Timur Mohamed has excelled in cricket and business — Sieyf Shahabuddeen — Opinion

Timur Mohamed has excelled in cricket and business

October 17, 2026·3 min read

Dear Editor,

Timur Mohamed and I were childhood friends. We are the same age and lived a few houses apart on Ganges Street in Prashad Nagar. I called him Timmy, as did everyone else. We wrote the Common Entrance Exam in 1968 and we passed. I remember him coming over to our home to celebrate. We shared a joyful hug. We were ten years young. For high school, I chose Queen’s College. He chose St Stanislaus College. Timmy had a cricketing lineage and pedigree. His father, Edwin Mohamed, a land surveyor with Bookers, had played for the national side as a spin bowler. His other family members were his mother, Aunt Kulsum, elder brother Sherwin, younger sister Kaslyn and, the youngest, Karen,

Shortly after starting high school, Timmy motivated some of the neighbourhood boys to play softball cricket. We played bottom house and, later, on an empty house lot. Even at that tender age, we recognized that he was a stylish player and had exceptional talent. It was hard to get him out. I fancied myself a spin bowler and actually got him out a few times. Emphasis: a few times. He used to tell us about the importance of having “ball sense”. You can’t stop Guyanese from making up nicknames. I had two: “Shully” and “Bakes” (origins unknown). In our little cricket group, Timmy became “Timotes”, then “Motes” – which morphed into “Motez”. The lads changed Bakes to “Bakez”. So, for a time, Timmy was “Motez” and I was “Bakez”.

An incident comes to mind. We boys were running barefoot on the grass. I was just behind Timmy. I stumbled and fell. I got up, brushed myself off and did not think much of it. When I got home and looked in the mirror, I was horrified to see that one of my front teeth was broken clean in half, horizontally. In a day or two, Timmy came down with a high fever. When he went to the doctor, it was discovered that the missing half of my front tooth had lodged in his heel! How would I face the world with a broken front tooth? My parents sent me to that wizard, Dr. Makepeace Richmond. The good dentist put a crown on the tooth that lasted for decades, until it was eventually replaced by an implant. So, to this day, I have a reminder of Timmy in my mouth.

Timmy applied the same laser focus he had in cricket to high school – and he did well. Then he did engineering at the University of Guyana. Whenever taking a break from studies, he played Elvis Presley records at fairly high volume. He captained the cricket team in the 1975 Benson and Hedges under 19 Championship and also played for Guyana in the Shell Shield tournament.^[1] A classmate of mine, the late Peter Gonsalves, was an encyclopedia of cricket. No one ever bested him in a debate about cricket. I once asked him why the elegant left hander was never picked to be in the West Indies team. His comment was “Timur Mohamed was the best cricketer who never played for the West Indies.” Peter did not blame the selectors but said that – at that time – the West Indies team had an abundance of outstanding players, so there simply was no room. What do readers think?

Timmy acquired some trawlers and ran a successful operation, trawling for shrimp and sea bob in the Atlantic, off of Guyana’s coast. At one time, he lived in Eccles and had a seafood processing facility on the East Bank. The product was exported to the US. His family had emigrated to Florida and he later joined them there. I heard, he made a fortune in real estate. He also played county cricket in England, for Suffolk.

He approached the celebrated luxury yacht builder Palmer Johnson to build a yacht for him; to be aptly named “Cover Drive”.^[2] At that point in time, he was already a multi-millionaire. The company was in financial difficulties and there were delays in completing the order. Long story short, Timmy took over Palmer Johnson and, thereafter, put his own stamp on the design of the superyachts.^[3] Here is an example of his handiwork; the sea trial of “Khalilah” in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin:^[4]

https://tinyurl.com/5n6chrkm^[5]

There may be Guyanese who are wealthier than Timur Mohamed, but none have his outstanding cricketing ability and history, twinned with the design and building of beautiful yachts with international name brand recognition. Despite that (apart from some cricket related information) he is practically invisible on the internet! There is a lesson in that for those – with a fraction of his ability and achievement – who are puffed up, arrogant and boastful.

Timmy, you did Prashad Nagar, St. Stanislaus College and Guyana proud.

