A yacht tender is the small boat that carries people and gear between a yacht at anchor and the shore, another vessel, or a dive site. Choosing a yacht tender, sizing boat davits to lift it, and fitting a passerelle so guests can step aboard without getting wet are three decisions that shape how a yacht actually gets used. Get them right and the yacht feels bigger, safer, and easier to run. Get them wrong and you end up with a tender that will not fit the garage, a davit that groans past its safe working load, and a gangway that fouls the dock every time the wind shifts. This guide walks through how to choose a yacht tender, how launching and recovery systems work, how to match a tender davit to weight, what passerelles cost, and how to find an installer or refit yard that will do the work properly.
Most owners underestimate how central the tender program is. On a yacht anchored off a beach, the tender is the front door, the delivery truck, and the emergency lifeboat all at once. On a working charter yacht it runs a dozen trips a day. The systems that launch and recover it, and the passerelle that bridges the last two meters to solid ground, get used more than almost anything else onboard. That is why this is worth planning carefully rather than bolting on whatever the broker had in stock.
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Create your free accountThe starting question is not which brand looks best on Instagram. It is what the tender has to do, and where it will live when it is not in the water. Answer those two things and most of the shortlist writes itself.
Start with the job. A guest tender exists to move owners and their friends to a restaurant, a beach club, or a sunset cruise in comfort and a little style. It has upholstered seating, a bimini or hardtop, a sound system, and a hull that stays dry in chop. A utility or crew tender exists to haul provisions, jerry cans, dive tanks, luggage, and the occasional wet passenger. It prioritizes deck space, a flat sole, tie-down points, and a hull that shrugs off scrapes against a concrete quay. Plenty of yachts under about 30 meters make one tender do both jobs. Above that, owners usually split the roles into two boats, one polished and one that earns its keep.
Then look at where it stows, because that sets the hard limit on length, beam, and weight. A tender that lives in a garage in the transom is bounded by the garage opening and the internal cradle. A tender carried on the foredeck or the boat deck is bounded by the crane radius and the deck footprint. A tender that hangs on davits off the swim platform is bounded by the davit reach and its safe working load. Measure the space you actually have, then subtract clearance for fenders, chocks, and the person who has to squeeze past it. The number of good tenders that get returned because they are 20 centimeters too wide for the garage is genuinely surprising.
Three hull and drive configurations cover almost the whole market, and each suits a different use.
A rigid inflatable boat, or RIB, has a solid fiberglass or aluminum hull with an inflatable tube around the gunwale. The tube gives buoyancy, load capacity, and a soft edge that protects both the tender and the yacht topsides when the two touch. RIBs are forgiving, stable at rest, and easy to board from the water, which is why they dominate as guest and dive tenders. The tube does need care and eventually replacement, and it eats into usable beam.
A jet tender uses an inboard jet drive instead of an outboard propeller. With no prop spinning below the hull, a jet tender is far safer around swimmers, divers, and lines in the water, and it can beach itself or run in very shallow water. Williams built its whole reputation on compact jet tenders that fit neatly into a garage. The tradeoffs are a slightly higher price, jet-pump maintenance, and less bite in strong following seas.
A center console is a stiff open runabout with the helm amidships and walk-around deck space fore and aft. It is the choice for fishing, longer runs to shore, and yachts that want a fast, dry ride for six to ten people. Center consoles tend to be heavier and longer than an equivalent RIB, which pushes up the davit or crane you need to handle them.
A rough industry rule of thumb puts the primary tender at roughly ten to fifteen percent of the yacht's length overall. A 24 meter yacht is comfortable with a tender around 3.5 to 4.5 meters. A 40 meter yacht carries a 5.5 to 7 meter guest tender plus a smaller utility boat. Above 50 meters, owners run limousine tenders of 8 to 11 meters that seat a dozen guests in an enclosed cabin. These are guides, not laws. The garage, the davit rating, and the way the owner actually uses the boat all bend the number.
Weight matters more than length for anything that gets lifted. A dry 4 meter RIB might weigh 350 to 500 kilograms. Add a 60 horsepower outboard, a full fuel tank, batteries, and gear, and the lifted weight climbs past 700 kilograms fast. Always size davits, cranes, and cradles to the wet, fully loaded weight, not the brochure dry figure.
