Superyacht and mega yacht tenders

A superyacht tender is the boat that does the actual work of moving people, kit, and provisions between the mothership and shore. Get it wrong and the programme suffers in ways that are hard to fix without a refit: cycles get longer, guests sit on a swim platform waiting, the captain has to choose between the boat the owner wanted and the boat the garage will accept. Get it right and most of the time you forget the tender exists, which is the point.

This page is the entry to our tender library. It explains the categories that matter, the way builders think about them, and the decisions that drive cost, garage fit, and certification status. Where a category needs more detail, follow the links into the spokes.

In the strict sense, a tender is any small craft carried by, or operated from, a larger vessel. On a private superyacht the term is used loosely for everything launched from the garage or stowed on deck, including the watersports RIB. On a commercially registered yacht the line is sharper, because flag and class rules apply specific carriage and rescue obligations to the boats listed in the safety equipment certificate.

For practical specification, we group tenders into the categories that drive design:

• Limousine tenders, enclosed transport craft for owner and guest movement in any weather
• Open guest tenders, uncovered or partially covered day boats for short hops in fair conditions
• SOLAS rescue tenders, commercial-grade craft that satisfy the rescue carriage obligation on a Code-compliant yacht
• Beachlanders, shallow-draft, bow-loading boats designed to dry out on a beach
• Sport tenders, high-output day boats for owners who want a fast, capable second helm
• Crew and working tenders, the unglamorous workhorses for provisioning, laundry runs, and crew transfer
• RIB tenders, inflatable-collared boats used as watersports platforms or rescue craft
• Jet tenders, waterjet-driven boats with no exposed propellers and the shallowest practical draft
• Catamaran tenders, twin-hulled platforms with deck space disproportionate to length
• Electric and hybrid tenders, battery-driven craft for short cycles in marine reserves and noise-sensitive bays

Most yachts carry two or three tenders, not one. A common pattern is a covered limo or limo-tender for guest transfer, a sport tender or RIB for watersports, and a crew or working tender that lives on davits or aft deck. The mix depends on programme, garage geometry, and what the captain will actually use.

A tender specification is a negotiation between four constraints, and almost every difficult decision on a build collapses to one of them.

1. Garage envelope. The boat has to fit through the door, sit on its cradle, and clear the deckhead with launch gear, fuel, and freshwater installed. A 150mm overage is not a rounding error. See tender garage sizing for the geometry.
2. Capacity and certification. Sixteen guests, twelve guests, or eight, in coastal or offshore service, with or without overnight. Capacity drives length, beam, freeboard, and the rules the boat is built to. See tender classification rules.
3. Performance envelope. Top speed gets the headlines but cruise speed at half load is what the captain plans against. So is range at cruise, sea state ceiling, and the recovery limit, which is usually the binding constraint.
4. Build and finish standard. Vacuum-infused composite or hand-laid, structural foam or honeycomb cores, painted topsides or gelcoat, what is fitted to the deckhead and how the engine room is treated for noise. This is where two boats with the same brochure spec diverge by 40 percent in price.

The full breakdown of the inputs that go into a tender spec sits on the tender specification guide.

Headline budget bands, before options, transport, and refit allowance:

• 5 to 7 metres, basic RIB or jet tender: 60,000 to 250,000 EUR
• 7 to 9 metres, semi-custom open or RIB: 250,000 to 700,000 EUR
• 9 to 11 metres, semi-custom limo or sport: 700,000 to 1,800,000 EUR
• 11 to 14 metres, custom limo or chase-tender: 1,800,000 to 4,500,000 EUR
• Over 14 metres, full custom or chase boat territory: 4,500,000 EUR and up

The full breakdown, including the line items that move price the most, is on cost of a superyacht tender. For finance routes see tender finance and leasing and for cross-border purchase see tender import and VAT.

Most builders sell across two or three of these tracks at once.

• New stock tenders are series boats from a build slot or finished inventory. Lead time is the shortest, configuration choice is narrowest.
• Semi-custom tenders start from a defined hull and accept layout, finish, and equipment changes inside a fixed envelope. The dominant route for sub-12m boats.
• custom superyacht tenders start from a clean sheet, usually for a specific yacht garage or programme requirement that no series boat satisfies.
• Used tenders cover late-model brokerage stock and end-of-charter sell-on. The market is shallow but moves quickly when the right hull appears.

A semi-custom 9m limo on a 30 to 36 month build cycle is the typical ask for a new yacht. Custom programmes run 18 to 36 months for the boat itself, often longer when garage integration drives the timeline.

Commercial yacht codes (LY3, REG Yacht Code, PYC) treat the rescue tender as part of the vessel's safety equipment. The carriage requirement, capacity, and stowage method all sit in the safety case the flag state signs off. Private yachts have more latitude but most build managers still specify to commercial standard so the boat can move between registries without a re-fit.

The rules that apply most often:

• SOLAS Chapter III for rescue boats on vessels in international service
• MGN 280 / MGN 587 under the UK MCA, for small commercial vessels and large yachts
• REG Yacht Code Part B for the rescue boat carriage obligation
• ISO 6185 for inflatable construction standards on RIBs

We unpack the practical implications on tender classification rules, including the commonly missed point that an open RIB built to recreational ISO will not satisfy a commercial rescue obligation without rework.

The two terms get used interchangeably, mostly by builders who want to sell into both buckets. They are not the same boat. A tender is launched from the mothership and lives in the garage. A chase boat is its own platform, runs under its own crew, and follows the yacht under power. The crossover sits around 11 to 14 metres, where some boats can do both jobs.

The decision tree, the geometry, and the typical operating patterns are on tender vs chase boat. The full chase boat library lives on the superyacht chase boats overview, and for the larger end of the support spectrum see support vessels.

Once the spec is agreed, the rest of the work is process.

• The best superyacht tenders guide is the shortlist view: the types, the builders we rate by category, and the sizing table.
• The tender buying process lays out the typical sequence from concept to handover, including survey gates and acceptance trials.
• How to choose a superyacht tender is the decision-tree version, written for owners and project managers approaching the question for the first time.
• Tender refit guide covers the upgrade and re-engine work that extends a serviceable hull by a decade.
• Tender maintenance and tender storage and transport cover the running side.
• Tender launch and recovery covers cradles, cranes, side-launch systems, and the recovery sea state that captains plan against.

We work as the owner's side of the table, not the builder's. Our job is to keep specifications honest, prices defensible, and timelines realistic. That means brokerage on used boats, sourcing on new builds, project management through delivery, and an opinion when one is needed.

If you have a yacht in build and the tender brief is still a paragraph in a contract, the work to do now is the spec. If you have a finished boat and the existing tender is wrong, the work is either a refit or a re-buy and we can usually tell which inside an hour. Either way, get in touch and we will start where it makes sense.