Tenders are boats that accompany a larger vessel – typically a yacht, superyacht or mega yacht – providing assistance and support to this ‘mothership’. They come in various sizes and styles – often reflecting the style of the yacht itself – and serve a number of purposes, whether that be transferring passengers, transporting supplies or providing watersports fun on the water.
The world of yacht tenders is a vast one, with these boats varying in their size, style, design and purpose. The choice of tender most often comes down to the individual styling preferences of the yacht owner themselves and the experience they look for on the water.
In this guide, we’ll share more on the range of tender boats available and help identify the key elements to look for when choosing yours.
What is a tender boat?
As mentioned, a tender boat tends to its larger mothership, and performs a number of roles for a yacht or superyacht. While the form a tender takes can vary, typically tenders are rigid inflatable boats (or ‘RIBs’), meaning that they are comprised of a rigid hull (generally fibreglass), and an inflatable tubing collar (typically hypalon).
Rigid inflatables are known for being very stable in water conditions, with their inflatable tubes providing additional buoyancy, shock absorbency and stability to the vessel, ensuring that they fare very well in all conditions and provide a much more comfortable ride for passengers.
Tenders vary in size, ranging from smaller boats at 3 metres in length to 10 metres or more. (More on the size of tender boats below).
Types of boat tenders:
The experience that yacht owners want to have when out on the water will vary by individual, and so yacht tenders too vary by type to cater to different interests and forms of adventure.
1. Open Tenders
Open tenders are your most commonly found tender boat across all different sizes of yachts and superyachts. As the name suggests, these boats have an ‘open’ deck layout, with no cabin space on or below the deck. These boats serve effectively for transferring passengers, providing day trips on the water away from the mothership, transporting luggage and supplies, and more..
Beyond the helm seats, you’ll find seating at the bow and stern for passengers to comfortably sit.
These open tenders can vary in size, however are typically small enough to fit on a yacht’s fore or stern deck or in the yacht’s garage for storage whilst the mothership is underway.
Take a look at our range of small open tenders.
2. Fishing or Sport Boat Tenders
Sport tender boats are supporting performance boats that enable a yacht’s guests to leave the superyacht for more fast-paced water activities that cannot be done from the larger mothership.
Activities such as wakeboarding, diving or fishing can be done from these performance style boats which have storage capacity for equipment and have an ergonomic design that allows them to cut through conditions effectively and efficiently for the respective water sport.
These sport tender boats are a little larger in size, and depending on their size, may travel behind the mothership rather than being stored onboard.
3. Chase Boat Tenders
A chase boat is one that follows behind the mothership and tends to be larger than the conventional open tender boats that are stored onboard. These boats offer guests the ability to get away from the superyacht – whether for the day or night – and are known to have their own cabin space for sleeping.
Given that the chase boat must follow behind the yacht, these boats will have a hull design that allows them to keep up and travel through various conditions.
What makes a good boat tender?
A good tender boat will ultimately come down to how you plan to use it, however a tender that ticks off the qualities below is a strong place to start.
1. Tender Boat Layout
While smaller in size, a tender’s role can vary day to day and so it’s important that the deck layout is an effective one to ensure that the boat can serve multiple uses effectively.
From being able to comfortably transfer passengers with spacious, comfortable seating, to being able to easily transfer supplies, luggage, sporting equipment. It’s important that you look for a boat that has a spacious well laid out deck, and ample storage with lockers throughout the boat to keep items out of the way while underway.
2. Storage for toys & equipment
If you plan to use your boat for watersports and other activities, it will be important that the tender you choose has a way to store equipment away.
From stern arches for storing wakeboarding and fishing rods, to under floor storage lockers for keeping line and equipment out of the way, or – on larger tender boats – a t-top for racking up paddleboards or kayaks – it is important that the boat tender that you choose has the means to store all of your toys and equipment.
3. Power
If you know how you plan to use your yacht tender, you’ll be able to get a good sense of the power capacity that you seek in your boat.
If you only plan to use your open tender boat for short trips around marinas, a smaller engine may suffice nicely – and may help improve the weight of the tender too, ensuring it can be stored and retrieved more easily from your yacht.
For those planning to use their tender boat for watersports or looking for a chase boat that can handle conditions well, consider a boat tender with a high horsepower option to ensure it can deliver your on-water adventure comfortably.
4. Beach Landing Ability
Being able to make trips to coves and beaches that are inaccessible to larger yachts is one of the key benefits of having a boat tender onboard or alongside your yacht.
Making sure your tender boat has a safe and comfortable platform for accessing beaches is something that you may wish to consider when thinking about your choice of tender boat.
At Grand, you’ll find that all of our rigid inflatable boats have bow step plates and stern step plates or stern platforms that enable comfortable and easy access from boat to beach.
How to choose a yacht tender?
Now that you are familiar with the types of yacht tenders available and their features, your choice of yacht tender will come down to the size and capacity you need for your passengers and your yacht’s storage functionalities.
