Sailing enthusiasts and crew scuppered by yacht investment scheme

2 months ago 17

Dozens of Australian sailing enthusiasts have been scuppered by an investment scheme involving membership in a fleet of luxury yachts that promised annual returns of up to 20 per cent and discounted voyages around the South Pacific.

Crew, subcontractors and several overseas investors are also owed money by a network of companies operating as Ocean Sailing Expeditions, which was founded by prominent New Zealand sailor and entrepreneur David Hows.

Two yachts, Silver Fern and Te Kaihopara, were impounded on December 9 and 10 respectively, after applications by former staff to the Federal Court of Australia and the High Court in New Zealand over $210,000 in unpaid wages.

Hows paid more than $100,000 to have the “arrest order” removed from the Silver Fern in order for the 22-metre vessel to compete in the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race over Christmas, while the Te Kaihopara remains chained to a dock in Auckland.

Both vessels, and a third yacht, Awen, have been put up for sale as Hows scrambles to repay creditors.

While sailing has long been regarded as a pastime for the rich and respectable, Hows claims his business was the subject of a “calculated and targeted attack” by rival businesses and a few disgruntled crew members.

“I have received personal threats, threats to send gang members to my home, threats of jail, bankruptcy and public shaming,” he said.

This masthead does not know specifically who Hows was referring to.

Silver Fern competed in the 2025 Sydney to Hobart race over Christmas.

Under the Ocean Sailing Expeditions business model, investors paid up to $100,000 for a “secured interest in the yacht” in return for annual payments of up to 20 per cent and sailing credits or discounted voyages around Oceania. At the end of a five-year term, investors would be refunded their initial investment, according to a shareholder’s certificate obtained by this masthead.

Hows, a yacht master who has traversed the Tasman Sea on more than 14 occasions, is also the subject of a liquidator investigation into the collapse of his former Australian company OSE QLD Pty Ltd, with debts of more than $565,000 and just 95¢ across two bank accounts.

A statutory report by liquidator Mackay Goodwin found the company had traded while insolvent since March 2022, while it was also examining a string of transactions made to another Australian company, LV2 Pty Ltd, which is co-owned by Hows’ wife.

The transfer of investors’ membership funds totalling $875,332 to LV2 Pty Ltd before the collapse of OSE Pty Ltd is also being investigated by the liquidator.

“Our review of the company’s financial record in our possession has identified transactions that may be considered uncommercial totalling $296,441,” according to a report to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on December 19.

“These transactions may also be considered unreasonable director-related transactions.”

Hows disputes that his former company had traded while insolvent for more than three years and said he had provided information to the liquidator on Sunday that would substantiate his claims. He said the liquidator had “rushed out a report full of errors, six days before Christmas and then gone on holidays”.

In 2020, Sydney couple Kelly McRae and Jonathan Plesman invested $50,000 from their self-managed superannuation fund into Ocean Sailing Expeditions through another of Hows’ companies, Willow Vale Consulting Pty Ltd.

“As sailors ourselves, we were drawn to the venture because it seemed ethical and exciting, and appeared to be grounded in a proven business model with his existing vessel,” McRae told this masthead.

However, the relationship rapidly soured when dividends were not paid.

“It didn’t take long for serious concerns to emerge. David began failing to meet his financial obligations to us while promoting new investment opportunities to others. It gradually became apparent that the limited dividend payments we did receive were linked to the inflow of funds from these new offerings,” McRae said.

The couple are owed $80,525 in unpaid dividends and principal, after rejecting a repayment plan from Hows on December 15 that involved the sale of the yachts and required them to waive participation in the liquidation of OSE QLD Pty Ltd.

The 72-foot yacht Te Kaihōpara remains chained in Auckland.

They are among several investors to lodge complaints with ASIC regarding the conduct of Hows and his companies.

Jason Haigh was employed by Ocean Sailing Expeditions as the skipper of Silver Fern in April 2024, but soon noticed trouble on the horizon.

“During my time in his employ, I observed months of sailing trips being sold to new customers whilst David Hows was unable to pay bills to suppliers, contractors and crew,” Haigh said.

The Sydney-based sailor launched Federal Court action to recoup a debt of almost $15,000, which was paid only before Christmas when Hows stumped up more than $100,000 to have Silver Fern released from impoundment. Haigh is still owed about $10,000 in unpaid wages from his role on Te Kaihopara.

Haigh said his former employer was constantly asking for more time and made a series of piecemeal offers to placate creditors.

“During May 2025, he held a briefing in which he expressed difficult trading conditions and tight cashflow, so asked us to wait for our payments. He then made one or two minor part payments to string us along, but stopped abruptly in late June with the liquidation of OSE QLD Pty Ltd in August 2025,” Haigh said.

Matt Harvey, also from Sydney, leased his 22-metre ketch Salt Lines to Ocean Sailing Expeditions in late 2021 when the vessel was used for trips around Australia and the South Pacific.

Harvey said he was still owed about $160,000.

“I made repeated attempts to resolve the matter privately and commercially before taking any formal steps. Unfortunately, those efforts were unsuccessful,” Harvey said.

David Hows reportedly owes staff more than $200,000.

“The most difficult part has been the length of time and energy required to pursue what should have been a straightforward commercial resolution. It has caused significant financial and personal stress.”

Hows would not confirm how much he owed creditors, because the information was “commercially
sensitive and likely to have an adverse effect on the sale price of the vessels if buyers were
aware”.

The 55-year-old conceded that not all dividends had been paid on time. But he said more than $2.7 million in capital had been invested in yacht maintenance and upgrades over the past five years, while the rising costs of the membership program had placed further financial strain on his business.

Hows said the previous model was “simply too generous”, but insisted the current restructure would help navigate the business away from treacherous waters.

“The business is moving from leasing vessels, hiring contract crew and paying all the operating costs, to a model of using owner operators only, who will own the vessels, run their own crew and take a revenue share from bookings to cover their costs and generate a profit,” he said.

Hows said all former crew would be paid by the end of January.

“I am doing my best to pay creditors, build a future and avoid six years of hard work and long hours being destroyed,” he said.

“I have put everything I have into the business and the yachts. It’s not an easy business to build. The restructure was working and momentum was building until this blew up.”

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