Boarding from tenders

Very Carefully!

It depends a lot on what type of Tender you have and where the people are getting on/off the yacht.

Rubber boats whilst not the most popular with the evening wear and permed hair brigade are very stable platforms for this and people can stand on the tubes whilst negotiating their way on of off the yacht.

Extra bodies with willing hands and some good words of encouragement also help those unfamiliar with or nervous about this type of activity.

The best way to avoid any hassles with this is to try and avoid moving people on and off when there is any swell around. A lot easier said than done when anchored off St Tropez in the Summer

There are two schools of thought to this, while in rough weather.

1. From the aft platform. The tender will be broadside to any swell and roll like a pig, sometimes getting caught under the platform.

2. From alongside. Now the tender will be pitching like a bronco but at least the fulcrum of motion will allow a 'sweet spot' to chuck the guests out. On occasion the odd wave will catch a guest in the fork, always cheers you up.

Yep K1W1, St. Tropez and Cannes are killer for this sort of fun.

That's one of the nice things about having a big RIB as a tender. You can pin the bow against the mothership with power to make it easier for guests to debark.

But in those situations, as with most things in life, it's all about timing.

Typically if you're boaring a yacht that is anchored, the yachts bow is into the waves and cuts most of it so that at the transom it's usually not too bad and if you tie the tender sideways to the swim platform fairly tight, you usually don't get too much movement....... the bow against the swim platform works fairly well but it's usually a good jump.

also this is just usefull for big yachts, i prefer the method used on "princess mariana" - a float-in-garage

even if the water is to rough inside it you can pump it out and get on the yacht with no harm

an other method would be a tender, which has a special lock to be locked on the yacht while boarding - maybe a fold down ladder which moves with the tender

just some simple things i got in mind reading this

what about a strong electromagnet alongside the boat - the tender would have a side-wall of steel and in case of rough condition you'll just activate the magnet - the tender would be raised alongside the boat.

most of the engine produce a lot of power - there should be some for an electromagnet

Hi,

You don't get many steel tenders on megayachts where weight always seems to be a major issue with Tender design and construction.

What do you think would happen if you were alongside with your magnet and the water below the tender went away- You think it would hang on by one side when a metre or so above the water?

If it were attached rigidly and the water came up it could well fill the tender thereby increasing it's weight way beyond the weight the magnet or Tender side could support.

hm - you see - i got the visions - you'll build them

i'd love to see some bones cracking

all right: easier way, DON'T BOARD IN ROUGHT WATERS !!!

If a magnetic field could effect the screws and pins holding you together, I'd be more worried about rust.

Of all the ideas and opinions i've read in this thread, this is the most important, also keeping the vessels pressed to co-ordinate the rise and fall as much as possible. Making sure that the guests step off at the top of the rise is also important.

Rendova is one RIB manufacturer which tout their flat gunwales as making for safer ingress/egress.

I usually suggest sitting on the tube and bringing the legs around where I'll help the guest up which is a less than desireable maneuver with the skirt crowd. This sounds really good. I'm not familiar with this manufacturer and a web search seems to run in circles. Does anyone have a site for them?

Has anyone had experience with a catamaran tender?

All the big cruise ships now seem to use them, are they worth thinking about at yacht size? Are they really more stable in a smaller size than the liner ones?

Just a thought.

Fish

Haven't used one as a tender, but have for other commercial work and yes that are very stable. Staying flat or even leaning out on turns sometimes takes a bit of getting used to though.

Hi,

On a project I was involved in we spent a lot of time and the Owners money looking at a 10m Catamaran Tender, a design was agreed and we had a price to build it.

Then along came a request from the Owner for a tender he could have on his existing boat with no wait, one was found albeit a fairly used and abused monohull but it had been on a boat like his before so it fitted no big deal.

It was shortly thereafter announced by the Owner that he wanted one of these on his new boat just 2 m longer, this was made and delivered by the same guy who made the tenders for Predator and the Owner is as happy as larry (It is not the only Tender aboard) and the catamaran design was left in a folder on the shelf in my office exactly where it sits today.