Tender and Dinghy Work

Prerequisites

• Parts of a Yacht and Sailing Terms: you should know bow, stern, port, starboard, basic rope words and the basic sea terms.
• Knots and Ropework: the round turn and two half hitches, bowline and clove hitch are all used with the tender.
• Personal Safety: how to wear and check a lifejacket.

No previous dinghy experience is needed. On the RYA Competent Crew course you are expected to handle the yacht's tender under oars and, where one is carried, under outboard, under supervision.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson you should be able to (RYA Competent Crew syllabus: Dinghy work, "understands and can carry out the safety precautions before and when boarding and handling a tender, and can row or handle a tender under outboard"):

• Explain why more yachting accidents happen in tenders than on passage, and how to prevent them.
• Board and leave a tender safely from a pontoon, a yacht and a beach.
• Load a tender correctly and within its limits.
• Row a tender in a straight line, turn it and come alongside.
• Fit, start, run and stop an outboard motor safely, including use of the kill cord.
• Carry the right safety kit and show the right lights at night.
• Bring the tender alongside the yacht, tow it on passage and stow it on deck.

RYA Syllabus Map

Why Tenders Are Dangerous

The tender (also called the dinghy or the rubber duck) is the small boat that takes the crew between the yacht and the shore when she is at anchor or on a mooring. It looks like the safest boat in the harbour. In practice the trip ashore and back, often at night, often in a chop, sometimes after a meal and a drink ashore, is one of the riskiest things cruising sailors do. UK accident investigations have repeatedly recorded deaths from tenders capsizing or occupants falling out, typically with these factors in common:

• No lifejackets worn.
• Overloading, especially with too many people for a small inflatable.
• Alcohol, darkness and cold water.
• Outboard accidents: people thrown out when the tender turned sharply, then struck by the propeller because no kill cord was attached.
• Strong tidal stream carrying a tender away from the anchored yacht.

Cold water is the hidden killer. UK sea temperatures range from about 8 degrees C in early spring to about 17 degrees C in late summer. Sudden immersion in water below 15 degrees C triggers cold water shock: an involuntary gasp and rapid breathing in the first minute, when people inhale water and drown. A lifejacket keeps your airway clear during that minute. That is why the first rule of tender work on every RYA course is simple: lifejacket on, every trip, every person.

Types of Tender

• Inflatable with soft floor or slatted floor: light (15 to 30 kg), packs away into a bag, the most common tender on cruising yachts of 9 to 12 metres. Rows poorly, especially in wind.
• Inflatable with air floor or rigid inflatable (RIB): a firmer floor and better under outboard. A RIB has a solid GRP or aluminium hull and inflatable tubes; it is heavier (40 to 80 kg or more) and usually carried on davits on larger yachts.
• Rigid dinghy: wood or plastic. Rows well, but is heavy, less stable and harder to stow on a small yacht.

Inflatables are made of separate air chambers so that one puncture does not sink the boat. Check the pressure before use: tubes should be firm to a thumb press. Pressure drops overnight as the air cools and rises in hot sun.

Parts of a tender

• Painter: the rope at the bow used to tie the tender up or tow it. Typically 5 to 10 metres.
• Rowlocks (or oarlocks): the fittings the oars pivot in. On inflatables the oars often clip into fixed rowlocks.
• Thwart: the seat across the boat.
• Transom: the board at the stern where the outboard clamps on.
• Grab lines: ropes round the tubes to hold on to.
• Valves: for inflation. Know which are which and keep the caps on.

Lifejackets and Safety Kit

Lifejackets

Everyone in the tender wears a lifejacket, correctly fastened, with crotch straps done up if fitted. On a yacht the skipper may ask you to keep your sailing lifejacket on for the tender. Auto-inflating lifejackets fire when immersed, which is what you want in a capsize. Check the indicator shows the cylinder is armed before you go.

For children and non-swimmers, a lifejacket of the right size and buoyancy is essential; the skipper decides who may travel. Adult lifejackets for yacht use are typically rated 150 N or 275 N (newtons of buoyancy).

The tender kit

Check these are in the tender before you leave:

A puncture repair kit is carried on the yacht rather than in the tender.

Tell someone

Before going ashore, someone on the yacht (or ashore) should know where you are going and when you plan to be back. Agree a recall signal: a call on VHF channel, a phone call or a torch flash.

