Limousine tenders

A limousine tender is the enclosed transport boat that moves owner and guests between yacht and shore in any weather, in formal dress, without spray reaching the hairline. The cabin is air-conditioned, the door seals are car-grade, the helm is forward and separated, and the boat looks more like a small yacht than a tender. It is the most visible asset on a programme and the one owners ask for first when they upgrade.

This page covers what makes a limousine tender different to an open guest tender, the spec inputs that matter, the builders who define the segment, and what the asset costs.

There is no formal definition. By convention a limousine tender has:

• An enclosed, air-conditioned guest cabin with full headroom (typically 1.85 to 1.95m)
• A separate forward helm position with sliding bulkhead or door, so the captain can see what guests are doing without intruding
• Glazed sides and a forward windscreen, often laminated low-iron glass for clarity
• Soft-close cabin doors with marine-grade gas struts, sometimes powered
• A dressed interior with leather, veneer, headliner, and proper carpet, not a moulded GRP floor

Below 8 metres the format is hard to make work because the cabin volume becomes claustrophobic. Above 14 metres the boat is no longer a tender in any honest sense, it is a chase boat with a limo deck. The mainstream is 8.5 to 12 metres.

A common variant is the limo-tender or "convertible limo", which has a removable hardtop or retractable roof that lets the cabin open up for fair-weather use. It is a useful compromise on a programme that does not have garage volume for both a limo and an open tender. See convertible limo tenders for the format breakdown.

A 9 to 11m limo seats 8 to 12 guests on a single L-shaped or U-shaped settee, plus a small forward jump seat. A 12 to 14m boat seats 12 to 16 with a transverse aft bench and forward facing seats. The capacity ceiling is usually SOLAS or coastal-certification driven, not space driven.

The cabin furniture is the conversation that consumes the most owner time on a custom build. Materials, stitching pattern, headliner detail, hidden bar, drinks cooler, glass-stowage, USB-C and MagSafe charging integration, lighting scenes. Most builders run a finish allowance and bill the upgrade above it. Our cabin layouts spoke walks through the seating geometries that work and the ones that do not.

Limos are heavy boats for their length. A 10m limo runs 3,500 to 4,500kg loaded, against 2,500 to 3,200kg for an open tender of the same length. The drivetrain has to be sized accordingly.

Common configurations:

• Twin sterndrive (Volvo Penta D6 IPS or DPI), the dominant choice on 9 to 12m limos. Cruise 28 to 32 knots, top 38 to 42 knots.
• Twin diesel waterjet (Hamilton, Castoldi, Doen), where shallow draft or beach access is needed. Slightly slower top speed, much better low-speed handling.
• Twin shaft-drive diesel, on heavier 12 to 14m limos. Cruise 25 to 28, top 32 to 36, more efficient at cruise.

Hybrid and electric configurations are starting to appear at 8 to 10m, see electric and hybrid tenders. The technology is mature enough now for short-cycle limo work; range and recharge are still the binding constraint for longer runs.

The limousine segment is concentrated. The main names:

• Hodgdon Yachts (USA), the dominant custom builder above 10m, vacuum-infused composite hulls, Hodgdon Custom Tenders subsidiary. Long lead times.
• Pascoe International (UK), full custom and semi-custom limos and limo-tenders, strong on the very-high-spec finish end.
• Wajer Yachts (Netherlands), the Wajer 38S and 55S sit in the limo and limo-sport space, semi-custom.
• Vikal (Australia), custom-only, small build volume, distinctive tumblehome aesthetic.
• Compass Tenders (UK), semi-custom limo line in the 9 to 11m bracket.
• Tenderworks (Italy), semi-custom and bespoke, growing builder list.
• Castoldi Jet (Italy), limo variants of their jet-tender platform.

Most owners shortlist three or four builders and move to a comparative spec exercise. We can run that comparison for you; see how to choose a superyacht tender for the framework.

Headline budget bands for a new limousine tender, before transport, commissioning, and finance.

• 8 to 9m semi-custom limo: 700,000 to 1,200,000 EUR
• 9 to 11m semi-custom or light custom: 1,200,000 to 2,200,000 EUR
• 11 to 13m custom: 2,200,000 to 4,000,000 EUR
• 13m+ custom or limo-chase: 4,000,000 EUR and up

The line items that move the headline are propulsion (jet vs sterndrive), interior finish allowance, and the air-conditioning and audio-visual fit-out. See cost of a superyacht tender for the full breakdown.

The brokerage market for late-model limos is shallow but active. A 5 to 8 year old limo from a well-known builder, properly maintained, retains 50 to 65 percent of its build value. A poorly maintained one or one from a builder with thin parts support drops to 30 percent quickly. We hold a small inventory; see the brokerage listings.

Before a contract is signed:

1. What is the loaded weight at FAL (full air, fluids, sixteen guests, two crew, kit bags), not the dry weight on the brochure?
2. What is the recovery sea state with the yacht at zero way and a wind off the beam?
3. What is the air-con BTU at 32C ambient and 90 percent humidity, sustained?
4. What is the cabin noise dB(A) at cruise, measured at the centre seat at ear height?
5. What spares are carried in the build price, what spares need to be ordered separately, and what is the parts-availability commitment from the builder?

Anything the builder hesitates on becomes a problem in service. We run this conversation as a default part of the buying process.

Compare to open guest tenders, SOLAS rescue tenders, and the boats hub. To talk through a specific project, get in touch.