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- Beam: 15' 3''
- Hull Material: Fiberglass
- Max Draft: 7' 3''
- Displacement: 49,050 lb
- Fuel Tank: 1 x 225|gallon
- Fresh Water: 1 x 229|gallon
- Holding: 1 x 70|gallon
- Cabins: 4
- Heads: 2
2002 Oyster 53 | KUMA
Highly Updated Oyster 53 with 2024 Victron Lithium, Raymarine Axiom Electronics, Air Conditioning, and World ARC-Proven Ownership
KUMA is an exceptional 2002 Oyster 53, hull number 19, designed by Robert Humphreys and built by Oyster Yachts in England. The Oyster 53 is one of the great modern bluewater cruising designs: substantial enough for real ocean work, refined enough for comfortable living aboard, and respected for the kind of structural integrity, finish quality, and passage-making confidence that made Oyster a benchmark name among serious sailors.
KUMA is also far more than a pedigree yacht. Under her current ownership she has been actively cruised, carefully upgraded, and proven offshore. She joined the World ARC in Indonesia and completed more than 25,000 offshore miles, including 16,000 miles in a single year. Her owners describe routine 180-200+ mile days and note that in heavy conditions, including 35 knots true with 7-meter seas on the quarter, KUMA remained composed, safe, and comfortable enough for the crew to sit down to dinner in the saloon.
The recent upgrade profile is significant. KUMA now carries a 2024 Victron lithium and inverter system, all-new Raymarine Axiom electronics, Starlink Mini, PredictWind DataHub, extensive satellite and communications equipment, updated Dometic reverse-cycle air conditioning, refreshed refrigeration, replaced teak decks, new hatches and portlights, replaced standing rigging, updated sails, a professionally overhauled Yanmar, a low-hour Phasor/Kubota generator, recent drivetrain service, rebuilt/updated hydraulics, and a deep inventory of cruising gear and spares.
Below deck, KUMA delivers the atmosphere buyers expect from Oyster: cherry joinery, a raised saloon, a proper navigation station, a functional offshore galley, four cabins, two heads, and a practical crew/workshop space with engine-room access. She is elegant without being fragile, luxurious without losing her offshore purpose, and thoroughly set up for extended independent cruising.
For a buyer looking for a proven Oyster 53 with real ocean miles, serious recent systems investment, and the confidence of a knowledgeable owner’s program, KUMA deserves immediate attention.
Key Features:
Denison Yachting - San Francisco is pleased to assist you in the purchase of this vessel. This boat is centrally listed by David Walters Yachts.
Denison Yacht Sales offers the details of this yacht in good faith but can’t guarantee the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of this boat for sale. This yacht for sale is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal from that yacht market without notice. She is offered as a convenience by this yacht broker to its clients and is not intended to convey direct representation of a specific yacht for sale.
KUMA’s interior is exactly what experienced Oyster buyers are looking for: warm, practical, beautifully finished, and configured for real offshore living. Her raised saloon brings in excellent natural light and visibility, while the cherry joinery, renewed headliner, updated fabrics, custom mattresses, refreshed lighting, and carefully maintained interior finish give the yacht a current, cared-for feel.
The four-cabin layout gives KUMA outstanding versatility. The aft owner’s suite provides the privacy expected of a center-cockpit Oyster, the forward starboard cabin offers a queen berth for guests, the forward port cabin provides practical over-under berths, and the crew/workshop cabin adds a valuable technical and storage space with direct engine-room access. The galley, navigation station, saloon, and cabins are arranged for true passagemaking rather than marina-only living.
Interior Styling and Additional Features:
MAIN SALOON
KUMA’s raised saloon is one of the defining features of the Oyster 53. The elevated seating and large windows provide light, visibility, and a sense of connection to the water that conventional low-saloon layouts cannot match. The space is comfortable for entertaining, relaxing at anchor, or standing watch from below in poor weather.
MASTER STATEROOM
The aft owner’s stateroom gives KUMA the private center-cockpit accommodation plan that remains one of Oyster’s signature strengths. The cabin is spacious, well ventilated, and finished with warm cherry joinery, a custom mattress, and updated soft goods for extended comfort aboard.
Master Head
The master head is dedicated to the owner’s suite and includes upgraded fixtures, separate showering, and practical ventilation.
VIP STATEROOM
The forward starboard guest cabin is unusually generous for a yacht of this size, with a queen berth, warm joinery, and proper storage for guests on extended passages.
VIP Head
The forward head serves the forward accommodation area and has been updated with modern fixtures and a Jabsco Quiet Flush toilet.
GUEST CABIN (PORT)
The port forward guest cabin provides a practical over-under berth arrangement that works well for children, crew, passage berths, or additional guests.
CREW CABIN / WORKSHOP
The crew/workshop cabin is one of KUMA’s most valuable cruising features, adding a genuine work area, spare-parts space, and flexible accommodation with direct engine-room access.
KUMA’s galley is arranged for safe use underway, long-range provisioning, and comfortable entertaining at anchor. The equipment list is unusually strong, with both LPG and induction cooking, upgraded refrigeration, filtered drinking water, and extensive storage.
