YoHo-Pirates Self-Drive Speedboat Tour— The Inventor Returns to Sint Maarten

In 1999, a Canadian entrepreneur named Olivier Auvray launched something from Sint Maarten's waterfront that nobody had seen before. It wasn't a jet ski tour and it wasn't a passive sightseeing cruise. It was something in between — a guided self-drive watercraft experience that put non-expert guests in control of purpose-built boats for the first time. He called the boat the Rhino Rider. The category he created is now found in tourist destinations across the world.

What happened next is the kind of story Sint Maarten rarely gets to tell about its own people and businesses.

How the Rhino Rider Was Born

The concept didn't appear overnight. Olivier spent more than a year in intensive research and development, working alongside major marine industry partners, including Brunswick — the parent company of Mercury Marine and Boston Whaler. He sought behind-the-scenes access to Disney's marine operations, where he studied how safety, operational flow, and guest experience were engineered at the highest level. He revisited an abandoned boat project that Quicksilver had set aside, recognized its potential, and built the first Rhino Rider from that foundation.

The result was a hybrid between a jet ski and a rigid inflatable boat — jockey-style seating for engagement and control, wide inflatable tubes for stability, nearly impossible to tip over. Tough enough for open water, forgiving enough for a first-time driver. The name came from the machine's character: strong, stable, and capable of handling anything.

Sint Maarten had produced something genuinely new.

A Global Platform

The concept proved itself far beyond the Caribbean. By 2006, new generations of boats were being designed and tested internationally. The operation expanded into the United Arab Emirates — Dubai and Abu Dhabi — markets, which have high traffic volumes, strict safety regulations, and demanding operational environments. Success there confirmed what Sint Maarten had already demonstrated: this was not a location-specific novelty. It was a globally adaptable platform.

The Rhino platform evolved further into professional applications — including the Rhino Patrol boat, designed for homeland security use, and the Sea Camel, adapted for regional markets in the Gulf. Over more than 25 years, the boats and concept carried more than 800,000 guests worldwide without a single major incident. Princess Cruises voted it Tour of the Year multiple times. The 2025 Travel and Hospitality Award recognized it as the world's best watersport.

The Return

In 2024, Olivier Auvray came back to Sint Maarten.

Not with the concept he had launched in 1999. Not with Rhino — which continued operating on the island under different ownership. He came back with everything 25 years of global development had produced: YoHo Pirates, and its fleet of Generation 6 boats.

The Generation 6 was designed and engineered in Dubai. More spacious, more refined, greater power with smoother handling, low-emission propulsion systems, hydrodynamically optimized hulls. Not an upgrade to the original — a complete rethinking of the experience from someone who understood every limitation of every previous version because he had built them all.

But the most significant change is not technical.

YoHo Pirates transforms the ride into an immersive adventure with themed storytelling, exploration, and identity. Guests are no longer passengers. They become captains.

What This Means for the Visitor

Two self-drive guided speedboat operations are currently running on Sint Maarten. One is the original concept, operating largely as it has for years. The other is the inventor's definitive version, built with a quarter century of refinement behind it.

YoHo Pirates departs from Port de Plaisance in Cole Bay. Tours run approximately two hours. The boats are rated for guests from young children to passengers in their 90s — the experience was specifically engineered for accessibility without sacrificing engagement.

For the visitor choosing between options, the question is straightforward: the concept that started here has come home in its most advanced form.

— Jan Thoelke, Publisher, St-Maarten.com