INTRODUCTION:
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Inflatable boats, or inflatable tenders are a common sight at nearly every marina. Tied to a cleat, lazily bouncing against the dock with each passing wake, their so common they almost blend into the setting. Inflatable boats, (often referred to as a “zodiac boat” because of the ubiquity of the original French military manufacturer that popularized the design shape), have become increasingly popular over the past few decades.
'because they’re filled with air, inflatable boats are the most seaworthy craft of their size.'
This explosion in popularity is due to several factors, some inherent advantages of an inflatable, it deflates allowing for storage in small spaces, it can be tied against a ship without marking or damaging it, and because they’re filled with air, inflatable boats are the most seaworthy craft of their size. Inflatables can hold up to 10x their own weight, can float if one of their tubes deflate, are inherently stable, and offer on the water performance to meet nearly anyone’s needs. Another reason for their popularity is the cost of materials and manufacturing inflatable boats has decreased, greatly reducing the investment needed to obtain and maintain one of these zodiac style boats.
'Zodiac style inflatable boats offer the best compromise between storage, price, durability, load capacity, capability, weight, and performance of nearly any boat on the market.'
The two best days of a man’s life are the day he buys his boat and the day he sells it, except with an inflatable! Space availability and convenience are two important considerations when purchasing any boat, both of which are solved with an inflatable. Zodiac style inflatable boats offer the best compromise between storage, price, durability, load capacity, capability, weight, and performance of nearly any boat on the market. Inflatable boats are relatively light compared to other boats which make them portable and easy to store. This makes them a great fit for any lifestyle ranging from the weekend warrior living in an apartment to the world traveler that lives on their sailboat where space is at a premium. When properly maintained, these boats can last up to 10 years, or even more with the right care and protection. All of these attributes combine to create a capable boat that anyone can use and love.
CONSTRUCTION
APPLICATIONS
Overview:
While inflatable boats are extremely versatile, there are many different types of inflatables to fit specific needs of individuals and use applications. Inflatables can be used as anything from a yacht tender for a sailboat to fishing boats for apartment dwellers, and nearly anything in between. The inflatable boat market is constantly growing and evolving, making it difficult to keep up with new technologies and products. In this article we aim to guide beginners and even experienced boaters about the ins and outs of inflatable boats.
This article details the different types of inflatable boat styles on the market, how they are designed and made, their individual strengths and weaknesses, and what type of application they can be best utilized. This guide will help you narrow down which type of inflatable zodiac boat is best for your needs, what motors options to consider, and various use applications. Finally, this article will cover the different materials inflatable boats can be manufactured from, the various construction methods used, and the different designs of inflatable boats to help you understand how each part plays a role in getting you the best boating experience possible.
Types Of Inflatables
There are many ways in which we could categorize inflatables, most of which will be covered in this article. One common way to distinguish differences between competing technologies is the floor material used in the boat.
Roll-Up Floor
The first type of floor material we will cover is the most basic, the roll-up floor. Roll-up or slat floor inflatables often lack a keel, and are offered in a large range of different sizes, quality, and materials. These inflatables are typically less expensive compared to more advanced inflatables, their roll up floors are convenient for storage, but lack durability and rigidity. Roll-up floors comprise a series of lateral slats with gaps in between, this makes it difficult for passengers to move around, and makes the floor susceptible to damage. Major brands that manufacture these types of boats are Achilles, and West Marine.
These boats are used for their portability and ease of setup. They are designed to be rolled up, easily carried and stored in small spaces. Roll up floor boats work for short, ship to shore trips, but are limiting when needed for longer excursions. If broken, the slatted floors can quickly damage the fabric, making areas of these boats less durable and prone to tears or leaks. These inflatable boats are designed to be easy to assemble and inflate. However, with simplicity being the primary focus, performance is lost.
'Roll-up floors comprise a series of lateral slats with gaps in between, this makes it difficult for passengers to move around, and makes the floor susceptible to damage.'
These boats often lack a keel which leads to issues with directional stability when on the water, especially when navigating choppy and rough waters, or when turning. These floors are too weak to support a keel, and generally lack the ability to get on plane, greatly limiting the speed one can achieve with this type of boat.
Roll-up boats come in many different shapes, sizes and price points. The smallest roll-up inflatable without a keel is a 4.8’ long and cost about $12-30 from Intex; this inflatable can only hold one small child and is powered by oars. One of the larger roll-up inflatable without a keel is the LS4-RU by Achilles. It is 8’8” long and costs $1,300-1400, this inflatable can hold a maximum of 4 people and can be powered by gas or electric outboard.
Hard Floor
Hard floor inflatables are one of the most popular inflatable floor choices, they offer greater durability than any roll up, but with improved performance. This performance leap is thanks to their V-shaped keel and heavier duty hard floor pieces made of aluminum or wood. The main brands which make boats in this category are Achilles, Zodiac, Newport Vessels, Se Eagle, Mercury, and West Marine. Newport Vessels offers a complete range of hard floor models ranging from the 8’10” Dana inflatable dinghy, to the 12’6” Catalina.
The hard floor provides stability thanks to the lower center of gravity, provides support for the keel, creating a better hull shape, which results in the best stability at speed among inflatable boats. This allows the boat to handle rough waters, big waves, other boat wakes and high speeds with confidence and stability.
