February 2011 – Tim Fleming of Boating Matters has teamed up with Vripack to create a brand new SOLAS approved, 3 model rescue tender range under 5,5 meter. In order to create these tenders a combination has been made combined Fleming’s over 25 years experience, developing SOLAS approved tenders for the large yacht market, with the over 50 years designing and engineering experience of Vripack. The fantastic result is called Res-Q-Tender and is going to be build in the Netherlands by using Dutch ingenuity and craftsmanship.
“There is not a big market for these type of tenders which tend to be highly customized and you need a lot of time and engineering resources to be able to manage each individual build,” said Tim Fleming “However that is what I do for a living and I am lucky to have Vripack acting as the engineering authority. I also have a great builder here in Holland used to this type of precise aluminum work for Superyachts as well as building approved boats” he adds.
This brand new design incorporates forward thinking in practical ideas and features as well as the latest SOLAS standards. “We looked at what is the need from crew and is currently being offered in the way of small inflatable type tenders and rescue boats and decided that the market could do with something new and more practical” says Marnix Hoekstra, of Vripack. “It is not our style to design “me too” vessels and we came up with a unique design by thinking out of the box.”
The Res-Q-Tender is decidedly retro looking with a deep forefoot in the bow to give volume to the hull to support the weight of the forward seated driver and crew and provide for a day ride. “We saw that in most small inbourd tenders, the driver is positioned almost at the transom which impairs visibility at sub planning speeds” says Jeroen Droogsma, of Vripack. “We also designed the inflatable buoyancy tube to completely encircle the hull which gives the tender the necessary buoyancy to support the weight of the diesel engine, crew and cargo and provide enough freeboard for a dry comfortable ride”.
On board maintainability is further enhanced with the inflatable tube set being completely removable for repair or replacement. These custom made Res-Q-Tenders are ruggedly built with an aluminum hull and deck for intensive use but to the highest yacht quality standards. The Res-Q-Tender is an extremely well thought out ships tender with decades of lessons learned. The selling price of the Res-Q-Tender will be around €90.000,- with the complete SOLAS package incl. stretcher. Yachts that do not need the full SOLAS approval will benefit from substantial savings for this unique tender/rescue boat.
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