Williams Jet Tenders is the reference point for garage-friendly jet tenders from about 2.8 to 6.5 meters, prized for compact stowage and a clean finish. Highfield builds aluminum-hulled RIBs that are light, tough, and popular as both guest and crew tenders, with a strong reputation for value. Novurania is the long-established Italian builder of premium custom RIBs and limousine tenders, often specified on larger yachts where fit and finish matter. Zodiac is the heritage name in inflatables and RIBs, with a broad range that runs from simple utility boats to capable guest tenders. Other names you will meet include Nautica, Castoldi, Ribeye, and Pascoe for custom limousine and landing-craft tenders on bigger programs.
| Tender type | Best for | Typical size | Strengths | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jet RIB (e.g. Williams) | Guest transport, garage stow | 2.8 to 6.5 m | Safe around swimmers, compact, shallow draft | Jet-pump service, weaker in following seas |
| Outboard RIB (e.g. Highfield, Zodiac) | Guest and crew dual use, diving | 3.3 to 7 m | Forgiving, stable, easy boarding, good value | Prop hazard, tube wear and eventual replacement |
| Limousine RIB (e.g. Novurania) | Enclosed guest transport, large yachts | 7 to 11 m | Weather protection, seats 8 to 12, premium finish | Heavy, needs a large crane and garage or boat deck |
| Center console | Fishing, long runs, dry fast ride | 4.5 to 9 m | Deck space, speed, seakeeping | Heavier and longer, higher davit or crane rating |
| Utility / landing craft | Provisions, gear, crew work | 3.5 to 8 m | Flat sole, bow ramp, hard-wearing | Basic comfort, not a guest boat |
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List your business on YSNGetting a tender off the yacht and back on again is where the engineering gets serious. A dropped tender damages the boat, the topsides, and sometimes a crew member. Every launch and recovery method trades cost, speed, deck space, and sea-state capability against one another.
A tender garage is an enclosed bay, usually in the transom or the side of the hull, that swallows the tender out of sight and out of the weather. A hydraulic hatch drops to form a launching ramp or a beach club platform, and the tender rolls in and out on a cradle, rails, or an air-cushion system. Garages keep the boat deck clear and the tender protected, which is why nearly every new yacht above 30 meters has one. The catch is that the garage dimensions are fixed for the life of the yacht, so the tender you buy must fit the opening, the internal height, and the cradle travel. Retrofitting a bigger garage is major structural work.
Transom launch systems handle the tender through the back of the boat, either into a garage or straight off a fold-down platform. A hydraulic swim platform that lowers below the waterline lets a tender float on and off without a crane at all. The platform doubles as a swim step, a dive staging area, and a beach club, which is why owners love them. The mechanism is a set of hydraulic rams and a submersible-rated structure that has to be maintained and periodically resealed.
A davit is a fixed or slewing arm that lifts the tender from the water and swings it onto a deck cradle or a chock. On smaller yachts a single-point davit on the swim platform or transom handles a light RIB. On larger yachts a slewing crane-style davit lifts a heavier tender from alongside and sets it on the boat deck. Davits are the workhorse of tender handling because they are simpler, lighter, and cheaper than a full crane, and they suit yachts without room for a garage.
The core specification is safe working load, or SWL. This is the maximum weight the davit is rated to lift, certified by the manufacturer, and it must exceed the wet, fully loaded weight of the tender with a comfortable margin. A davit lifting close to its SWL in a rolling anchorage is a bad place to be. Reputable builders such as Nautical Structures, Steelhead Marine, and Besenzoni publish SWL, reach, and lift height for every model, and a competent installer sizes from those numbers, not from a guess.
A deck crane is a heavier, longer-reach version of a davit, usually telescoping or knuckle-boom, that handles the biggest tenders, personal watercraft, and provisioning loads. Cranes on large yachts can lift several tonnes and reach well outboard so the tender clears the topsides on the way up. They are more expensive, need more deck structure to support the base loads, and require proper hydraulic power, but they are the only realistic answer for limousine tenders and heavy center consoles.
| System | Typical use | Capacity / reach | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-point transom davit | Light RIBs on yachts under 25 m | SWL 250 to 900 kg | Simplest, lowest cost, limited to light tenders |
| Slewing deck davit | Guest tenders on 25 to 40 m yachts | SWL 500 kg to 2.5 t | Nautical Structures, Steelhead, Besenzoni |
| Telescopic / knuckle crane | Heavy tenders, PWC, provisions | SWL 1 t to 6 t+ | Higher base loads, needs deck reinforcement |
| Hydraulic swim platform | Float-on launch, beach club | Platform load 1 to 5 t | Doubles as swim step and dive stage |
| Manual passerelle | Small yachts, tight budgets | 2 to 4 m span | Cheapest, stowed and deployed by hand |
| Hydraulic telescopic passerelle | Guest boarding on 25 m+ yachts | 3 to 8 m span | Besenzoni, Opacmare, often with self-leveling |
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Start your project freeThis is the section that keeps project managers up at night, because it is where a small mistake becomes a real hazard. Sizing a davit correctly is a chain of numbers, and every link has to hold.
