Love me, Tender

Whenever the mother ship is anchored in a bay at roadstead, they are used almost non-stop, because here they provide the connection to the land. The well-known yacht designer Rolf Vrolijk, co-founder and head of the design office Judel/Vrolijk (at the joint stand "German Yachts" in Hall 7a) is not only familiar with the fast racing yachts and modern cruising ships for which his company is famous, but of course also with these small but nevertheless so important dinghies.

"There are usually two tenders on board the mega yachts, one crew tender and one for the guests. These are two completely different operations. The crew wants a small and handy boat, usually an inflatable or RIB, which is the workhorse for shopping." Guests on a superyacht are less likely to climb into such an inflatable, certainly not if they have dressed appropriately for an evening ashore. What lady would want to go to the party in an evening dress splashed by salt water?

Rolf Vroljk again: "You have to have a fixed boat, which is maybe about six metres long, and you can fit six to eight people in it. But you also have to stow the boat on the mother ship, and so almost all tenders are actually custom designs, i.e. specially designed. There are also shipyards that specialise in building such tenders. Not only should such a tender be functional, but the design must also fit in with the mother ship. We design the tender according to the technical specifications so that it sails well and then the in-house designer who styled the motor yacht comes in and goes over it again visually so that it then matches the mother ship."

The dinghy as a figurehead, as the yacht's business card. The powerfully styled Bronson 34 could stand out here. The ten-metre-long boat is not only an eye-catcher, it also has different deck layouts for every purpose. It is always fast, it is supposed to be able to run up to 45 knots, and dry. Even with waves almost a metre high, no splashing water is supposed to get into the boat. However, the Bronson 34 is probably too big for most yachts to be stowed somewhere below deck.

The small but fine German shipyard Say Carbon Yachts is also involved in the tender business. The founders of the shipyard come from the automotive industry, where they built car parts in carbon fibre. This material is naturally also the first choice for all fast and light boats, not only racing yachts, but also nimble motorboats and tenders. The 105-metre yacht "Lady Moura" is one of the largest private yachts in the world (it currently ranks 28th in the megayacht rankings) and sometimes even has a helicopter on board. Among the dinghies, however, one stands out: the "Say Cat", a lightweight carbon tender with a catamaran hull for increased stability, designed by the Say shipyard as a dinghy and equipped with some clever details.

The Say Cat has a fixed sun canopy, but this can be quickly lowered so that the boat can be stowed below deck on the mother yacht. A fixed "gangway" in the bow, which can be folded out almost like the bow hatch of a landing craft when needed. A fixed air strip all around as a permanent fender. This boat has proved so practical in daily use that the captain of the "Lady Moura" has also thanked us for the tender on behalf of the owner. If that is not an award!