THE ART OF TENDER GARAGE DESIGN
With limited space in some tender garages, we ask Josh Richardson to highlight some of the important aspects to consider when utilising the space for the storage of your tenders and toys
It goes without saying that the space of a tender garage or lazarette is premium real estate. With costs on occasion being upward of €1m per metre of length of superyachts, there is a clear compromise on living space for an owner when deciding what size garage to have on their yacht. Typically, this space is packed to the rafters trying to fit the largest tenders and number of toys possible.
There are a number of new innovations which have come into the industry to address this storage need and offer hugely practical advantages to consider having on board.
PACK THEM HIGH
The hydraulic jetski lift is one such example and enables you to have two jetskis, one above the other. This can mount on a bulkhead or have two units back-to-back if you have 4 jetskis. Simply put, you slide one jetski onto the lift on its trolley, connect and then press a button and it lifts to the ceiling. You then have space below it to slide in a second on its trolley. These lifts are available for sit down waverunners and stand-up skis.
Moving tenders around with cranes has inherent risks and can be very limiting in terms of where you situate the tenders on board. The latest types of chocks being fitted on new builds are Hover Chocks. These are available for tenders and jetskis. You connect the ship’s pressurised air to the chocks and this is pumped through the inside frame of the chocks and expelled through rubber pads on the deck. This lifts the tender a few mm from the deck, enabling you to push the tender around the tender bay by hand. The chocks are controlled by a remote and are built to have some friction so that the boat cannot slide unless being pushed.
Amazingly a 30 foot boat can be moved by one or two crew. When the boat is where it needs to be stored, then you reduce the air pressure, and it falls on its pads. This is hugely advantageous for yachts as tenders can be moved without the cranes (apart from over the side into the water operation) and they can be pushed into the smallest spaces close to bulkheads and other tenders. For those thinking of installing these, be aware you need a smooth flat floor and grainy non-slip will not work.
Large items like surfboards, sailboats and slides are often designed into the chocks themselves to take up minimal space.
STORAGE OPTIONS
For those small garages one area of constant struggle is where to store toys and often the area overlooked is in the tenders themselves. Increasingly we are involved in specifying storage for Seabobs inside lockers, dive bottle racks and SUPs etc.,into the tenders themselves to leave space in the tender garage for other equipment. ROAM tenders have inbuilt storage for all adventures and toys.
REMOVABLE BOARD STORAGE
Choosing tenders with integrated storage from the outset is sensible. Nautique Boats have some immense standard storage on board, able to swallow huge amounts of gear and boards, all of which is self-draining and ventilated.
On a recent Nautique delivered to a yacht, we got involved in designing an additional removable board storage rack which can mount in the Nautique when stored.
One area often overlooked is having tenders which fold such as the F-RIB. The F-RIB as an example can be assembled and inflated in less than 5 minutes with no hassle and extra parts to worry about. Simply fit the two bolts and inflate. These compact inflatable boats have a rigid fiberglass hull making them very resistible to wear and tear.
Increasingly popular on large yachts is the iLC (Inflatable Landing Craft). This is fully inflatable apart from the transom and can come in various sizes up to 7m long. The whole boat is able to be inflated and in use within 5 minutes, with the 5.5m version packing down to 1.5m x 0.7m x 0.4m.
This is an ideal way to get another tender onboard, which offers some usability not provided by traditional tenders. The iLC is the perfect watersports safety boat, crew boat and beach lander offering shallow draft, folding bow door and massive load carrying capacity able to take quadbikes, motorbikes and more ashore.
Whilst tender manufacturers complain about storage spaces and low crane capacities for tender handling, deckhands and officers complain about the yacht toy and equipment storage, and both are more than often correct. Increasingly we are getting involved in advising on storage of yacht toys as the range and amount of equipment is pushed. With owners trying to pack in as many items as possible making this neat, organised and importantly having items available for maintenance takes some consideration. We find that if toys are hard to deploy, recover and store these do not get used. The negativity soon gets passed to owners and they stop asking for large inflatables and others. Getting this right from the beginning makes a huge difference. There is increasing thought from owners’ teams on this and employing specialists to provide drawings, weights and dimensions of equipment to help make choices on what is purchased makes a large difference.
DON’T FORGET THE TOYS
There is no getting away from the rise of electric powered toys, whether this be a stand up jetski like the FFF, an electric surfboard like the Lampuga, or the well- known Seabob amongst others. Often these are required to be permanently or regularly charged and the racking of equipment, with charging is required. This needs to be considered as soon as possible in the build to avoid extension leads being laid over the deck or just in the way. These docking and charging stations are crucial and need to be accessible.
Storage of watersports equipment is a large consideration, as buoyancy aids, impact vests, wetsuits and scuba kit takes up a large amount of space. With yachts trying to cater for every guest the amount of equipment carried can sometimes be vast. A recent 74m outfitted had 96 wetsuits for example! Having these all on rails, dry and easily accessible for guests is no easy task. Drying rails should not be overlooked.
Whilst everyone wants more space, without question a well-planned garage can make the enjoyment of owners and the life of crew easier and more productive. Clever racking of equipment in advance of a new yacht launch means that equipment is used more, and crew are more positive of it to owners, in turn increasing the enjoyment of using it. Whilst bigger and better is often the brief from owners, there is a fine line to create the right packages and it is a challenging tightrope to walk. For all owners, management companies and representatives the assistance of a specialist company like Superyacht Tenders and Toys who know the products, and the builds makes a significant positive contribution and should not be overlooked.
EARLY PLANNING
The size of the tender garage should be dictated by the owner’s wishes for the experience he wants from a tender. The tender should not be a last thought, as it is vital to the smooth operation of the ship. We all know the first and the last thing the owners and guests use on their experience onboard is the tender. Getting off dripping wet ready to get into the limo to go to the airport is an experience to avoid.
Given the owner’s brief, the tender garage should be sized accordingly and box dimensions known so that tenders can either be purchased off the shelf to fit, or custom built as required. On production builds like Princess, Sunseeker etc., these are often designed specifically around a type of craft such as a Williams tender, Pascoe or Castoldi. Due to the garages being very specific to that tender, there are often not any, or many alternatives taking any choice or owners’ preferences out of the equation. So, remember just plan early and talk to all those involved in the design and build process and find out early what the owners REALLY want.
For more details
Tel: +44 (0)2380 016363
or visit www.superyachttendersandtoys.com