Sincerely,
Sieyf Shahabuddeen

References

Timur Mohamed stats, news, videos and records — www.windiescricket.com ↩
Palmer Johnson Gets a New Lease on Life — powerandmotoryacht.com ↩
Palmer Johnson taking over Holland Jachtbouw facility | Superyacht Investor — www.superyachtinvestor.com ↩
YachtArt: Palmer Johnson 49mt Khalilah — yachtart.blogspot.com ↩
https://tinyurl.com/5n6chrkm ↩

Source

Timur Mohamed has excelled in cricket and business in Kiskadee Watch, October 17, 2026

“We had a good week up here,” Mike Kelsey, Jr. says, with an evident smile in his voice. It’s mid-January, and Kelsey is sitting in the Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, office of the chairman of Palmer Johnson—the same office previously occupied by his late father, Mike Kelsey, Sr., who took the yard to world prominence. It’s surely an emotional moment for that reason, but it’s also emotional because the younger Kelsey and the man he works for, the former professional cricket player and present owner of Palmer Johnson, Timur (Tim) Mohammed, have been meeting with craftsmen of the yard and setting up a transition team to return the famed Sturgeon Bay facility to solvency. ... “There were a lot of people who believed in the company, but no one believed as much as Tim,” Kelsey says. He explains that since Mohammed acquired Palmer Johnson Savannah (formerly Intermarine Savannah) in Savannah, Georgia, last year, it was natural to also want to acquire the Sturgeon Bay yard, given the quality of the yachts that had been turned out of there for decades. ... Equally important is the fact that Mohammed also retains the rights to the Palmer Johnson name and trademark, which he’d acquired in February 2003 from Andrew McKelvey, the yard’s previous owner. (Mohammed had essentially gotten them in exchange for forgiving a $1-million loan he’d made to the yard in January 2003 while it was building him the 120-foot Cover Drive.) In the weeks following the bankruptcy filing, when some of the companies that Palmer Johnson owed money to learned of the transfer of the name and trademark, they questioned the timing of it. The bankruptcy examiner determined late last year that the deal between McKelvey and Mohammed was “voidable” because it favored Mohammed at other creditors’ expenses, and both McKelvey and the yard filed lawsuits against Mohammed to get it back. Mohammed, in turn, filed suit against McKelvey, saying McKelvey had declared he had the right to sell the name and trademark. All suits have since been dropped. ... Rattner dropped his competing bid in January of this year. Kelsey says he and Mohammed are looking forward to the future and convincing potential clients that they’re committed to keeping production going in both Georgia and Wisconsin. “The place to build aluminum boats is in Sturgeon Bay, and the place to build fiberglass boats is in Savannah,” he relates. “The core craftsmen for each of those trades are located north and south.” The Savannah site will build the sleek semicustom sport-yacht series from 120 to 150 feet, designed by the famed Italian firm Nuvolari & Lenard. (Mohammed’s Cover Drive is a 120-foot version.) The Sturgeon Bay site will continue to build yachts with the traditional look Palmer Johnson became famous for as well as ones with more modern styling. In fact, when we spoke in January, Kelsey told me that Palmer Johnson expected to sign a minimum of two contracts by the summer and had both a 125-foot sport-yacht spec project as well as a 145-foot “unique concept” trideck expected to begin construction prior to that. As to that “unique concept,” Kelsey says it will combine sleek styling as well as elements that harken back to a “popular” yacht the yard delivered while his father was still chairman, though he wouldn’t elaborate.

Palmer Johnson taking over Holland Jachtbouw facility | Superyacht Investor

www.superyachtinvestor.com · 2015-09-22

Palmer Johnson taking over Holland Jachtbouw facility | Superyacht Investor # Palmer Johnson taking over Holland Jachtbouw facility by Alasdair Whyte 22 September 2015 Palmer Johnson has said that it is taking over the Holland Jachtbouw shipyard in the Netherlands. The company is moving from Sturgeon Bay, Winsconsin where it has been building yachts since 1918. In a statement the company said that it was moving to Europe for commercial reasons. Palmer Johnson said: “It in no way a reflection of its workforce in Sturgeon Bay who have for decades consistently produced the quality for which Palmer Johnson yachts are known for.” “Despite the US being the most important market, there is a limited network of suppliers, subcontractors and no clusters of yacht manufacturers as exists in Europe,” said the statement. “PJ was procuring up to 90% of materials and subcontractor services from overseas in a strong dollar environment, which erodes its competitiveness against the European builders.” Timur Mohamed, the owner of Palmer Johnson, said: “It was a really hard decision to move its manufacturing away from Sturgeon Bay as the workforce there is among the most talented in the industry.” Mohamed acquired Palmer Johnson in 2004 after the yard had been forced to file for Chapter 11. As part of the restructuring plan, Mohamed guaranteed that Palmer Johnson would remain in Sturgeon Bay with at least 100 employees for at least two years. Palmer Johnson received several Department of Workforce Development grants to help it train staff. In 2007 the department invested $58,000 to help Palmer Johnson Yachts and Bay Shipbuilding Company train workers at the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Palmer Johnson received a second grant in July 2012 Palmer Johnson recently announced a new build project for 64 metre PJ 210-2. She is scheduled for delivery in November 2017. A statement from Holland Jachtbouw is expected later this week. Superyacht Investor, Boxlands Cottage, London Road, Dorking, Surrey, England, RH5 6AE Telephone (UK): +44 1737 844 383 Telephone (US): +1 800 757 8059 louisa@corporatejetinvestor.com

