Semi-Custom Tenders

A semi-custom tender keeps the hull and layout fixed while the owner chooses engine, electronics, trim and finish. It delivers in 9 to 15 months against 18 to 24 for full custom.

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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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 superyacht tenders 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.

See also

What can I actually change on a semi-custom tender?
You choose the engine package, paint and topside livery, cockpit layout, helm electronics, upholstery and trim, and whether the boat is built to a SOLAS or non-SOLAS variant. Engine choice runs to two or three options inside the platform's certified envelope - Mercury V8 against V10, Yanmar 4LV against 6LY, twin against triple jet. Cockpit layouts come from a small menu of pre-engineered options: open, aft U-sofa, wet bar, cabin module, live-well. Electronics are Garmin, Raymarine or Furuno within the platform's existing wiring loom.
What is fixed and cannot be changed on a semi-custom build?
Hull form, basic interior architecture, lifting points and structural composite layup are platform decisions and stay fixed. That is the trade that makes the model work: the yard has already engineered and proven those elements, so the build absorbs your brief without the time and money cost of starting from a clean sheet. Everything downstream of the structure - trim, equipment, engine package, finish - remains an owner choice.
How long does a semi-custom tender take to deliver?
Nine to fifteen months, against eighteen to twenty-four for a full custom commission. Where the mothership delivery date is firm, that difference often makes semi-custom the only viable route to a built-to-brief tender. The shorter programme also carries lower spec risk: the platform is proven and the hull behaves the way the brochure says it does, where a custom build carries first-of-class uncertainty.
Which yards run a semi-custom programme?
Most established tender yards do. Pascoe International offers the DT and Open ranges as semi-custom builds, and Cockwells runs semi-custom across its standard hull range. Wajer is essentially a semi-custom yard, with the 38, 55 and 77 all platforms carrying extensive owner choices. Vanquish sits in the same territory with the VQ40, VQ45 and VQ58. Vikal and Hodgdon offer semi-custom alongside their bespoke commissions.
When should I go production or full custom instead?
Go production new build - Axopar, Frauscher, Saxdor - when the brief is generic and lead time matters most. Go full custom when the brief is specific enough that no existing platform fits it. Semi-custom is the answer for the majority of yacht-tender briefs between those two points, and it holds its value better on resale: pre-owned semi-custom inventory is consistent enough that buyers price it cleanly, where pre-owned full custom is more bespoke and harder to value.

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