Boarding and Leaving

Most tender accidents happen getting in and out. The principles are always the same: keep low, step into the centre, hold on to something fixed, and have the tender held close.

From a pontoon

1. Bring the tender alongside and tie the painter to a cleat with a round turn and two half hitches, or have someone hold it.
2. Pull the tender close alongside so there is no gap.
3. Sit on the pontoon edge if it is low, place one foot in the middle of the tender floor, and transfer your weight in one smooth movement while holding the pontoon.
4. Sit down immediately in the centre. Never stand up in a small tender.
5. The next person passes bags down; do not step in carrying anything.

From the yacht

The yacht usually has a bathing platform at the stern, which makes boarding easy, or a boarding ladder over the side.

1. Bring the tender alongside the platform or ladder and make the painter fast to a stern cleat with a short scope, so the tender cannot drift away or swing under the platform.
2. In waves, time your step for when the tender is at the top of its rise, or when the stern of the yacht drops.
3. Step down into the centre, holding on to the yacht with one hand. Hand down bags only once you are seated.
4. The last person in releases the painter and keeps the end in the tender, coiled, clear of the propeller.

Getting out

Reverse the process. The person nearest the landing gets out first with the painter and makes it fast; then others follow one at a time. Never grab a pontoon or the yacht with one hand while the tender drifts away with your feet still in it: you end up in the water. Let go of the pontoon and sit down if the gap opens.

Beach landings

Land bow first in light surf, stop the outboard and tilt it up before the propeller touches the bottom (or ship the oars). Jump out on either side into knee-deep water, not over the bow where the tender can surge onto you. Pull the tender above the high water mark or, if you will be ashore some time, carry it well up and tie it to something fixed. Remember the tide: it can rise 4 to 5 metres in a few hours on parts of the UK coast, and the tender left at the water's edge will be afloat and gone when you return. Launch stern first into small waves, rowing or motoring off once there is enough depth.

Loading and Capacity

Every tender built for the EU or UK market should carry a builder's plate showing the maximum number of persons, the maximum load and the maximum engine power. A typical 2.3 to 2.7 metre inflatable is rated for 2 to 4 adults and 300 to 500 kg total load. Do not exceed these.

Practical guidance is stricter than the plate:

• In anything above a flat calm, or at night, carry fewer people than the maximum. Make two trips rather than one overloaded one.
• Distribute weight evenly side to side. Put heavier people and loads in the middle and slightly aft, so the bow does not dig into waves.
• The person at the oars or outboard sits where they can steer; passengers sit low on the floor or the thwart, not perched on the tubes.
• Keep loads low and small. Fuel cans, water containers and shopping bags go on the floor in the centre.
• Keep the freeboard (height of the tubes above the water) generous. If waves start coming in, you are overloaded or going too fast.

Overloaded small tenders are easily swamped by a wash or a short chop, and they capsize when everyone leans to grab something.

Rowing

Even if the tender has an outboard, every crew should be able to row: engines fail, fuel runs out and some anchorages prohibit motors.

Setting up

• Sit on the thwart facing the stern (backwards). You pull the oars towards you.
• Fit the oars in the rowlocks with the blades pointing aft.
• Put your feet against something firm.

The stroke

1. Lean forward with arms straight and oar handles close together.
2. Lift your hands slightly so the blades dip just under the surface. Do not dig deep.
3. Pull back with your body and then your arms, keeping the blades just covered.
4. Push your hands down slightly to lift the blades out, and return them through the air.

A steady 20 to 25 strokes a minute is sustainable. An inflatable rows at about 1.5 to 2 knots in calm water. That matters: a tidal stream of 2 knots or a Force 4 headwind can stop progress altogether. In a strong stream, plan to row up-tide of your target and let the tide carry you down onto it, and never set off to row against a strong stream or offshore wind without an engine and an anchor.

Steering

• To turn to port (your right as you face aft), pull harder on the starboard oar, which is in your left hand. This catches beginners out because you face backwards.
• For a sharp turn, pull one oar and push (back water) with the other.
• To keep straight, pick a mark astern of the tender (you can see it over the stern) and keep it fixed; glance over your shoulder every 10 strokes to check ahead.

