Composites to manufacture the vessels and to construct new tooling for the GT Series of vessels which have been designed by Jason Ker.

This partnership will ensure the manufacturing techniques of the new vessels will be to the same high standard as all the former Sydney Yachts products for which they have become renowned.

Jason Rowed who for the past four years was the sales manager for the highly successful Marten Yachts, will head up the sales team for Sydney Yachts here in Australia. Jason comes with a wealth of experience, he played a large role in the creation of the very successful Farr 40’s class in Australia and this ultimately led Jason to winning the Farr 40’ and Mumm 30’ World Championships in successive years.

Jason is known throughout the industry as a professional operator who prides himself on assisting his clients and helping them enjoy their yachts. 'Mark, Jason and I all grew up together sailing out of Pittwater, so we’ve got a long history together and work well together as a team,' said Williams.

The most important facet of any business are its clients, our team recognises this and will be working to assist all current Sydney Yachts owners and the One design classes to ensure this transition is as seamless as possible. We respect the history of Sydney Yachts and will be working towards continuing this tradition with all current and future clients.

In Australia the tyranny of distance is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when manufacturing, to help minimise this we have established Sales managers in various territories around the World, these include to date the USA, Netherlands and Japan with other Countries soon to be included. Jan Willem Droppers from the Netherlands is very experienced at marketing and has a wealth of knowledge in the marine industry, Jan is co coordinating with the sales managers and organising the day to day operations for Sydney Yachts in Europe.

The first model to be released will be the Sydney GTS37. 'Our first step has been to commission Ker Design to create a new breed of high performance yachts, which we are calling our GT series. The hull shape has been designed using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) research which is very efficient. We are currently working with Ker design to develop additional models for our GT range which should be ready for production later in the year

We were very keen for Sydney Yachts to introduce a new range that would have an international appeal. Whilst I was in France last September had the opportunity to helm the brand new Ker 53’ at 2009 Le Voilles de St Tropez Regatta and having Jason Ker on board was a great opportunity to discuss his design techniques’ and to gain a firsthand look at how methodically he goes about designing and fine tuning these fantastic IRC boats. Ker Designs have an outstanding record designing IRC boats with impressive overall and class wins in the Sydney to Hobart, top nine finishes in the last Fastnet Race (Class Zero), three of the top four placing’s in the RORC series and great results in the Commodore’s Cup.

This collaboration has resulted in the release of the new Sydney GTS37. A fast, offshore yacht with a refined double spreader rig with non-overlapping headsails ensures it is responsive, easy to handle and a pleasure to sail.

The large open cockpit sports twin helm positions and the interior is fully fitted with three double berths, a fully enclosed head, a well appointed galley and navigation area. There is plenty of storage space for both cruising and racing and the boat will seamlessly perform both roles with ease, whether round the buoys or offshore.

[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]'Most importantly the GT series will be built for southern ocean conditions, as has always been the history with Sydney Yachts, explained Williams. 'We are aiming to have the Sydney GTS37 on display at the Sydney International Boat Show in July and have it on the race course for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week. I expect to see this new model racing south to Hobart and north to Coffs Harbour this summer. It’s an exciting new phase for Sydney Yachts.'

For more details on this exciting new range please visit www.sydneyyachts.com