Super Yacht Tenders

thomas · 11 March 2008, 21:12

If you were the owner of a big super yacht and you wanted a tender say different sizes from 390 (williams tender) to 14 meter (pascoe, riva etc) what would you buy and why. I deal alot with captains recently which seem to buy nautica's etc which I find alot of crews complain of breaking, and if these american and italian type craft are breaking all the time, why is it still the most popular, is it ease of purchase, lots of dealers, large model ranges with inboard diesel, low profile desin for garages?? I have my own ideas but thought it might be good to see what everyone here would buy (non-RIB aswell) if they were in this posistion. Just intrested thats all...

Poly · 11 March 2008, 21:45

But Tom I don't think there are many super yacht specifiers here; so your market research will be flawed. There are probably all sorts of factors affecting someone speccing a superyacht tender that most of us won't appreciate.

I may be wrong but I suspect the average owner doesn't give too much thought to what tender to use. Perhaps his Naval Architect or boat builder does. Storage, and appropriate fuel probably is important to them, but buying from a name they know might be just as important. If everyone else in the superyacht market is buying from one of a few brands - why would the yacht designer/builder take a chance on a different brand? No one will get sacked for specing Nautica - even if its not that good. The crew who are complaining aren't the guy spending the money.

In most cases my guess would be the tender is a tool (which must look good as people will see it) but its detailed spec isn't important to the buyer. Afterall if you have a huge boat with massive engines, a pool, flat screen tv's, leather sofas etc - who cares what the "dinghy" is on the back - especially if it looks OK and will go reasonably fast!

thomas · 11 March 2008, 22:31

This is what I thought but in actual fact after spending lots of time aboard super yachts now, that the crew have a real inflence in the tender choice, more so than I thought, and that the 1st mates and captains discuss in length with the owner and what they are going for.

You are right about the designers, as it is important to them re the design of each tender, aspecially fuel & dimensions, over and above style. I have learnt too that the most important things is how long the boat will last, as you say its a tool. This is true becuase they are used for a variety of roles to the mothership.

Having said all of this, lots of these megayachts & superyachts, have other toys and tenders such as cigerrette's, Riva's, seaplanes etc. It was really just to see that out of personal choice what makes you would go for...If any one has seen craft that look intresting to them, to be used as a tender or toy.

Andy Moore · 11 March 2008, 23:13

This would do me:

http://www.boat-finder.net/1380/details.php

SeaSkills · 12 March 2008, 05:52

Hi Tom. My experience is a level (or 2 or 3) down from the superyacht bracket that you're dealing with, but the owners of the 50 and 60 foot boats that I've worked with probably have a similar mindset in some respects.

Very often it seems to be a triumph of style over function if it hasn't been considered very carefully. If it looks nice and fits their image of what should be on their boat, including the colour scheme, that's often enough. Sometimes the gadgets seem more important than the boat they're to be fitted on. Toys are important, and toys on toys are important too. I had one owner asking me if he should fit a big chartplotter on his 4.5m jet tender that spends 99% of it's time swinging from the davits. (It already has a small plotter which I've never seen switched on, and a power socket to run his satellite phone)

On the other hand, these guys aren't stupid. In most cases they've worked hard to get the money to buy their toys and they're happy to take advice. Their problem is that they often simply don't know what they don't know and make uninformed decisions. As Polwart is suggesting, they see what other people have bought and decide to get the same. Where they discuss it with their crews (or me on a few occasions) I think we've seen better results.

Which more or less takes me back to the point (eventually!) - what would I buy? Rather boringly perhaps, I've found Avons are a pretty good compromise giving good build quality, plenty enough options of engines and layouts, colourways that suit most owners, and they seem to be happy to store in whatever place the owner has in mind for them.