YachtArt: Palmer Johnson 49mt Khalilah

yachtart.blogspot.com · 2014-08-21

his cool amid all the hullabaloo. Timur Mohamed, owner of the iconic American boatbuilder Palmer Johnson (PJ), which has produced the 49 metre SuperSport Khalilah, seems to be half-expecting the acclaim and attention when I join him on board. “This,” says Mohamed, sweeping a hand towards the huge aft deck by way of explanation, “is what this is all about.” Her goldness is not what sets Khalilah apart. Nor is the fact that Khalilah’s the largest private yacht built entirely in carbon composite. Rather, it’s that amazing aft deck, formed by its 11 metre beam. “This yacht has the beam of a 70 metre,” he says proudly. And Mohamed can rightly feel proud, knowing as he does the amount of effort and the degree of innovation that has gone into creating this new SuperSport series. It has been under development since 2010, when Mohamed came across a concept to serve as the starting point for a yacht to shake things up, in what he considers the conservative world of yachting. It came courtesy of a designer called Berkeley March, a finalist in Boat International’s 2008 Young Designer of the Year awards, who had recently started working for Palmer Johnson. What Mohamed wanted was a yacht without compromise and, with March’s design, he had it. “We wanted to tick all the boxes of what owners want,” Mohamed says. “The design intent had a clear and bold goal from the start: to create superyachts that did not compromise speed, efficiency, comfort and space. Once we had exterior elements we liked, along with the new hull form, the next [goal] was that design, technology and performance had to be woven seamlessly into the essence of the yacht. We were aiming to capture the hearts and imagination of the discerning and knowledgeable.” The first designs were produced in late 2011. A contract for the first yacht came a few months later. “It was a high-risk project,” says Mohamed, who admits he likes just this sort of challenge. A second hull, which was sold earlier this year, is under construction. “Innovative is when you change something fundamental,” Mohamed says. And this first SuperSport vessel did just that: a displacement yacht with no fin- or gyro-stabilisers, capable of reaching 30 knots and of providing the space of a multihull. “Thirty knots on a displacement hull simply does not happen,” he asserts. In February, shortly before heading to Florida, the yacht’s GPS registered 29.9 knots. Further fine-tuning inevitably followed. Palmer Johnson, founded in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in 1918, long before its expansion into Monaco a few years ago, is no stranger to innovation. In the 1960s, the yard began building fast sailing yachts in aluminium. It expanded into the superyacht market, where it carved its niche with alluring and sporty yachts developed in co-operation with Italian design firm Nuvolari Lenard. It was the company’s SportYacht series, launched in the mid-2000s, that first caught the attention of Mohamed. The first PJ120, Cover Drive, was built for him. “It’s all part of the PJ story,” he says. “From Fortuna (a 30.5 metre built in the late 1970s for King Juan Carlos of Spain) to the SportYachts to the SuperSport series, PJ has always bred performance yachts with dynamic styling ahead of the market.” It helps that the builder has like-minded clients. Palmer Johnson built the first SuperSport for a repeat customer who, in 2007, took delivery of another head turner: the golden, Nuvolari Lenard-designed 46 metre named O’Khalila (now Skyfall II). Unlike her predecessor, which was built in aluminium, Khalilah is entirely carbon composite: carbon fibre sandwich and vinylester. Khalilah oozes the best of automotive styling with a soupçon of later-generation Palmer Johnson genes. On the water the 49 metre, despite her wide body aft, is sleek and sporty, with a long foredeck ending in what appears to be a reverse bow. Above deck, nothing is revealed: no tenders or cranes, no anchors,