T
he luxury yacht tender market is ever expanding and always changing. No longer are RIBs used to send the crew ashore to pick up croissants and the daily paper. Now they are an essential part of any yacht inventory and increasingly something that gets discussed at the same time as the yacht they are to serve, is being built. There is always a way to find the right match for the client seeking to buy a RIB
for use on board. That said, the larger the boat, the more it costs and with garages and superyachts getting bigger so the size of the craft they carry in attendance increases.
Boat builders are it seems constantly devising new and exciting developments in RIB design and the new breed of boat is being put to new and refreshing challenges. Looking back to the times when an inflatable boat was made by Avon and rolled away once deflated, they seem long removed from today’s modern RIB. Today’s rigid inflatables sport features such as drop down bows similar to that of army beach landing craft while others can effectively be folded in half for ease of storage. Surely by now we can safely say that when it comes to their use with superyachts the rigid inflatable boat once derided as ineffectual has truly come of age.
it difficult for adventurous owners and guests to travel farther afield in their tenders on adventure excursions, fishing trips, or for long-distance personnel transfers. Our newly designed hulls for RIBs change that.”
When it comes to the latest innovations in design America RIB manufacturer, Novurania has always taken great pride in the innovations they introduce to the industry. This past year they have seen a huge influx in more tailored tenders for specific client needs. The most popular by far is their Catamaran series with bow opening ramp. As a semi-custom builder, the company has been able to build many models in this series to accommodate client requests. “No request is ever strange,” they say, adding, “We aim to please and do our best to accommodate what the client needs to make the tender the most fun part of owning a yacht.” Recently, they finished a 28 foot CAT OB designed to transport a client’s racing jet ski on board. A mini garage of sort was built in the tender to accommodate
this.In addition the T Top was designed to transport his canoe.
Over the past five years Novurania has witnessed a change in owner profile. They suggest, “Clients that own larger yachts
BOAT BUILDERS ARE IT SEEMS CONSTANTLY DEVISING NEW AND
EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS IN RIB DESIGN AND THE NEW BREED OF BOAT IS BEING PUT TO NEW AND REFRESHING CHALLENGES
One manufacturer that has always prided itself in staying one step ahead in the innovation stakes is Pascoe. Their Vice President, Tom Southern reminds us “Pascoe were the first to introduce digital switching to the tender market. That progressed to a close relationship with Raymarine whereby we supported their technical team with the introduction of Digital Switching to their displays which is a feature now utilised by boatbuilders worldwide.”
We also talked to Tom about Pascoe’s constant desire to improve the quality of hardware available. Tom explains that “It’s these fixtures and fittings that immediately identify a high quality tender and in the past, ether we’ve worked with manufacturers such as Bluefin and Baily Marine or we’ve simply developed them in-house.”
Anthony Just is in charge of Sales and Promotion at Rafnar a firm that builds RIBs in Iceland. Just has witnessed strong market recognition of the company’s Rafnar ÖK Hull and for the sea, comfort and unusual lack of bounce-and-slam it demonstrates. “We have expanded our luxury leisure design features of both craft to meet superyachting demand,” he tells us. He added, “Our very successful 8,5m Flengur 850 Open RIB, the 11m Leiftur 1100 Open T-Top and the Leiftur 1100 Cabin Explorer RIB, are all attracting attention in this market.”
The greatly extended owner expectation demands innovative solutions and offerings to the market, says Just, adding, “Rafnar is a company unique in filling this need with their ÖK Hull technology.” He believes that with superyachts becoming ever larger and voyaging to the more remote and extreme cruising regions, owners are finding that their yacht tenders and support boats are unable to adequately meet their user requirements with regard to comfort, safety, and functionality. He says, “The same old uncomfortable ride on conventional planning hulls makes
are young and very active - our tenders have been designed to meet these needs. Removable wakeboard towers to parasail and ski /custom dive tank storage units in the tender for diving and our CAT 28 with bow opening ramp can accommodate an ATV so island exploration is at its best.”
Innovation is at the forefront for Italian RIB builders, Extender. They brought to market the very first collapsible RIB with a rigid keel, designed to occupy small space on board and to provide more space in the water. It folds up easily in less than 2 minutes thanks to the system of closure that can be manually operated or servo-assisted. Even when closed, it floats perfectly so that it can be placed directly in the water and prepared for use. The innovative system of closure ensures, when opened, levels of stability and safety equal to those of a traditional tender of the same size. It is a concept that will clearly be popular with yachts where tender carrying capacity is not great.
Speaking for the company, Carlotta Signani was excited to tell us, “Last year we introduced a new ‘family’ of RIBs including the models EXT 430, EXT 460 and EXT 490. They have been especially engineered to adapt to the requirements of weight and size of sailing boats. While maintaining the key features of higher size tenders in particular passenger safety they are in fact lightweight.” She adds, “Even their internal structure and their design have been engineered to limit weight: a new manual closing system instead of the electrical one, a more minimalist silhouette, whole and not divided tubes.”
Petros Kapleris from Topline is the first Greek RIB builder to successfully present and use stepped hulls, continuously since 1998. He tells us that two years ago Topline began working in collaboration with Velos Design a company based in Austria.
ONBOARD | AUTUMN 2017 | 47
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