Wind and inflatables

Light inflatables are blown sideways very easily. In a Force 4 (11 to 16 knots) an inflatable without an engine may be unable to row against the wind. If you are being blown away from the yacht, do not exhaust yourself: drop the anchor if you have one, call the yacht, or let yourself be blown onto a lee shore you can land on safely.

The Outboard Motor

Tender outboards are typically 2 to 6 hp for small inflatables, and up to 15 hp or more for RIBs. Small ones weigh 12 to 25 kg. Most modern ones are four-stroke petrol engines.

Transferring the outboard

Moving the engine between the yacht's pushpit bracket and the tender is a common time to drop it overboard, or to injure your back.

1. Tie a safety line from the engine to the yacht or the tender before lifting it. Many crews use a small halyard or a dedicated block and tackle from the mizzen or boom.
2. One person in the tender, seated, receives the engine; one on the yacht lowers it. Agree calls: "Ready", "Lowering", "I have it."
3. Clamp it centrally on the transom and tighten both clamp screws fully. Leave the safety line attached to the tender.

Pre-start checks

• Fuel: enough for the trip and back plus a margin. Petrol is carried in a sealed, approved container stored on deck, never below in the yacht's cabin, because petrol vapour is heavier than air and extremely flammable.
• Fuel tap and tank vent open (on integral tank engines).
• Gear lever in neutral. Most outboards will not start in gear, but check.
• Kill cord fitted and the lanyard attached to the helmsman.
• Engine tilted down and locked with the propeller fully in the water.
• Choke on for a cold engine.

Starting

Sit down, hold the engine with one hand, and pull the starter cord firmly and smoothly after first taking up the slack. Once running, push the choke in gradually. Look for the tell-tale stream of cooling water from the small outlet on the engine leg. If there is none, stop the engine: it is overheating. The usual cause is a blocked intake or a failed water pump impeller.

Driving

• Look all round before engaging gear, especially for swimmers and other tenders.
• Engage forward gear at low revs, then open the throttle progressively.
• Keep speeds low in anchorages and harbours: most UK harbours have a speed limit of 4 to 6 knots, and wash from tenders annoys others and endangers swimmers.
• With a tiller-steered outboard, push the tiller to the opposite side from the direction you want to turn, as on a yacht.
• Avoid sharp turns at speed, which can throw people out.
• Keep passengers seated, hands inside the tubes.

Stopping

Close the throttle, select neutral, then press the stop button or pull the kill cord. Close the fuel tap and vent before removing the engine. Tilt the engine up when landing on a beach or when in shallow water to protect the propeller.

The Kill Cord

The kill cord (engine stop lanyard) is a short coiled lanyard. One end clips to a switch on the engine; the other attaches to the helmsman, round the wrist, leg or to a lifejacket D-ring. If the helmsman falls overboard or away from the controls, the cord pulls out and the engine stops immediately.

Why it matters: a person thrown from a tender at speed is close to a boat that, without a helmsman, may circle back at full throttle with an unguarded propeller. Fatal accidents in the UK have followed exactly this pattern. The UK government and the RYA strongly recommend that a kill cord is attached whenever the engine is running in gear and some harbour authorities make it a condition of use; check the current MCA and local rules.

Rules:

• Attach the kill cord before starting the engine, and leave it attached whenever the engine runs.
• Attach it to yourself, not to the boat, and around the leg or wrist, not loosely over your neck.
• Test it at the start of the day by pulling it while the engine runs in neutral; the engine should stop.
• If you hand over the helm, the kill cord goes to the new helmsman before they take the tiller.
• Carry a spare kill cord in the tender so that if the helmsman falls out, a passenger can restart the engine and return to pick them up.
• Wireless kill switches are an alternative on some engines: a fob worn by the helmsman stops the engine when it moves out of range or is immersed.

Going Ashore at Night

Tender trips at night are the highest-risk trips. Reduce them where you can, keep them short, and do them sober.

Lights required

The international collision regulations (COLREGs, Rule 25) set out lights for small craft:

• A vessel under oars may show sidelights and a sternlight, but in practice a tender carries an electric torch or lighted lantern showing a white light, ready to be shown in sufficient time to prevent collision.
• A power-driven vessel under 7 metres whose maximum speed does not exceed 7 knots may show an all-round white light in place of the full set. Most small tenders under outboard fall into this category.