NAVIGATION STATION
The navigation station is a proper offshore command center, with new 2024 Raymarine electronics, communications equipment, Victron monitoring, air-conditioning controls, and the yacht’s electrical panel all within easy reach.
ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
KUMA’s 2024 Raymarine refit is a major selling point, replacing the navigation backbone with a modern Axiom-based package and providing working spares for all units except the autopilot control head. The communications suite is equally impressive for serious offshore cruising.
HELM STATION
The single center-cockpit helm places KUMA’s primary navigation, steering, engine, windlass, and bow-thruster controls in a secure offshore position.
HULL
The Oyster 53 was built as a serious luxury offshore cruiser, with single-skin GRP construction, a structural grid, robust chainplate engineering, and the protected skeg-hung rudder arrangement preferred by many bluewater sailors.
DECK
KUMA’s deck has benefited from major ownership investment, especially the replaced teak, all-new hatches and portlights, and maintained deck hardware. The center-cockpit layout, sugar-scoop stern, substantial hardware, and deep deck stowage reflect Oyster’s offshore priorities.
COCKPIT
The teak-laid center cockpit is secure, practical, and ergonomically suited for shorthanded offshore sailing. The arrangement keeps the helm, instruments, sheets, and hydraulic controls within a compact working area while preserving a comfortable social space at anchor.
MAST AND RIGGING
SAILS AND WINCHES
ENGINE AND MECHANICAL
KUMA’s main mechanical package has seen the kind of attention offshore buyers value: an overhauled Yanmar, low-hour generator, major 2024 drivetrain work, updated air-conditioning, and critical mechanical components maintained or replaced before they become liabilities.
PLUMBING AND TANKAGE
KUMA carries serious cruising tankage, upgraded water systems, and improved onboard water quality through her watermaker and filtered drinking-water arrangement.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The 2024 Victron lithium refit is one of KUMA’s strongest systems upgrades. It gives the yacht modern off-grid capacity, high-output inverter capability, comprehensive monitoring, and a solar-ready charging architecture suitable for extended independent cruising.
AUDIO/VISUAL AND ENTERTAINMENT EQUIPMENT
SAFETY EQUIPMENT
TENDER
BROKER’S COMMENTS
KUMA is exactly the kind of Oyster 53 buyers hope to find: a respected bluewater model with pedigree, documented use, major recent upgrades, and the confidence that comes from an active owner who has actually used the boat offshore. Many yachts are advertised as passagemakers; KUMA has lived that role with more than 25,000 offshore miles under current ownership and a World ARC-proven systems profile.
The 2024 Victron lithium/inverter refit, Raymarine Axiom electronics package, communications suite, updated air conditioning, drivetrain work, bow-thruster service, renewed rig and sails, replaced teak decks, upgraded safety gear, tender package, watermaker, and extensive spares make KUMA stand apart from typical listings. She is a serious Oyster, thoughtfully modernized without losing the character and quality that made the 53 such a benchmark design.
For buyers considering the Caribbean, Atlantic, Pacific, World ARC, or long-term liveaboard cruising, KUMA offers the rare combination of brand pedigree, current equipment, genuine offshore history, and owner confidence.
OWNER’S COMMENTS
KUMA has been our home, our passport, and our sanctuary for over 25,000 offshore miles, including 16,000 miles in one year alone, and she has not once let us down. Additionally, the Oyster support team has treated us as if she were newly out of the yard with incredible technical support since we purchased her. It is one of the benefits of second-hand Oyster ownership that is never mentioned.
We joined the World ARC with KUMA in Indonesia, sailing the circuit in company with some of the finest cruising yachts afloat. Passage after passage, she confirmed what the Oyster 53 reputation promises: a yacht equally at ease punching upwind in a steep chop as she is reaching away under full sail with the trades on her beam. 180-200+ mile days became routine.
What sets KUMA apart, and what no specification sheet can fully capture, is how she behaves when conditions turn serious. In 35 knots of true wind with 7-metre seas on the quarter, while the fleet radio buzzed with reports of slamming, sleepless crews, and seasick passengers, we sat down to dinner at the saloon table. The motion was purposeful, never violent. The Oyster 53’s long waterline, deep-forefoot hull, and center-cockpit layout simply absorb what the ocean throws at her in a way that smaller, lighter yachts cannot. Passage-making aboard KUMA is not an endurance event; it is a pleasure.
In twelve months of continuous ocean sailing, we experienced zero mechanical failures that stopped us reaching our destination. Engine, watermaker, electronics, and rig all performed as they should, passage after passage, ocean after ocean.
We are selling KUMA only because our circumstances have changed, not because she has given us any reason to. She is ready to take her next owners around the world, and we are confident she will look after them just as well as she looked after us.
REVIEWS
Robert Perry described the Oyster 53 as an attractively detailed, well-laid-out center-cockpit cruiser and noted the combined design input of Rob Humphreys, Holman & Pye, and Oyster’s cockpit ergonomics work.
The Oyster 53’s raised saloon, center cockpit, powerful rig with staysail capability, skeg-hung rudder, moderate-displacement profile, and excellent detailing continue to make the model a benchmark for serious cruising sailors.
Contact our team to schedule a private showing.
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