Cockwells, the UK yard that’s as deft with wooden runabouts as it is with carbon-fiber composite vessels, says it’s quoting available build slots into 2024. Like other builders, it’s had to get creative to keep up with shrinking tender garages, which often get compressed in favor of more onboard living space. That’s how its low-profile, collapsible tenders were born. The owner of the 230-foot yacht Sybaris, for instance, wanted a limo with a roof rather than a large RIB, so Cockwells created a removable hardtop that stores upside-down so it can fit in the garage. “They can leave the roof in the garage if they want,” says Cockwells design director Henry Ward.
 
Courtesy of Cockwells
Cockwells also recently debuted a 30-foot “landing-craft” tender, with a drop-down bow so guests can step from the boat onto the shore. (Like many newer limos, it can also be built with a gyro-stabilizer to neutralize seasickness.) “The modular design allows us to turn it into a floating beach club, or back into a limo,” says Ward. “When not in use, the different modules will store on the mothership.”
 
And as owners’ wish lists and designers’ imaginations usher in a new generation of tricked-out tenders, yards are all too happy to keep up with burgeoning trends. “If we stayed with what we were building five years ago,” says Vadillo, “we’d be out of business.”

See the full article by Robb Report here.