Begin with the wet, loaded weight of the tender. Take the manufacturer's dry hull weight, add the outboard or jet drive, add a full fuel tank, add batteries, ground tackle, safety gear, and a realistic allowance for water in the bilge and the sheer mass of a wet tube. A 4.5 meter RIB with a dry weight of 550 kilograms can present as 850 to 950 kilograms at the hook. Use that upper figure.
Then apply a dynamic factor. A tender being lifted from a moving sea does not hang like a static weight. The roll of the yacht and the surge of the water impose shock loads that can spike well above the static figure. A common approach is to size the davit SWL to at least 1.5 times the wet loaded weight, so a 900 kilogram tender wants a davit rated near 1,400 kilograms or more. Your installer and the davit maker will specify the exact factor for the sea states you expect to work in.
Check the reach and lift height next. The davit has to lift the tender clear of the water, swing it inboard past the topsides and the toe rail, and set it down gently on the cradle. If the reach is too short the tender bangs the hull on the way up. If the lift height is too low the keel drags on the platform. These numbers are in every manufacturer's data sheet and they must match your actual geometry, measured on the boat, not assumed.
Finally, look at the base loads the davit imposes on the deck. A davit lifting two tonnes at the end of a two meter arm creates a large overturning moment at the base, and that load has to go into properly engineered structure. On a refit this often means adding backing plates, doubler plates, or new framing under the deck. Skipping this is how davit bases tear out of decks. A good installer treats the deck structure as part of the davit specification, not an afterthought.
Do not forget the lifting gear itself. Slings, bridles, hooks, and lifting points on the tender all carry the same load and all need certification and inspection. The weakest certified component sets the real safe working load of the whole system, regardless of how strong the davit arm is.
A passerelle is the boarding bridge that spans the gap between the yacht and the dock. On a Mediterranean stern-to berth it is the single piece of equipment that guests notice first, because it is literally how they get aboard. A good passerelle is stable, self-leveling, and long enough to reach the quay in a range of tide and freeboard conditions. A bad one is a wobbling plank that everyone dreads in heels.
A manual passerelle is a lightweight carbon or aluminum plank that the crew lifts, extends, and lands by hand, sometimes with a small manual winch or gas strut to help. It is the right answer on smaller yachts and tight budgets, where the span is short and the freeboard is low. The tradeoff is crew effort every time the boat moves and a fixed length that may not reach in every berth.
A hydraulic passerelle deploys, extends, rotates, and levels at the push of a button. Telescopic models slide out to bridge a longer gap, and self-leveling models keep the walking surface flat as the yacht moves and the tide changes. The best ones fold flat into a transom locker so the deck stays clean when the yacht is underway. Besenzoni and Opacmare are the two dominant names here. Besenzoni offers a wide range of passerelles, gangways, and matching davits and crew ladders, while Opacmare is known for elegant telescopic and roto-translating passerelles that disappear into the transom. Both build systems that self-level and remember stowed positions, and both are found across the fleet from 20 meter yachts up to superyachts.
Passerelles and davits are often bought as a matched package from the same maker, which keeps the hydraulic power pack, the control logic, and the transom joinery consistent. On a refit, matching an existing hydraulic system's pressure and flow to a new passerelle is one of the fiddly details that separates a clean installation from a leaky compromise.
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Add your free listingFitting or upgrading tender-handling gear is rarely a bolt-on job. It touches the structure, the hydraulics, the electrics, and often the interior joinery, so it belongs in a proper refit plan rather than a weekend at the dock.
On a new-build the naval architect designs the garage, the davit foundations, and the passerelle recess into the hull from the start, with structure and hydraulic runs sized for the loads. On a refit you inherit whatever the yard did years ago, and the work is about adapting it safely. Adding a heavier davit means checking and often reinforcing the deck. Fitting a hydraulic passerelle means finding pump capacity, running lines, and cutting a recess into the transom. Enlarging a garage or changing to a bigger tender can mean moving bulkheads, which is why owners often accept the tender their garage already fits rather than pay for structural surgery.
