Introduction To Williams Jet Tenders
It's not often you find new ways of measuring items. (A unit of measurement because antiquity, a "stone" has existed since biblical times. I equivalent about 12 of them.) Now, however, Williams Jet Tenders provides us a new way to measure a significant nautical characteristic: Models from this firm allow us to gauge the size of a tender garage in a motoryacht. That Prestige 630 finished there? That matches a Williams Turbojet 385. The new Beneteau GT 50? It can accommodate a Williams Minijet 280. So on, without any signs of stopping.
This goes beyond simple marketing strategies. When looked at a particular way, it starts to resemble something more like evolutionary biology, akin to the symbiotic relationship evinced by a shark and a pilot fish. You wash me, I'll protect you. You build high-quality tenders, I will provide a customized space for them on board. Obviously, we (clients and yacht builders alike) more or less take it for given that Williams generates premium gas - and - gas-powered jet tenders, but that was not necessarily the case.
Sales Director and co-founder at Williams Jet Tenders, Mathew Hornsby explains himself and his brother, John, the technical manager, as "two men who just love constructing boats" What started out as a hobby for those siblings has led to the development of a company based in a production facility 6 miles away from their family home in Oxfordshire, England. It was in the home, in the small garden shed, the brothers began their journey into the boatbuilding business. Since that time, they have catapulted on the global industry.
"Given the amount of boats we build," said Mathew, "you could be amazed to learn that we've just got 65 people working here." But the Williams business, in every incarnation since its beginning in 1996, has ever been a close-knit, hands on family affair.
The River Thames is a fixture in Oxford since it winds its way first to London, and then the ocean. It had been on the Thames--"at likely too young an age in a little motorboat," said Mathew--that the two brothers acquired their interest in angling.
Their dad, in his spare time, was a woodworker. And it was that combination--a practical upbringing around resources, along with a nascent love for boating--that resulted in the brothers' fascination with boatbuilding.
With their mother's maiden name, Williams, John and Mathew began building wooden powerboats at home, first in the shed, then in the backyard. Their style inspiration was vintage Italian and U.S. runabouts of the'50s and'60s.
Today, debates in the local pub swirl about how many jet tenders they've built to date. Said Mathew, "We're guessing, and it is a little bit more than we ever anticipated. It's actually over 8,000."
The seed to the pivot was laid when Gerard Wainwright, owner of U.K.-based Sealine Boats, who the brothers understood, proposed they try their hands at generating tenders. Their first attempt, the Ski Rib jet tender, debuted in 2002. Designed to fit among the very well-known powerboats of the era, the Fairline Targa 43, it took off in popularity.
Today the line comprises the Sportjet 435, 395, and 345, and partnerships with contractors continue to be pivotal to their success. Mathew requires it a privilege to work with designers on tender garages, sometimes three or four years in front of a yacht launches.
The function each brother plays in the company took place from necessity, but Mathew says they are both very much hands. He still enjoys sneaking from the office and on the store floor. I asked him if they ever considered building fiberglass or wooden boats again.
"I feel that the practicalities of the size of the company we have in the minute preclude it," he explained. "But who knows? 1 day we might well find ourselves back in a shed somewhere building a wooden vessel."
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