Ranieri International Cayman One Luxury Tender, we tested the new Italian minirib

The brand new Ranieri International Cayman One Luxury Tender debuts in a cool segment, as the long name explains. In the end, we all got to know that tenders are becoming more and more fashion.

The first thing that comes to mind looking at Ranieri International Cayman One Luxury Tender is that the name is longer than the boat… Actually, they could have gone for a shorter definition, in particular because I don’t get why all tenders must be “luxury”.
But that’s how it is, so it’s better to concentrate on Ranieri International’s debut in this fashionable segment of the market.

Our test

The sea begins to chop, which can be a bit demanding for a 3.60-meter rib. More, on the transom there’s a Suzuki DF40 outboard, way too exuberant for this size of boat. In fact, we can’t exceed 5000 rpm, while the reported top speed figure of 35 knots at 5800 rpm has been tested in calmer water.

With two people on board, regardless of the sea and the excess of power, the Ranieri International Cayman One Luxury Tender is extremely sensitive to weight distribution: if you stay both at the stern there is no way to get it into planing, which on the contrary happens pretty quickly if the passenger moves forward. And when you try and go for high speed, you have to deal with some excessive pitching, which suggests not to exceed with the throttle. But in the end, who’s going for racing performance on a (luxury) tender?

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Get on board

The turquoise cushions remind a vintage Riva, and perfectly match the dark grey of the tubular and the light grey of the fiberglass. In other words, Ranieri International Cayman One Luxury Tender is really beautiful to the eye. We just can’t fully understand why it doesn’t feature a folding transom, which would certainly help to stow it in the small garages that most of the boats have: probably it will happen on the next evolution of the model. Talking of which, let’s not forget that this is a last-minute novelty, subject to evolution and modification.

The double aft bench is very comfortable, the only pity as I mentioned is that, in case there’s only two passengers, the second will have to move to bow to balance the setup, and the bow seat is much smaller. Perhaps it’s better to chose the third settee, the one just before the dashboard: not perfect to even the weight, but more comfortable. Beside the helm station another well-sized seat completes the features, while the sixth passenger (allowed by the certification) will have to sit on the tubular.

The small dashboard is a beautiful example of design and rationality, with the Simrad screen providing all the information (even too much for a tender!). My last report is about the building and finishing quality: they belong to an authentic luxury tender, or rather to (breathe in) Ranieri International Cayman One Luxury Tender.