An inflatable boat is often a lightweight boat constructed with the inflatable boats sides and boat bow constructed  of flexible tubes containing pressurized air .  In smaller inflatable boats, the deck/floor and hull beneath may be flexible or made of pressurized air and referred to as an air-floor inflatable boat.  On larger inflatable boats, the deck floor may consist of three to five rigid plywood, aluminum or fiberglass sections set between the tubes and joined rigidly together.  Usually the inflatable boat transom transom is rigid providing a location and structure for mounting an outboard motor. This type of inflatable is sometimes called a "Zodiac boat". Some  inflatable boats have been designed to be placed into in a small volume, so they can easily be stored and transported when needed. This feature allows such boats to be used as liferafts for larger boats or aircraft, and for travel or recreational purposes.

Other names for inflatable boats are "inflatable" and "rubber dinghy".

 RIB (rigid-hulled inflatable boat) is a development of the inflatable boat using a solid or sectionally rigid floor and capable of taking a high powered transom mounted outboard engine suitable for high speed operations well up into the ski boat speed ranges and search and rescue.

Not all inflatable boats are the same. Inflatable boats may have rubber floors, either plain or inflatable, or they may include steel, wood or aluminium or fiberglass sheets for rigidity. The tubes are made of rubberized, synthetic sheets of Hypalon or PVC to provide light-weight and secure buoyancy. The tubes are often constructed in separate sections, each with a valve to add or remove air, to reduce the effect of a puncture.

Some inflatable boats have an inflated keel to create a "groove" along the line of the hull improving the hull's wave cutting and turning performance. Due to the lightness, it is easy to cause an inflatable boat to start hydroplaning, thus making it faster than the engine would allow when the hull is operating in displacemement mode.

A growing use for inflatables is for white water rafting and kayaking, as well as in river, lake and ocean touring. Professional-level rafts and kayaks have existed for many years; since the late 1990s, more affordable inflatable rafts, kayaks (including sea kayaks) and canoes have been developed by European and North American companies. Typically these inflatable boats contain no rigid frame members, so they can be deflated, folded and stored in compact bags.

INFORMATION ON REPAIRING AN INFLATABLE BOAT

Should a section of your inflatable boat  puncture, it can be repaired it while still underway. More extensive inflatable boat repairs - due to pinholes, punctures, peeling, leaks or worn fabric - can be done in dry dock using two-stage synthetic rubber coatings (SRC).

Subject to a great deal of wear and tear from the elements - both water and sun - inflatable boats are often replaced when they could be restored or even repaired. Products that aggressively adhere to the damaged Hypalon or PVC shell can fix virtually any surface damage through a unique chemical bonding between the undercoat and topcoat that permanently vulcanizes the two rubber coatings together to make the inflatable boat as good as new. 

Some, such as  Shark  Inflatable Boats and the Zodiac offer the option between the PVC or the Hypalon which is recommended for environments of increase heat and sunlight.

Inflatable boats are commonly between 2 and 7 metres (6 to 21 feet) long and are propelled by outboard motors of 5 to 80 horsepower (4 to 60 kW). Due to their speed, portability and weight, inflatable boats are used extensively as:

• luxury yacht tenders
• dive boats for scuba diving
• tenders for larger boats and ships in port and at sea
• recreational water skiing
• rescue craft
• commercial or recreational fishing
• for military purposes, such as transporting soldiers from a vessel to shore
• for racing

Inflatables up to 6 metres in length can be towed on trailers on the road. Some inflatable boats may be 14 metres (45 feet) in length or more and may include inboard steering, luxury features and full cabins.

Inflatable boats are often used by special-operations units of the armed forces of several countries, for such purposes as landing on beaches or submarines. Inflatable boats have also be used by special-ops soldiers without government sponsorship, such as guerrillas, pirates, and terrorists.

Historically, inflatables boats have been used for many years.

 There are ancient carved images of animal skins filled with air being used as floats to cross rivers. 

In the mid 1800's tests of inflatable pontoons were performed and in the early 1900's the development of rubber manufacturing enabled attempts at producing circular  inflatable boats.   These inflatable boats were only usable as rafts and only propelled  by paddling, and they tended to crack at seams and folds due to imperfect manufacture of the rubber.

 With the loss of the Titanic in 1912, and World War I losses of ships to submarine-launched torpedos, the necessity  for inflatable boats was clear.

One cause of the loss of life on the Titanic was the lack of lifeboats. Even if every lifeboat had been completely filled with passengers and crew, there would have been no way to rescue more than half of all the people on board. The first SOLAS treaty was designed to avoid such a disaster happening again. One of its provisions was to ensure that vessels had enough lifeboats to provide every person aboard the vessel with a place. Putting this rule into effect was not difficult with cargo ships: they had small crews and plenty of deck space. Passenger ships had to stack lifeboats on top of each other to able to carry enough to accommodate the large number of passengers and crew. Warships also had large crews and little deck space.

Between the two World Wars, Goodyear found a way to join rubber to other materials. They made life rafts of square-shaped inflated rubber tubes with a rigid floor. Such rafts were to be stacked aboard warships, usually standing on deck and leaning against deck-houses.

The 1937 design inflatable boat was the first known to have its inflatable tube in a U-shape. It was the first boat of its kind to be certified by the French Navy. Its added wooden transom was patented on 10 August 1943. This version was the predecessor of today's inflatable sports and pleasure boats.

In World War II submarine warfare led to casualties among warships and merchant ships. US warships began using rubber life rafts. Since the rubber was much higher quality then 35 years before, the inflatable boat returned, but this time it was boat-shaped.

In military use inflatable boats were used to transport torpedoes and other cargo. They also allowed troops to make landings in shallow water, and their compact size and storability made overland transport possible.

