COCKWELLS - ALTE VOLARE 12M HYDROFOIL TENDER
The Cockwells Alte Volare is a 12-meter fully electric limousine tender from British shipyard Cockwells, combining retractable hydrofoil technology with a refined interior designed to serve the world's most demanding superyacht owners. Unveiled at the 2022 Monaco Yacht Show, this vessel redefines what a superyacht tender can be, merging AC75 America's Cup foiling engineering with the comfort and aesthetics of a luxury limousine.
What Is the Cockwells Alte Volare?
Named after the Italian phrase for "high flight," the Alte Volare is a 12-meter limousine tender conceived by the Cornwall-based shipyard Cockwells to offer superyacht owners an alternative to conventional rigid inflatables. Where most tenders prioritize practicality, the Alte Volare prioritizes the journey itself, wrapping passengers in a glass-and-timber interior while the hull lifts clear of the water at speed. It sits at the intersection of performance engineering and interior design, a category of watercraft that pairs naturally with the luxury electric watercraft found in The Arsenale Water collection.
The vessel was designed to be charged on board the mothership, making it a self-contained unit ready to deploy at any anchorage. Its scale, at 12 meters, allows for genuine passenger capacity without sacrificing the sleek profile that distinguishes it from bulkier chase boats.
Foiling Technology Inspired by the America's Cup
The foiling system is central to the Alte Volare's identity. Cockwells drew directly from the AC75 class used in the America's Cup, adapting that race-proven foil architecture for a passenger tender context. A single electric motor powers the forward foil, while control surfaces on the aft foil manage pitch and attitude at speed. When the hull lifts free of the water, drag drops dramatically: the result is an energy saving of 80% compared to a non-foiling hull running at equivalent fast-cruising speeds.
As Robb Report noted in its coverage, this efficiency gain is particularly significant for an electric tender, where battery capacity is always a constraint. By spending most of its time foiling rather than planing, the Alte Volare extends its usable range considerably. AutoEvolution highlighted how the combination of electric propulsion and foiling represents a genuine engineering step forward rather than a marketing concept.
The foils are retractable, allowing the boat to operate in shallow anchorages and to come alongside a dock or mothership without risk of damage. This practical detail addresses one of the main objections to foiling vessels in a working tender role.
Interior Design: Wraparound Glass and Limousine Comfort
The interior is where the Alte Volare earns its limousine designation. A glass panel runs the full height and width of the aft section, creating a picture window that frames the sea and the mothership behind. The wraparound glazing combines the open-air feeling of a traditional tender with the shelter and refinement of an enclosed saloon, an effect Cockwells describes as merging the vista of an open tender with the luxury of a limousine.
Seating is organized across three zones. The aft section features twin reclining loungers positioned against the full picture window. The main saloon offers inward-facing seating for up to 8 guests in a modern, airy arrangement. Forward, bow seating accommodates up to 5 guests, with a removable infill cushion that converts the space into a sun pad when at anchor. The fit and finish are consistent with the kind of craftsmanship that distinguishes pieces like the SAY29 Runabout Yacht, where naval architecture and interior design are treated as a single discipline rather than separate departments.
Fully Electric Drivetrain
The Alte Volare runs on a fully electric drivetrain with no combustion backup. Charging takes place on board the mothership, integrating naturally into a superyacht's existing electrical infrastructure. The electric motor is mounted on the forward foil strut, a packaging solution that keeps the interior free of mechanical intrusion and lowers the center of gravity when the vessel is in displacement mode.
This zero-emission approach makes it a natural companion for owners already exploring electric and hybrid options across their fleet. Those drawn to subsurface exploration may recognize a similar philosophy in the Super Yacht Sub 3, which brings the same commitment to clean propulsion to an entirely different domain. For buyers building a complete electric water sport lineup, the full Water Sport collection at The Arsenale offers a curated range of designer watercraft that share the Alte Volare's direction of travel.
A New Definition of the Superyacht Tender
The Cockwells Alte Volare hydrofoil tender is not a concept. It is a production-ready vessel from an established British shipyard with a documented racing pedigree behind its engineering. At 12 meters, it is large enough to carry a full guest party in genuine comfort, efficient enough to operate entirely on battery power, and refined enough to be considered an extension of the mothership rather than a utility boat stored in the garage. For owners and captains evaluating the next generation of superyacht tenders, it represents the most credible convergence of electric propulsion, foiling technology, and interior design currently available.
Explore the full range of luxury watercraft and high-performance water vehicles at The Arsenale Water collection.
Photo: Cockwells