What size tender do I need?
The size of your tender will come down to a few key factors. First of all, it’s important to understand the capacity of your yacht or superyacht; how much space is there available for the boat to be stored? This will come down to your individual yacht. Is there a garage space available? Will your boat tender be stored on the foredeck or stern deck?
Once you know the space and weight capacity you have available to you on your yacht, you can narrow down your tender choices further. For instance, if stored in a garage space or stern deck, will there be enough room for a ski pole or arch?
The other element to think about is the amount of people you’d ideally like to have onboard your tender boat. Smaller open boats may only be allowed to carry 4 – 8 passengers at any one time, depending on their size, while larger chase boats could carry upwards of 16+ people.
Where to store a yacht tender?
Your yacht tender storage will come down to your yacht’s design. Some yachts have a garage that is used for storing away tenders, which are winched up out of the water and stored away. Other yachts have space on the foredeck or stern deck and hoist the boat onto these places using integrated lifting eyes onboard the boat tender.
What is the best tender boat?
Have a look through our favourites from the Grand range to find the best boat tender for your yacht or super yacht.
Best Small Open Tender: Grand G420
The Grand G420 is one of Grand’s bestselling luxury yacht tenders, with a sleek, angular design on the water, effective use of internal deck space, and its premium features onboard.
Specifications:
- Length: 4.2m
- Overall Width: 1.98m
- Bare Boat Weight: 255kg
- Passenger Capacity: 6
- Loading Capacity: 750kg
- Engine Max: 60HP
- Fuel Tank: 55 L
Key Features:
- Bow step plate with mooring cleat
- Moulded helm seat with vast storage underneath
- Fibreglass tube step ends, for easy access onto the boat from the beach
- Optional ski pole for wakeboarding and towables
- Fusion Speaker System & Garmin Chartplotters
- Integration bow and stern lifting eyes
Customise your colours throughout the boat:
- Main Hypalon tube and secondary Hypalon tube décor
- SeaDek Flooring
- Two-tone Silvertex Upholstery
- Gel Coat
- Engine colours
If your yacht requires something a little smaller, have a look also at our Grand G380 or Grand G340 tender boats.
Best Sport Tender: Grand D600
Combining luxury and performance on the water, the Grand D600 is a stylish but functional rigid inflatable boat that is designed for adventure thanks to its incredibly spacious deck layout, storage throughout, and deep-v hull that empowers it to excel at performance-orientated activities on the water.
Specifications:
- Length: 6.12m
- Overall Width: 2.5m
- Bare Boat Weight: 597kg
- Passenger Capacity: 12
- Loading Capacity: 1100kg
- Engine Max: 150HP
- Fuel Tank: 141 L
Key Features:
- Bow step plate with mooring cleat
- Under deck bow storage
- Configurable deck layout to suit your style of adventure
- Moulded rear seat with vast storage
- Rear storage bins
- Swimming platforms with ladder
- Ski tower
- Integrated bow & stern lifting eyes
- Fusion Entertainment Speaker System & Garmin Chartplotters
Customise your colours throughout the boat:
- Main Hypalon tube and secondary Hypalon tube décor
- SeaDek Flooring
- Two-tone Silvertex Upholstery
- Gel Coat
- Engine colours
Best Chase Boat Tender: Grand G750
The Grand G750 is a rigid inflatable boat that elevates your on-water adventure. With a sleek, angular design, a spacious centre console deck layout, deep-v shaped hull for performance in the water and countless functional features, this is a chase boat tender that extends luxury experience beyond the limits of your superyacht.
Specifications:
- Length: 7.3m
- Overall Width: 2.85m
- Bare Boat Weight: 950kg
- Passenger Capacity: 13
- Loading Capacity: 1300kg
- Engine Max: 250HP
- Fuel Tank: 260 L
Key Features:
- Electric windlass
- Fibreglass t-top
- Shower kit with sink, tap & water tank
- In-built fridge-freezer
- Electric toilet with holding tank
- Bow step plate with mooring cleat
- Ample storage in the bow, helm seat and moulded rear seat
- Ski tower
- Swimming platorms with locker
- Integrated bow & stern lifting eyes
- Fusion Entertainment Speaker System & Garmin Chartplotters
Customise your colours throughout the boat:
- Main Hypalon tube and secondary Hypalon tube décor
- SeaDek Flooring
- Two-tone Silvertex Upholstery
- Gel Coat
- Engine colours
If you’re looking for a smaller option but with all of the amenities and comforts, take a look at the Grand G680.
So, which tender should I choose for my yacht?
We hope that this guide has helped you identify what your needs are for your luxury yacht tender boat. As mentioned, here at Grand Boats, our yacht tenders are entirely bespoke and customizable – from their upholstery colours, to flooring, tube colours, gel coat and more! Our friendly team based here in Australia can be on hand to help you entirely customise a yacht tender to suit your needs and individual style. Simply get in touch with us today to learn more.