The practical answer: carry a bright, waterproof white torch in every tender at night, and switch it on and point it at any approaching vessel. Battery-powered all-round white lights that clip to the tender are inexpensive and better still. You also need a head torch so your hands are free.

Night routine

• Leave a light on in the yacht (the anchor light, plus a cockpit light) so you can find her; at night, anchored yachts are very hard to tell apart.
• Note a transit or bearing from the landing to the yacht before dark.
• Lifejackets on, kill cord on, and someone on the yacht or ashore knows your plan.
• Go slowly. Mooring buoys, unlit moorings and swimmers are hard to see.
• One drink limit, or none, for the person on the helm. Alcohol greatly increases the risk of falling in and the effect of cold water.

Coming Alongside the Yacht

Approach

Approach the yacht's stern or boarding ladder slowly, into the wind or tide, whichever is stronger, the same principle as coming alongside with the yacht itself (see Berthing and Boat Handling). Watch how the yacht is lying: at anchor she points into the stronger of wind or tide, so approaching from astern usually means you are going with the elements and arrive too fast. Instead circle round and come up from downwind or down-tide, along her side to the stern.

1. Slow to tickover a few boat lengths off.
2. Put the engine into neutral when one to two lengths away and drift in.
3. The bow person takes hold of the yacht's stern, ladder or a stanchion base, then makes the painter fast to a cleat.
4. Stop the engine and remove the kill cord only once the painter is made fast.

Keep fingers and legs out from between the tender and the yacht. A yacht's stern rises and falls in a swell and can crush a hand against the tender.

Unloading

Pass bags up first while seated, then climb out one at a time, holding on to the yacht firmly. The last person out removes the fuel tap or closes the vent and lifts out anything valuable.

Towing and Stowing

Leaving the tender in the water overnight

When at anchor or on a mooring, the tender is usually left astern on the painter. At night:

• Pull it up close to the stern, or tie it alongside with fenders, so it does not drift under the yacht or bang against the hull.
• Lift the outboard back on to the yacht's pushpit bracket, or lock it to the tender. Outboard theft from tenders is common in some harbours.
• Take oars, fuel and loose kit aboard the yacht, or lock them to the tender.
• In a strong wind, consider hoisting the tender on the halyard alongside or lifting it on deck: tenders can flip in gusts of 25 knots or more.

Towing the tender on passage

For a short trip in sheltered water a tender can be towed astern. Rules:

• Remove the outboard and all loose gear first. A tender that flips or fills while towed can drag the engine underwater and ruin it, and loose gear will be lost.
• Use a strong painter, ideally a long towline with a bridle to the tender's D-rings.
• Adjust the tow length so the tender sits on the back of the second wave of the yacht's wake, usually 2 to 3 boat lengths. Too short and it surges into the yacht; too long and it yaws about.
• Shorten up when motoring astern or manoeuvring, and never let the painter trail near the yacht's propeller. A painter round the propeller is a classic way to lose steerage at the worst moment entering a harbour.
• In anything more than a moderate sea, or on any open passage, stow the tender on deck or in its bag instead.

Stowing on deck

At the end of the cruise or before a passage, the tender is lifted aboard:

1. Remove the outboard, oars, fuel and kit.
2. Hoist it aboard with a halyard attached to a lifting bridle, keeping crew clear underneath.
3. Wash with fresh water if possible, dry, and partially deflate.
4. Stow upside down on the foredeck or coachroof, lashed down with several lines to strong points so it cannot lift in the wind, and with the forehatch still openable if it is an escape hatch. Or deflate fully, fold and bag it in a cockpit locker.

The outboard is stowed on its pushpit bracket with the propeller tilted up, the fuel tap closed and a cover fitted. A small outboard stored horizontally must be laid on the side recommended by the manufacturer, or oil can enter the cylinder.

Worked Example

The yacht is anchored in Studland Bay, about 300 metres off the beach. It is 1900, wind southwest Force 3, the tide turns in an hour. Four crew want to go ashore for dinner and return at about 2230. The tender is a 2.6 metre inflatable rated for 4 persons and 450 kg, with a 4 hp outboard.

Planning: four adults, average 80 kg, is 320 kg plus bags: within the limits, but the return will be in the dark and there will be a chop from the southwest. Decision: two trips each way, two people at a time, or three crew stay aboard. The crew choose two trips.

