First look: 2024 Sealegs 3.8TE amphibious tender

Sealegs’ amphibious tender has been in the works for a while, as we first reported on it at last year’s Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.

This year, the New Zealand three-wheeled specialist is back with a first glimpse of what the finished product will look like.

Pricing is a bit rubbery at the moment as the Sealegs 3.8TE is yet to go into production – the one on show at Sanctuary Cove is a pre-production build showing how the retractable wheels will stow away. However, when it does start rolling off Sealegs' production line later this year, early buyers will pick it up for $150,000, or about the same price as a brand new Chevrolet Silverado HD pick-up truck. 

That high price is due to the expense of the technology needed to make the amphibious part of the Sealegs 3.8TE work. The three alloy wheels, for instance, each carved from an aluminium billet, have cost around $60,000 to develop.

The Sealegs 3.8TE features a deep-vee rigid aluminium hull ringed in ORCA Hypalon synthetic rubber tubes with four sealed chambers so that if one area of the tube is punctured, the other three remain inflated.

The two rear wheels use 24-volt motors to drive the Sealegs 3.8TE while the front wheel is used exclusively for steering. 

On a full charge, which takes about three hours, the tender can drop its undercarriage at the press of a button on the steering wheel and drive on land for up to 45 minutes. On the water, a 40hp outboard engine with forward controls pushes the entire setup around.

The one big disadvantage of the Sealegs 3.8TE is obviously its weight. All the batteries, motors and electronics it needs to carry means this tender tips the scale at a pretty scary 580kg. By comparison, a BRIG Falcon side console tender weighs around 155kg, with a 40hp outboard engine adding around another 100kg.

The boat is nicely finished with teak-look EVA rubber flooring, davit lift points for hauling the tender aboard and LED navigation lights. The side console can flip down to squeeze the tender into a height-restricted garage.

The demo tender was also fitted with SIMRAD's new $5400 NSX Ultrawide multifunction touchscreen – believed to be one of only two fitted to boats in Australia.

Who will buy the Sealegs 3.8TE? It’s meant for big motor yachts stretching more than 60 feet in length, where owners can drive off their absolute water frontage to the mother ship moored offshore, or for anyone who needs to bump onto remote beaches where big differences in tide heights, such as those we see around northern Australia, can make life difficult when going ashore.

It’s also handy for owners who constantly need to take a dog ashore for a break.