A realistic refit sequence starts with a survey and a load calculation, moves to a detailed drawing package, then structural preparation, then the mechanical install, then hydraulic and electrical commissioning, and finishes with a sea trial and a certified load test. The load test is not optional. A davit or crane that has not been proof-tested to its rated load has not really been commissioned. Class-registered yachts have survey requirements for lifting appliances, and a good yard builds that into the schedule.
Coordinating trades is the hidden work. The davit maker, the hydraulic contractor, the structural engineer, the electrician, and the joiner all touch the same corner of the boat, and someone has to sequence them so they are not fighting over the same space. That coordinator role is exactly what a competent project manager or a good refit yard provides, and it is worth paying for. If you are scoping a larger project, our yacht refit guide and costs lays out how these workstreams fit into a full refit budget and timeline.
Tender-handling systems live in the harshest spot on the boat, at the waterline, in salt spray, under load. They reward attention and punish neglect quickly. A short, disciplined maintenance routine keeps them safe and keeps the costs predictable.
The wire rope or synthetic line on a davit winch is a wear item and a safety-critical one. Inspect it regularly for broken strands, kinks, corrosion, and flat spots, and replace it on the manufacturer's schedule or sooner if it shows damage. A cable that fails under a loaded tender is a serious incident. Slings, hooks, shackles, and lifting eyes get the same treatment, with periodic inspection and certification. Keep the certificates, because class and insurance will ask for them.
Hydraulic davits, cranes, passerelles, and swim platforms all depend on clean fluid, tight seals, and correct pressure. Check for weeping seals and hose chafe, watch the fluid level and condition, and change the fluid and filters on schedule. Salt water and hydraulic rams are old enemies, so cylinder rods want a wipe-down and the recommended protectant after hard use. A soft or drifting passerelle, a davit that will not hold height, or a platform that creeps down are all early signs of a hydraulic problem that is cheaper to fix now than later.
Anything submerged or splashed, including swim platform mechanisms, submersible davit parts, and the tender's own outdrive, needs sacrificial anodes to protect it from galvanic corrosion. Check anodes at every haul-out and replace them before they are used up. Rinse the whole tender and its handling gear with fresh water after use, pay attention to stainless fittings that can suffer crevice corrosion, and keep drains and scuppers clear so salt water does not pool.
The tender needs its own routine: engine or jet-pump service, tube pressure and repair on RIBs, battery care, and fuel-system attention. Outboards and jet drives follow the same service logic as any marine engine, and a tender that lives on davits still needs its impeller, oil, and anodes looked after. If your program includes personal watercraft alongside the tender, the same discipline applies, and our jet ski and PWC repair and service guide covers those in detail.
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Find a specialist near youPrices vary with brand, size, specification, and where in the world the work is done, so treat these as planning ranges rather than quotes. They reflect typical 2026 figures for the yacht market.
Tenders themselves span a wide range. A basic 3 to 4 meter outboard RIB from a value builder such as Highfield or Zodiac runs roughly 8,000 to 25,000 US dollars. A compact Williams jet tender in the 3 to 4 meter class typically lands between 40,000 and 80,000 dollars once rigged. A well-specified 5 to 7 meter guest RIB from a premium builder like Novurania runs from around 120,000 to 350,000 dollars. A custom limousine tender of 8 to 11 meters, enclosed and finished to superyacht standard, can reach 500,000 dollars to well over a million.
Davits track their capacity. A light single-point transom davit for a small RIB might cost 5,000 to 15,000 dollars supplied. A slewing deck davit rated a tonne or two from Nautical Structures, Steelhead, or Besenzoni typically runs 25,000 to 90,000 dollars depending on reach and finish. A telescopic or knuckle-boom deck crane for heavy tenders and provisioning starts around 60,000 dollars and climbs past 250,000 for the largest hydraulic units. These are supply prices before installation.
Passerelles follow the same logic. A manual carbon passerelle sits roughly between 6,000 and 20,000 dollars. A hydraulic telescopic self-leveling passerelle from Besenzoni or Opacmare typically runs 25,000 to 120,000 dollars supplied, with the largest superyacht units higher again. A hydraulic swim platform system is a bigger number still, commonly 40,000 to 200,000 dollars plus depending on load and complexity.
