Luxury yacht tender

A luxury yacht tender is a transport used to service and to provide support and entertainment to a private or charter luxury yacht.

Known commonly as the 'yacht's tender' a luxury yacht tender will often be a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RIB) which features cushioned inflatable rubber inner tubes around its rigid (usually fibreglass) hull to protect the yacht when in close contact.

Other types of luxury yacht tender include inflatable boats, which are almost completely synthetic rubber or plastic, center console boats, and also rigid inflatable boats (RIB's) which are usually constructed from materials such as fibreglass, wood, steel or aluminium with inflatable synthetic rubber or plastic sponsons. Multifunction dinghies have recently become available as yacht tenders. These unsinkable dinghies can be rowed, motored, or sailed, and they also function as proactive lifeboats. Tenders are usually motor powered by outboard motor engines or inboard engines burning either petrol/gasoline or diesel. They use either propellers or more recently impellers as utilized by water jet boats.

A recent addition to luxury yacht tenders is the small personal hovercraft, such as the Hov Pod, which can also drive onto beaches or up ramps, to carry passengers on land.