“What we see in the market is seismic generational shift of yacht owners and in my opinion particularly the new generation has just begun to redefine yachting as we have know. On one hand you have the new generation who have been introduced to yachting at a much earlier age looking for new thrills and at the same time you have experienced yachtsmen and sailors looking to fulfill a life’s dream to explore the Seven Seas. The Med, the Caribbean, and blue-water yachting in general are a lot of fun, but as we see these two generations changing the “yachting lifestyle”, there is a growing demand to get nearer to the see and become one with nature.

While the idea of seeing whales or even penguins in their natural habitat is very exciting, many “explorer yachts” on the market are merely designed for blue-water sailing and not for real ocean exploring. When I developed THE TUG, the goal was to create a tough, safe, reliable, and cost-effective mid-sized explorer yacht that could not only “talk the talk”, but “walk the walk”.

Also, being a designer that is first and foremost a naval architect, from a naval architect perspective, THE TUG will definitely break certain misconceptions that I see on the market in regards to how an ocean worthy explorer vessel should be designed for maximum seaworthiness, comfort, and most importantly safety in most demanding weather conditions” – Frank Neubelt, Naval Architect & Designer