Before leaving: lifejackets on all four, kill cord on the helmsman, torch, handheld VHF, oars and pump in the tender, fuel checked (tank half full: enough for well over an hour of running). The anchor light is switched on, and the cockpit light left on low. One crew member notes that the yacht lines up with the end of the old pier and a white house on the cliff.

Ashore: the tender is carried well up the beach above the strandline and tied to a post, outboard tilted up.

Return: at 2230 it is dark with a short chop. The helm takes it slowly, with the torch shown to an approaching motorboat. Approaching the yacht, the helm sees she is lying head to wind, so circles round to approach her starboard quarter from downwind, slows to neutral, and the bow person catches the stern ladder and makes the painter fast. The engine is stopped, the kill cord removed, and the crew climb aboard one at a time. The second pair are collected the same way. The outboard is lifted on to the pushpit with its safety line and the tender pulled up close astern for the night.

Common Mistakes

• No lifejacket "because it's only a short trip." Short trips are when people drown.
• Standing up in the tender to step out, pass bags or start the outboard.
• Overloading to save a second trip, especially at night.
• Kill cord not attached, or attached to the boat instead of the helmsman.
• Forgetting the tide: tender left at the water's edge on a rising tide, or rowing against a stream too strong to beat.
• Painter in the propeller when towing or when manoeuvring alongside.
• Dropping the outboard overboard during transfer because no safety line was rigged.
• Petrol stored below in the yacht's cabin or cockpit locker.
• No torch at night, or no light left on to find the yacht.

Summary

• Tender trips cause a disproportionate share of yachting deaths. Lifejackets on, every time.
• Board by stepping into the centre, staying low, holding something fixed, and sitting down at once.
• Respect the builder's plate, then load less in waves or at night. Keep weight low and central.
• Row facing aft; an inflatable makes only 1.5 to 2 knots, so plan with the tide and wind.
• Check fuel, neutral, kill cord and tilt before starting an outboard, and look for the cooling tell-tale.
• The kill cord goes on the helmsman before starting and stays on while the engine runs. Carry a spare.
• At night carry a white light, leave a light on the yacht, and travel slowly and sober.
• Approach the yacht into the stronger of wind or tide, slowly, and make the painter fast before stopping the engine.
• Remove the outboard before towing; tow on the second wave; shorten up before manoeuvring; stow lashed down for passages.

Check Your Understanding

1. Why are lifejackets especially important on short tender trips in UK waters?

Answer: Sudden immersion in cold water causes cold water shock, an involuntary gasp that can make people inhale water in the first minute. A lifejacket keeps the airway clear. Tender trips also often happen at night and after a meal ashore.

1. Where should the kill cord be attached, and when?

Answer: To the helmsman (wrist, leg or lifejacket), before the engine is started, and kept on whenever the engine is running.

1. You are rowing and want to turn the tender's bow to port. Which oar do you pull harder?

Answer: The starboard oar. Since you face aft, the starboard oar is in your left hand.

1. The builder's plate says 4 persons. It is dark and choppy and five crew want to go ashore. What do you do?

Answer: Make at least two trips, carrying fewer than the maximum on each. Never exceed the plate, and reduce the load in poor conditions.

1. What light must a tender under oars at night be able to show?

Answer: A white light (a torch or lantern) shown in sufficient time to prevent a collision, under COLREGs Rule 25.

1. Your yacht is at anchor head to wind. From which direction should you approach her in the tender?

Answer: From downwind, coming up into the wind along her side, slowly, so the wind slows you down as you arrive.

1. What should you always do before towing the tender on passage?

Answer: Remove the outboard and all loose gear, and set the tow length so the tender rides on the back of the second wave of the wake.

1. You start the outboard and no water comes from the tell-tale. What does this mean?

Answer: Cooling water is not circulating. Stop the engine before it overheats and check for a blocked intake or a failed impeller.

Further Reading

• RYA Competent Crew Handbook (G72), section on tender work.
• RYA Sea Survival Handbook for cold water shock and survival in the water.
• MCA and RYA guidance on engine kill cords and the safe use of small powered craft.
• MAIB safety bulletins and accident reports involving yacht tenders.
• On this site: Parts of a Yacht and Sailing Terms, Personal Safety, Knots and Ropework, Berthing and Boat Handling and Sea Survival and First Aid.