GAC Pindar shrink wrap 12metre tender for long sea voyage to Europe

by Sail-World.com on 30 Oct 2016 TNL GAC Pindar came up with a novel way of protecting a new yacht tender under its care for its long sea and land journey from New Zealand to Germany – they shrink-wrapped it!

As delicate loads go, it was a big one. The tender weighed in at a little under 10 tonnes and was 12m long. To avoid any damage, direct contact with the boat had to be kept to minimum during its 220km road trip from the factory in Auckland to the Port of Tauranga, and on its onward journey to the other side of the world.

Transporting it on a flat rack was not possible because, at 4.4 metres, the tender was too wide so would have to travel as “break bulk”. At the builder’s yard it was placed into it’s cradle and shrink-wrapped using a polymer plastic film that shrinks tightly over whatever it is covering when heat is applied. Afterwards it was carefully loaded onto a truck for the three and a half hour road trip from the builder’s yard in Auckland to the Port of Tauranga.

Richard Thorpe, TNL GAC Pindar’s Australasian Manager, greeted the boat in Tauranga and checked her condition upon arrival with a marine surveyor. At dawn the next day, it was gently lifted and placed below deck with centimetres to spare fore and aft for the 41-day sea voyage to Rotterdam. After arriving at the Dutch port, the tender was offloaded and completed the final leg of its journey by road.

'I was very impressed with the care and attention the entire team put into getting the tender aboard the ship safely and in perfect condition! Each movement was well planed and executed perfectly. I was very happy,' said GACPindar's client after the tender was unwrapped in Europe.