The Art of Building Bespoke Tenders for the Superyacht Elite

By George Bains

Superyachts are the ultimate platform for luxurious escapes and daring adventures, providing a unique ability to travel anywhere in the world in exquisite comfort and style. Essential to facilitating these exclusive experiences and everlasting memories are tenders, which connect superyachts to everything from glamorous marinas to remote islands and reefs. We spoke to Richard Faulkner, CEO of Compass Tenders, to understand more about how tenders can enhance the superyacht experience, and the key to building bespoke tenders for the world’s largest superyachts.

Building a Tender Fleet

Working with some of the world’s most iconic superyachts, everything must be customisable to reflect the interests and lifestyle choices of the owner. At Compass, the company’s wealth of in-house expertise broadens the scope of what can be made possible for each project, able to adapt and meet specific requirements.

The importance of superyacht tenders should never be understsated. Whatever the lifestyle preferences of the guests may be, whether indulgent luxury or adrenaline-fuelled adventure, tenders are the facilitators for these experiences at sea.

“The tender is generally the first part of the superyacht experience,” explains Faulkner. “It’s the first thing you see and step aboard, and that sets the scene. The owner has to be proud of the tender when it arrives to pick the guests up. They want to feel safe, secure, comfortable, and dry!

“And in terms of the itinerary, where they want to go, what they want to see and do, the tender needs to be able to facilitate those things.”

When planning the tender fleet for a superyacht, the foundation is always to first determine how the owner wants to use the vessel.

“You have to start by figuring out what they actually want to do with their tenders, and that they have enough garage space.

“Who is going to use the boat, what’s the age range? If they’re younger and want to use the tender for fun adventures and maybe watersports, then they won’t want a limousine tender. Contrarily, if it’s an older couple whose family occasionally come with them, then they may well want a limousine for more comfortable transitions between superyacht and shore.”

Once the style of tenders is agreed upon and the brief is set out, Richard notes that one particular challenge is to make sure that the mothership has appropriate capacity to carry what has been proposed.

“It’s pretty much driven by the demographic of the owner, although size does play a part. The biggest issue we have is garage space, you can end up with a compromise simply due to limitation on garage space.

“However, project managers are now pushing back against sacrifices made to garage space onboard newbuilds. You can’t have a 110m boat with 9m tenders - the yacht is regularly going to be anchored offshore, so the tenders that are capable are crucial.

“The bigger the boat, the more ability there is to carry a greater number of tenders. Over 110m, you can easily end up with four tenders onboard. At about 100m, particularly with all the other spaces like saunas, massage rooms, and beach clubs, you are usually down to two tenders and a rescue boat.”

Commitment to the Best in Class

“It’s not only about the finish, but what’s underneath. The engineering, the quality of all the parts and the vessel’s operation for the crew. The backup and service as well, every aspect is essential.”

An early project delivering tenders for Coral Ocean (ex Coral Island) first gave Richard exposure to the superyacht industry, and formed the values that have underpinned Compass Tenders since 2004.

High profile tender builds for superyachts such as Tango and Madame Gu cemented the company’s position at the upper echelons of the tender market, and recent builds for Al Lusail (123m Lurssen), Dreamboat (90m OceanCo), Moonrise (99m Freadship), and Blue (160m Lurssen) has ensured that’s where they remain.

Custom Designs, Proven Platforms

Over the years of handling varied client requests, Compass has developed a diverse portfolio of tenders which each cater to distinct experiences on the water. From the comfort of limousine and catamaran tenders, to the thrills of open tenders and sports ribs, Compass’ extensive design and build capabilities covers the needs of every demographic.

While the concept of Semi-Custom may in an instance seem contrary to the fully bespoke philosophy of Compass Tenders, the reality is that each proejct remains entirely true to its owner. The benefit of having such experience in successfully delivering high-end tenders across all these categories is that Compass can create unique products based on a proven platform that guarantees performance, and their Latitude range offers exactly that.

“It’s a platform - it’s something that we’ve done before, that we have experience in, but it always ends up being pretty much custom because of what the owner will want to change,” reflects Faulkner on the benefits of Compass’ semi-custom Latitude range.

“If you had a row of them and you were a naval architect, you would say that the hulls are the same. Somebody with just a little less experience would say that they are all different boats.

“The reality is that you are often constrained by a number of things when starting a project. This way, you don’t have to start with a fresh piece of paper every time you propose a boat. You’re better starting off with something that you know about, and then adjust it to the owner’s requirements knowing you won’t need to compromise on seaworthiness, functionality, or general boathandling.”

Reputation and Relationships

Since the company’s inception, relationships have been paramount to the growth trajectory. To build such an esteemed reputation for quality, is one thing that is hard earned. To then maintain that reputation throughout the years, begins with the strength of trusting relationships.

“It’s absolutely crucial,” says Faulkner on the value of relationships. “Bad news travels fast, so you have to deliver. Not only that, but you must also follow up with any warrantly, any service.”

Richard cites an example of one project manager who time and time again has returned to Compass Tenders with the confidence that he will get the best product for his clients.

“He ordered what was probably the third tender from us, almost 20 years ago, and he’s about to order some more from us now. We must have built 10 tenders for him for three or four different owners, and it’s been varied - it started with a 7m Rib and the most recent is a large catamaran. He always comes back.”

The project managers, as Richard explains, play an important role between Compass and the owners during the stages of project development.

Another key relationship is held with the designer. Compass Tenders has collaborated with the industry’s most renowned yacht designers. Whether Eidsgaard, Langton, Winch or any other, these connections are more than the occasional working collaboration.

“We keep contact with these guys open, and are always talking even if it’s not boating related. When they have a project, they will come to us and ask what tenders we would suggest.”

Setting the Standards

It is no coincidence that Compass Tenders has reached the forefront of innovative, high-quality, custom tender build. As Richard has explained, this has been the mission since the outset. To set the standards for the industry, these values have to be embedded in every department and aspect of the company.

“The longevity of the company and the fact that it has been operating for such a long time,” answers Richard when probed what he feels sets Compass Tenders apart.

“The Head Designer here, Ed Wingate, has been with me for 15 years. And a lot of the other guys in our design office have been here for a considerable amount of time. Ultimately, our clients see continuity in what we’re doing, our standards, and the processes of how we do things.”

By acutely understanding client demands, curating all the in-house expertise to engineer inventive solutions, and reliably delivering unrivalled quality every time, Compass Tenders has well and truly become the global benchmark of custom superyacht tenders.   

"The tender is generally the first part of the superyacht experience."

Richard Faulkner - CEO, Compass Tenders

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"The tender is generally the first part of the superyacht experience."

Richard Faulkner - CEO, Compass Tenders
By George Bains