A chase boat is a fast, fully independent day boat that travels alongside a superyacht to extend its operating envelope. It is not stowed in a garage. It is its own hull, with its own crew, its own fuel, and its own classification, and it is run from a separate berth or towed under its own bridle. The category sits between a tender and a shadow vessel, and the distinctions matter when you are specifying one.
The working definition
Use this test. If the boat lives in a tender garage, it is a tender. If it carries containerised toys, vehicles, or a helicopter, it is a support vessel. If it runs ahead of, behind, or alongside the mothership as a high-performance day platform, it is a chase boat. The clearest summary we use with clients: a chase boat is purpose-built to do at sea what the mothership cannot, at speeds the mothership will not.
Most modern chase boats sit in the 10 to 20 metre band. The current sweet spot for new orders is 12 to 18 metres, which is large enough for a real galley, a head, and seating for a charter group, and small enough to dock in a normal Mediterranean marina without a permit. The Boat International market overview tracks the same band.
What separates a chase boat from a tender
A tender is sized to fit a hull cavity. A chase boat is sized to do a job. That single difference cascades into every spec.
- Range. A tender carries enough fuel for a beach run. A chase boat carries enough for a coastal transit. Typical fuel loads put modern chase boats at 400 to 850 nautical miles of range at cruise.
- Speed. Tenders cruise at 25 to 35 knots. Chase boats cruise at 30 to 40 knots and top out at 45 to 60 depending on driveline.
- Crew. Tenders are deckhand-driven. Chase boats often carry a dedicated chase boat crew with their own watch system.
- Classification. Tenders fall under the mothership's certificate. Chase boats are usually independently coded, which changes classification rules and insurance.
For a side-by-side specification sheet see chase boat vs tender.
What separates a chase boat from a shadow vessel
Shadow vessels are commercial-coded support vessels of 30 to 70 metres that carry helicopters, submarines, vehicles, and additional toys. They run at 12 to 16 knots. A chase boat does the opposite job: small, fast, agile, and almost always within VHF range of the mothership. The two are complementary rather than substitutes. We cover the trade in detail at chase boat vs shadow vessel and support yacht vs chase boat.
Why owners specify one
Chase boats solve four recurring operational problems.
- Garage geometry forces compromise. A 60 metre yacht can typically only carry a 9 to 10 metre tender. Owners who want a real day boat on top of that order a chase boat to break the constraint.
- The mothership is too slow for the day plan. Sport-fishing, water-sports, dive operations, and island-hopping all want a 35-knot platform. The mothership cruises at 12.
- The charter brief demands two parallel programmes. Guests on the mothership, principal on the chase boat. We see this almost every week in the Mediterranean season.
- Coastal logistics. Provisioning runs, crew transfers, airport pickups, and fast spare-parts retrieval are quicker and quieter from a 14-metre chase boat than from launching the main tender.
Typical use cases
The use case shapes the hull. Sport-fishing programmes pull toward sport-fishing chase boats with tower, outriggers, and live wells. Polar and remote-coast programmes pull toward expedition chase boats with reinforced hulls and heated wheelhouses. Family-driven owners specify family day-boat chase boats with shaded seating and a swim platform. Charter operators want a versatile chase boat for charter that earns its keep on the broker market.
Size and configuration bands
Chase boats cluster into three operational bands:
| Band | Length | Typical engines | Guests | Mothership size | Indicative price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compact day chase | 8 to 11 m | Twin outboards 300 to 400 hp each | 6 to 8 | 40 to 60 m | 350,000 to 700,000 euros |
| Mid chase | 11 to 15 m | Triple to quad outboards 400 to 600 hp each | 8 to 12 | 60 to 80 m | 800,000 to 2 million euros |
| Large chase / hardtop | 15 to 20 m | Quad outboards or diesel sterndrives | 10 to 16 | 80 m and up | 2 to 5 million euros |
For a fuller cost breakdown by size and finish, see chase boat sizes and chase boat cost.
Range, fuel, and how the chase boat keeps up
A chase boat that cannot hold the mothership's pace is a problem in slow motion. The number that matters is range at cruise speed equal to the mothership's transit speed. Most superyachts cruise at 12 to 16 knots; the chase boat needs to make the same speed comfortably with a usable range.
For the headline numbers across the market, see chase boat range and chase boat specifications. The general rule: outboards for sub-15 m boats, diesel sterndrives or jets for above. Outboards win on weight and serviceability; diesels win on fuel burn and range.
Towing versus running independently
A chase boat can either tow behind the mothership on long passages or run independently. Both are common; both have downsides.
Towing, covered in detail in chase boat towing, saves fuel and crew but limits the mothership to a slower transit speed (typically 10 to 12 knots) and exposes the chase boat to bridge slap, fouled lines, and chafe. Most insurance underwriters will limit towing distance and sea state in the policy; check before assuming you can tow from Mallorca to Malta.
Running independently keeps the chase boat fresh and lets the captain choose its own weather window, but doubles the fuel bill and the crew workload. For long ocean legs, the answer is usually neither: ship the chase boat as deck cargo on a yacht transport ship, or park it at the destination with a delivery captain.
Builders and the current market
The category is dominated by a small group of specialists. Wajer in the Netherlands, Pascoe International in the UK, Hodgdon in Maine, Vikal in Western Australia, and Windy in Norway between them account for most of the new-build orders we track. Wajer reported in late 2025 that around a third of its current new-build pipeline is going directly to superyacht clients, which matches the growth we see in the brokerage market. The full review sits at chase boat builders.
Production semi-custom platforms from Axopar, Protector, Cobra Navis, and Vandal are also active in the segment, generally one tier below the bespoke builders on price and finish, but with shorter delivery times. We list current stock at pre-owned listings and at the chase boat filter.
Cost expectations
Pricing follows length and finish. A semi-production 12 metre platform sits at roughly 600,000 to 1.2 million euros new. A bespoke 15 metre Wajer or Pascoe runs from 2.5 to 4 million. A 19 metre Vandal 60 Chase or comparable flagship sits in the 5 to 7 million bracket. Used hulls trade at 50 to 70 per cent of new at five years, which is a softer depreciation curve than tenders of the same age. We break the numbers down at chase boat cost.
Specifying one in practice
The buying process is closer to ordering a sport boat than commissioning a tender. You start with the use case, work back to the operating profile, then specify hull, driveline, range, accommodation, deck plan, and classification. Our chase boat specifications guide walks through each block. From there it is a question of towing arrangements, crew structure, and ongoing operating cost.
If you are weighing the decision against a larger tender or a shadow vessel, start at the superyacht chase boats overview and read across the comparison spokes. If you already know you want one and need market data, go to brokerage for the current trade.
Sources
- Pascoe official site — Pascoe
- Wajer official site — Wajer