Hard floor boats are built to be durable and are usually made of higher quality materials, generally PVC or CSM (Hypalon), although sometimes TPU is used. The increase in quality and durability also comes with an increase in price. These inflatables are still simple to assemble and deflate but do require a bit more time and effort; an individual user familiar with setup can usually set up one of these alone in about 10-15 minutes or less, depending on the pump, and ease of floor installation. Hard floors provide excellent structural support for inflatables, they act as the backbone of the boat and need to be assembled into the boat before the keel and hull is fully inflated. These extra steps can add an additional 5 minutes for a total assembly time compared to air floors or slat floors. For a total assembly of about 10-15 minutes, the benefits far outweigh the additional time required for setup. With hard floors, you are able to reach higher speeds, have greater stability, and better handle large waves and wakes. One important consideration when making a purchasing decision is the increase in weight that comes with a hard floor. A hard floor boat will weigh around 15-25% more than the equivalent air floor or roll up. The exact weight increase will vary depending on the overall size of the boat, the type of floor material used, and the total number of floor pieces. Aluminum will offer some weight savings but can be dented and damaged more easily, wood will be heavier, but offers the best durability.
'Hard floor inflatables are one of the most popular inflatable floor choices, they offer greater durability than any roll up, but with improved performance.'
The size range for this category is large as well, with models ranging from 7ft all the way to 23ft long. The smallest hard floor boat is made by Mercury. The Mercury 240 is 7’3” and can hold a maximum of 3 people, this PVC boat runs between $900-1000. The largest boat is the Zodiac Mil-Pro Heavy Duty Series. This boat is 23’ long and made of Hypalon, it has a 20 person capacity and costs over $34,000.
Air Floor
Air floors have increased in popularity in recent years with the development of drop stitch fabrics. Previously, air floors featured an inflated bladder floor known as I-Beam construction, these floors are more susceptible to punctures and offer less rigidity than more advanced drop stitch floors. Drop stitch floors offer a user friendly mix of quality, durability, and portability in all one package. Air floors are very light and easily roll up for storage. The air floor makes these boats lighter while offering a comparable level of performance to their hard floor counterparts. Major brands that sell air floor inflatables will be Achilles, Zodiac, Newport Vessels, Mercury, Sea Eagle, and West Marine. Newport Vessels offers three air floor models, the 7’7” Carmel, the 9’ Seascape, and 10’ Santa Cruz. Not all air floors are created equal however, drop stitch fabrics are a new technology which has not been universally adopted by inflatable manufacturers. Some manufacturers still use a traditional bladder style air floor, which provides little structural support for the hull. These models do not perform as well as drop stitch floor boats, and are easily susceptible to puncture and abrasion.
'Air floors have increased in popularity in recent years with the development of drop stitch fabrics. '
Air floors are nearly as versatile as hard floors and can be used for many of the same applications, however they do have some limitations. As I-Beam air floors are outdated and only offered by a few manufacturers, we will mostly focus on higher quality drop stitch floors. Windows 7 orjinal yapma program indir gezginler bedava. Drop stitch floors are designed to hold high-pressures, often inflated to 8-12 psi; this makes air floors nearly as firm as a hard floors, while saving weight and storage space. This makes these inflatables extremely portable when transporting and easily storable in tight spaces. Air floor inflatables also provide great performance in the water, their inflatable keel gives them directional stability and the ability to quickly get on plane. They do, however, fall short of hard floors when it comes to handling rough water; due to their reduced weight and higher center of gravity, they can feel less stable at higher speeds. While the high-pressure air floor is extremely stiff, it cannot keep the boat completely rigid and allows some flex. For this reason, they are not the ideal boat for speed addicts or frequently traveling in rough waters.
'Air floors are nearly as versatile as hard floors and can be used for many of the same applications'
Boats in this subcategory are generally built to the same standard as hard floor models, they are made from PVC or Hypalon, using similar construction techniques. Because these boats have a one piece air floor, the setup and teardown time is reduced, they can generally be setup in less than 10 minutes. These mildly cushioned floors offer more comfort for passengers, particularly for knees and feet when moving about the boat. If kids are sitting or kneeling on the floor while riding in rough water, an air floor might be a more comfortable option for your family. Boats with air floors are not ideal if you are handling sharp or rugged items. These floors are made of PVC fabric and can be punctured or experience chafing and abrasion that can eventually damage the floor. Drop stitch floors have a shorter lifespan than hard floors, and bladder air floors offer minimal durability, however replacements can be purchased from reputable manufacturers, contact us directly if your Newport Vessels drop stitch floor needs replacing. If the floor is damaged past the point of repair, purchasing a new one can be more expensive than hard floors. Depending on the environment you will be using your boat, the air floor can be affected by the temperature, if placed in cold water, the air in the floor will condense and soften the floor. Air floors may also need to be topped off when the weather changes during use. Although this shouldn’t be a dealbreaker, it is something to keep in mind when choosing the right inflatable for your specific use.
The size range on air floors is more narrow than hard floors, because air floors have some flexibility, the length at which they can be effective is limited. These designs vary from 6’7” up to 14’9”, both extremes are made by Zodiac. At 6’7” the Cadet C200 AERO can hold 2 persons and costs between $1100-1300. The Zodiac MK III Futura FR is 14’9” and can hold 8 persons, it retails for around $6000.