New mothership
The tender garage is drawn but selection was left to later. We pick up at the spec stage and stop late-build clashes.
Service
Tender Sourcing
We run the global search and come back with a shortlist of two to four candidates that genuinely fit the brief, with the trade-offs spelled out and a clear recommendation.
Typical engagement8-12weeks
Builder coverage60+yards
Independence100%no commissions
Engagement
How the engagement runs
Brief
A structured conversation with the captain, project manager, or owner's representative. We capture the operational constraints and the intent behind them.
Long list
We work through the global builder market, including yards and models that are not actively marketing. We screen against the brief.
Short list and trade-off note
Two to four candidates with comparable spec sheets, lead times, and total landed cost (build, options, classification, transport, commissioning).
Sea trials and yard visits
We coordinate the visits and attend with you. We are looking at quality, not at sales theatre.
Decision and contract
We negotiate the build contract, payment milestones, change-order discipline, and warranty terms.
Build supervision and delivery
We hand off into build management or refit management as appropriate, and into transport for delivery to the mothership.
Triggers
When to call us in
Off-the-shelf gone wrong
An outboard sport tender bought without thinking through the side-launch geometry. A limo ordered before checking lift capacity.
Five-to-seven-year refresh
The original spec no longer aligns with current cruising and certification has tightened. Cross-fleet thinking matters.
Second opinion
A builder or broker has steered the owner toward a particular boat. The owner wants an independent read from somebody not on commission.
Background and detail
Sourcing is the part of the brief that consumes the most calendar time, and the part where independent eyes pay back the fastest. By the time a yacht is commissioned, the tender garage is already a fixed envelope: width, height, lift capacity, cradle clearance, and door geometry are all defined. The boats that fit that envelope are a smaller set than most owners expect, and the boats that fit the operational brief inside that envelope are smaller still.
We run the search against the global builder market, including yards that are not actively marketing into the segment. The shortlist arrives with comparable spec sheets, comparable lead times, and a total-landed-cost number that includes build, the options the builder doesn't volunteer, classification work, transport to the mothership, and commissioning. Where two candidates are close on paper, we usually end up at sea trials at both yards before the recommendation lands.
The work of sourcing is not glamorous: most of it is reading specifications, calling yards, and pushing back against marketing language. The output is a small number of right answers and a clear note on why the rejected candidates were rejected.
Talk to us
Brief us on a sourcing.
Send the mothership, the programme, and the role you need filled. A response follows within 48 hours.