A semi-custom tender sits between a production-platform build and a fully bespoke commission. The hull and the layout family are fixed; the trim, equipment, engine package, and finish details are owner choices. For most yacht programmes, semi-custom is the right answer: it absorbs the brief without paying the time and money cost of building a hull from a clean sheet.
What "semi-custom" actually covers
The choices typically open to an owner on a semi-custom tender:
- Engine package. Two or three options within the platform's certified envelope. Mercury V8 vs V10, Yanmar 4LV vs 6LY, twin vs triple jet.
- Hull paint and topside livery. Owner colour-match to the mothership; striping; nameplate finish.
- Cockpit layout. Open / aft U-sofa / wet bar / cabin module / live-well, chosen from a small menu of pre-engineered options.
- Helm and electronics. Garmin, Raymarine, Furuno screen sizes and configurations within the platform's wiring loom.
- Upholstery and trim. Fabric, leather, deck material (synthetic teak, real teak, painted GRP).
- SOLAS or non-SOLAS. The same hull may be available in coded and non-coded variants.
What is not open: hull form, basic interior architecture, lifting points, structural composite layup. Those are platform decisions.
Why owners specify semi-custom
Three reasons:
- Brief fit without lead-time penalty. Semi-custom builds typically deliver in 9 to 15 months versus 18 to 24 for a full custom. For a yacht delivery date that is firm, semi-custom is often the only viable route to a built-to-brief tender.
- Lower spec risk. The platform is proven; the hull behaves the way the brochure says it does. Custom builds carry more first-of-class uncertainty.
- Resale. Pre-owned semi-custom inventory is consistent enough that buyers price it cleanly. Pre-owned full custom is more bespoke and harder to value.
Yards that build semi-custom
Most established tender yards run a semi-custom programme:
- Pascoe International offers the DT and Open ranges as semi-custom builds.
- Cockwells runs semi-custom across its standard hull range.
- Wajer is essentially a semi-custom yard; the 38, 55, and 77 are platforms with extensive owner choices.
- Vanquish sits in semi-custom territory with the VQ40, VQ45, and VQ58.
- Vikal and Hodgdon offer semi-custom alongside their bespoke commissions.
Where it sits against alternatives
A production new build (Axopar, Frauscher, Saxdor) is the right answer when the brief is generic and the lead time matters most. A custom new build is the right answer when the brief is specific enough that no platform fits. Semi-custom is the answer for the majority of yacht-tender briefs in between.