A Sailing Ship Like No Other
In May 2026, the world’s largest sailing yacht began her inaugural Mediterranean season. The Orient Express Corinthian — a 220-metre luxury sailing cruise ship named on 29 April 2026 in Saint-Nazaire — arrived in the Mediterranean carrying a guest watersports programme. Among the choices made for that programme: four Tiwal inflatable sailing dinghies.
The selection was reported by Marine Industry News on 19 June 2026. It illustrates a principle that any superyacht programme coordinator will recognise: when deck space is finite and guest engagement is paramount, compact and deployable toys outperform bulkier alternatives.
A note on vessel type
The Orient Express Corinthian is a commercial luxury cruise ship operated by Accor under the Orient Express brand — she is not a private or charter superyacht in the conventional sense. We reference her here because the toy-selection logic her programme team applied translates directly to private charter operations at 40–130-metre scale. The scale comparison is instructive; the vessel type is not.
The Orient Express Corinthian: What You Need to Know
The Corinthian was built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique at their shipyard in Saint-Nazaire — France’s largest shipbuilder and the yard that has produced most of the world’s largest cruise ships. She was named on 29 April 2026 in a ceremony at Saint-Nazaire before departing for her first itineraries.
Described by her operator as the world’s largest sailing yacht at 220 metres in length overall, the Corinthian operates under the Orient Express brand, a division of Accor, and targets high-net-worth travellers with a Mediterranean and Atlantic programme. Her 2026 season runs from May through October.
On any nautical scale she is an exceptional vessel. What matters for this analysis is not her size but the decision-making logic embedded in her equipment choices — specifically, what her programme team selected when building a guest watersports package for a vessel with a defined deck footprint and a demanding guest demographic.
“The inflatable form factor removes the stowage footprint problem entirely and makes guest-led sailing accessible without dock infrastructure.”
— Mercer YachtingWhy Tiwal: The Compact Dinghy Built for Deployability
The company selected for the Corinthian’s sailing dinghy programme is Tiwal, a French manufacturer founded by Marion Excoffon (inventor, industrial designer and co-founder) and Emmanuel Bertrand (president and co-founder). The brand’s products are inflatable sailing dinghies that pack down for compact stowage and deploy without crane or davit assistance.
Tiwal has sold more than 3,400 boats across around 55 countries since founding, with approximately 80 per cent of sales going to export markets — a figure that reflects the product’s broad international reach across sailing disciplines and geographies.
The operational advantages are straightforward:
- Stowage: A Tiwal dinghy packs into bags that fit in a tender garage, locker, or below-deck space — no rigid hull footprint.
- Deployment: Inflation and assembly on deck or at the waterline requires no crane or davit. A single crew member can prepare the boat for launch.
- Guest access: An inflatable sailing dinghy makes guest-led sailing accessible on vessels that have no purpose-built sailing-tender infrastructure.
For a commercial programme operating at scale, these are meaningful operational advantages. For a private charter captain managing a toys package with limited tender space, they are equally relevant.
The Compact-Toys Principle for Private Superyacht Charter
Private superyacht charter operators face a version of the same equation, at a smaller scale. A 50-metre charter yacht running a summer Mediterranean season has a finite tender garage, a limited deck footprint, and guests who expect both variety and quality from the watersports programme.
The trend toward compact, high-engagement toys — electric hydrofoil boards, underwater scooters, inflatable platforms, inflatable sailing craft — reflects the same logic the Corinthian’s programme team applied: maximum guest experience per cubic metre of stowage.
This is where procurement decisions become consequential. A captain choosing between a rigid fibreglass dinghy and an inflatable sailing dinghy is not just choosing a toy — they are choosing how much tender space that toy consumes for the next twelve months of the vessel’s season.
Mercer’s role: procurement and supply, not programme design
Mercer Yachting sources and delivers watersports equipment to superyachts operating across the Mediterranean. Our current portfolio includes:
- Seabob F9 / F9 S — Cayago underwater scooters (widely used on Mediterranean charter)
- Fliteboard — electric hydrofoil boards
- NautiBuoy — inflatable dock and swim platforms
- Searaft — inflatable tender alternatives
We handle Malta VAT, customs clearance, and port delivery. Captains and owners looking to build or refresh a toys package for 2026 or 2027 can request a sourcing quote here. For a full overview of the toys and watersports range, see our toys & watersports product pages.
The Corinthian story is a useful data point precisely because it comes from a programme team with no shortage of options. Their decision to carry inflatable sailing dinghies is a notable signal for how compact watersports are trending.
FAQ
Is the Orient Express Corinthian a superyacht?
Technically, no. The Orient Express Corinthian is a commercial luxury cruise ship, not a private or charter superyacht. Maritime classification distinguishes commercial passenger vessels from private or charter yachts by purpose, registration, and operating licence. At 220 metres she is far larger than any private superyacht (the largest private vessels sit around 140 metres). We reference the Corinthian because the compact-toy selection logic her programme team applied translates directly to private charter operations, not because she is a comparable vessel type. The superyachts Mercer serves range from approximately 40 to 130 metres.
What are Tiwal inflatable dinghies and how are they deployed on a large vessel?
Tiwal produces a range of inflatable sailing dinghies that pack down for compact stowage and can be deployed without crane or davit assistance — the dinghy is inflated and rigged on deck or at the waterline. The brand was founded by Marion Excoffon (inventor, industrial designer and co-founder) and Emmanuel Bertrand (president and co-founder), and has sold more than 3,400 boats in around 55 countries, with approximately 80 per cent going to export markets. The inflatable form factor eliminates the rigid hull footprint problem that makes traditional dinghies impractical on vessels with limited tender space.
Does Mercer supply watersports equipment to superyachts in Malta and the Mediterranean?
Yes. Mercer Yachting is a Malta-based procurement and supply partner for superyacht operators in the Mediterranean. Our current watersports portfolio includes Seabob underwater scooters, Fliteboard eFoils, NautiBuoy inflatable dock platforms, and Searaft inflatable tender alternatives — all supplied through an authorised channel with handling for Malta VAT, customs clearance, and port delivery. We are a procurement and logistics partner; programme design is outside our scope. Contact us via the quote form to discuss your requirements.
What compact watersports toys do charter superyachts typically carry in the Mediterranean?
The most common compact watersports categories on Mediterranean charter yachts in 2026 are: underwater scooters (Seabob F9 and F9 S are among the most common), electric hydrofoil boards (eFoils — Fliteboard is among the most popular on Mediterranean charter yachts), inflatable dock and swim platforms (NautiBuoy, Yachtbeach), and inflatable tender alternatives (Searaft). Paddleboards, snorkelling sets, and kayaks are near-universal. The move toward motorised, electric, or sailing-dedicated compact toys reflects both elevated guest expectations and the operational reality of limited tender space on vessels below 60 metres.
Sources
- Marine Industry News — “Why the world’s largest sailing yacht is carrying inflatable sailboats” (19 June 2026): marineindustrynews.co.uk
- Orient Express / Accor — Official naming ceremony announcement and vessel information: orient-express.com/en/sailing-yachts
- Chantiers de l’Atlantique — Official shipyard information on the Corinthian build: chantiers-atlantique.com
- Tiwal — Official brand site (founder credits, product overview, export figures): tiwal.com
- Corinthian photograph: Nicoleon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Tiwal photograph: Christiane Le Port, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Seabob photograph: Mercer Yachting / Cayago.