Installation is a separate line and it is easy to underestimate. On a refit, structural reinforcement, hydraulic runs, electrical work, joinery, commissioning, and a certified load test can add anywhere from a few thousand dollars for a simple davit swap to well over a hundred thousand for a garage or crane project that touches the structure. Yard labor rates, crane hire, and haul-out costs all feed into it. The honest advice is to budget the install at a meaningful fraction of the equipment cost, and to get it quoted properly before you commit to the hardware.
Maintenance is the ongoing cost. Winch cable replacement, hydraulic service, anode changes, and annual load testing typically run a few thousand dollars a year for a mid-size davit and passerelle setup, more if the systems are large or neglected. Regular service is cheaper than the emergency that neglect eventually produces.
The quality of the people doing the work matters more than the badge on the equipment. A brilliant davit installed badly is a liability, and a modest davit installed well is an asset for the life of the yacht. So the real task is finding the right installer, hydraulic specialist, or refit yard.
Look for a track record with the specific gear. A yard that has fitted a dozen Besenzoni passerelles or Nautical Structures davits knows the mounting details, the hydraulic quirks, and the class paperwork. Ask to see recent projects and talk to the captains who ran them afterward. Check that they handle the whole chain: survey, engineering, structure, hydraulics, electrics, and the certified load test, either in-house or through trusted subcontractors they coordinate.
Confirm the certification and insurance. Lifting appliances on class-registered yachts have survey and test requirements, and the installer should be fluent in them. Get the SWL certification, the load-test records, and the warranty terms in writing. And get more than one quote, because the spread on this work is wide and the cheapest bid is not always the one that reinforces the deck properly.
This is exactly where Yacht Service Network helps. YSN is a free marine-services marketplace and directory that connects owners and captains with tender dealers, davit and crane installers, hydraulic specialists, and refit yards. You can search by location and specialty, read what other crews say, and reach out directly with no lead fees and no middleman markup. Contractors list their business free and get found by the yachts that need them. If your project also touches the thruster or maneuvering gear, our bow thruster install and maintenance guide is a useful companion for planning the wider hull-systems work.
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A useful starting rule puts the main tender at roughly ten to fifteen percent of the yacht's length overall, so a 24 meter yacht suits a 3.5 to 4.5 meter tender and a 40 meter yacht carries a 5.5 to 7 meter guest boat plus a small utility tender. The real limits are set by the garage opening, the davit safe working load, and how the owner actually uses the boat, so measure your stowage before you shop.
A davit is a lighter fixed or slewing arm that lifts a tender from the water onto a deck cradle, suited to smaller and mid-size tenders. A crane is a heavier, longer-reach telescopic or knuckle-boom unit that handles the biggest tenders, personal watercraft, and provisioning loads, at higher cost and with more demanding deck structure. Choose the davit if it comfortably exceeds your wet loaded tender weight, and step up to a crane for heavy limousine tenders and long reaches.
Start with the wet, fully loaded weight of the tender, including engine, full fuel, batteries, gear, and water, not the dry brochure figure. Then apply a dynamic factor, commonly around 1.5 times, to allow for shock loads when lifting in a seaway. The davit or crane SWL must exceed that number, and the lifting slings and hooks must be certified to match, because the weakest certified component sets the real limit.
A passerelle is the boarding bridge that spans the gap between the yacht and the dock, essential for Mediterranean stern-to berthing where guests board over the transom. Small yachts can use a manual carbon plank, while yachts from about 25 meters up usually fit a hydraulic telescopic self-leveling model from Besenzoni or Opacmare that deploys at the push of a button and folds flat into the transom when underway.
A jet tender is safer around swimmers, divers, and lines because it has no exposed propeller, and it can run in very shallow water and beach itself. An outboard RIB is more forgiving and often better value, but the spinning propeller is a real hazard near people in the water. Many owners choose a jet tender specifically for use around a busy anchorage and a swim platform.
A value outboard RIB runs roughly 8,000 to 25,000 dollars, a Williams jet tender 40,000 to 80,000, and a premium guest RIB 120,000 to 350,000. A slewing deck davit typically costs 25,000 to 90,000 dollars supplied, a hydraulic passerelle 25,000 to 120,000, and installation adds a meaningful further sum depending on structural, hydraulic, and electrical work. Always quote the install separately and budget for the certified load test.
Inspect winch cables, slings, and hooks regularly and replace them on schedule or at the first sign of damage, service hydraulics and change fluid and filters per the manufacturer, and check and replace anodes at every haul-out. Class-registered yachts also require periodic certified load testing of lifting appliances. A modest annual routine costs far less than the failure that neglect eventually causes.
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