One of the models, the Zodiac, grew to be popular with the military and contributed significantly to the rise of the civilian inflatable boat industry, both in Europe and in the United States. As a result "Zodiac" has become in many places a generic for "inflatable boat". After World War II, surplus inflatable boats were sold to the public.

Inflatable liferafts were also used successfully to save crews of aircraft that ditched in the sea; bombing, naval and anti-submarine aircraft flying long distances over water being much more common from the start of WWII. Airplanes started to carry inflatable boats aboard, first as optional and later as standard equipment.  A later version of that inflatable was pressurized by a gas cylinder rather than by mouth. A wire connected to the plane opened the cylinder valve in the inflatable after the liferaft was thrown into the water.

Until the middle 1950s inflatables were still rafts in civilian use, hand paddled but the outboard motor came into use in the early 1950s.

In the 1950s, the first inflatable boat was  combined with an outboard engine and a rigid floor . The former airplane-manufacturer Zodiac built that boat and a friend of Dr. Bombard, the diver Jacques-Yves Cousteau began to use it, after Bombard sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with his inflatable in 1952. Cousteau was convinced by the shallow draught and good performance of this type of boat and used it as tenders on his expeditions. "Zodiac" became the word commonly used in French for inflatable boats and RIBs. The term was eventually adopted in the United States and Canada.

The inflatable boat was so popular that Zodiac lacked the manufacturing capacity to meet demand.  Subsequently, to achieve better performanence through the water and a more comfortable ride, some inflatables had underwater inflated shaped hulls, leading to the RIB.

A rigid-inflatable boat (RIB) or rigid-hulled inflatable boat, (RHIB) is a light-weight but high performance and high capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale.  The design is stable and seaworthy. The inflatable collar means that buoyancy is not lost if a large quantity of water is shipped aboard. The RIB is a development of the inflatable boat.

RIBs are commonly 2 to 7 metres (8 to 24 ft) long, although RIB boats  can range in length between 2.5 and 18 metres (7.5 and 55 ft). A rigid hull inflatable boat is often propelled by one or more outboard motors.

RIBs are used as rescue craft, safety boats for sailing, dive boats or tenders for larger boats and ships. Their shallow draught, high maneuverability, speed and relative immunity to damage in low speed collisions are advantages in these applications.

RIBs up to about 7 metres in length can be towed on trailers on the road, making them attractive as leisure craft.

RIBs are generally designed with hydroplaning hulls. Due to their low weight RIBs often out-perform other similarly sized and powered boats, and can also cope with rougher seas.

The maximum speed of the RIB depends on its weight, power, load, and sea conditions.  High performance RIBs may operate with a speed between 40 and 70 knots, depending on the size and weight. 

The hull is made of steel, wood or aluminum, or more commonly, a combination of wood for the structure and glass reinforced plastic  or fiber reinforced plastic (GRP or FRP) composite for the shaped and smooth surface. The hull of a RIB is shaped to increase the performance of the boat in the water by optimising its hydroplaning characteristics. "Deep-V" hulls cut through waves easily but require greater engine power to start planing than "shallow-V" hulls, which plane at lower speed but with a more uncomfortable ride.

The tubes are usually constructed in separate sections to reduce the effect of a puncture, each with a valve to add or remove air. Common materials for the tubes are Polyvinyl chloride, Polyurethane and Hypalon. The combination of rigid hull and large inflatable buoyancy tubes has been very successful.  

After the Zodiac patent on the inflatable boat expired, the RIB business boomed. Today there are about a thousand manufacturers of RIBs and inflatables. Some of the most common inflatable boat and RIB boat brands known worldwide, aside from Shark Inflatable Boats  are Zodiac Inflatables,  Avon, Achilles  and many other inflatable boat manufacturers and inflatable boat brands.

 SHARK INFLATABLE BOATS

Inflatable Boats are handcrafted from a minimum 1100 denier reinforced PVC material.  PVC is the material preferred by some of the most expensive inflatable boat manufacturers, such as Zodiac Inflatable Boats.  In fact, Shark Inflatable Boats and Sail Outboards Canada agrees with Zodiac Inflatable Boats or Zodiac Canada's position that PVC is tough and durable, highly resistant to sun and pollutants and that PVC coated inflatable boat fabric is more durable and holds air better than Hypalon boats.

 Inflatable Boats are hand sealed at butt seams and are overlapped with bonded fabric using the most expensive and reliable cold weld method.  Shark Inflatable Boats use cold weld adhesive to maximize strength, which guarantees high durability.  Shark Inflatable Boat construction methods and materials guarantee Shark Toughness and protection from heat and sea water.   Inner baffles on Shark inflatable boats keep air chambers sealed for safety and are designed to equalize pressure between up to five air chambers.

    Tender Series and Sports Series models come standard with a rugged inflatable V-hull that secures comfort and performance and is centered with a heavy rubbing strake for increased inflatable boat durability.  

Shark Inflatable Boat FRP (fiberglass) or aluminum removable deck or floor boards not only add to compactness and portability, but are virtually resistant to deterioration.

  RIB Series models (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat or RHI) are Shark Tough with a double reinforced FRP (fiberglass) hull.  Shark Inflatable Boats specially engineered heavy duty deep-V hull and non-slip FRP deck increase performance, stability and safety.  According to the U.S. Coast Guard, these Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats are a versatile craft.  Its deep-V glass reinforced plastic hull and multi-compartment buoyancy tubes add to its portability and ruggedness allowing it to be used across many Coast Guard rescue missions.

 SHARK'S OUTBOARD MOTOR LINE

Sail Outboards and  Nautic Outboard Engines

Sail Outboard Motors and Nautic Outboard Motors  are engineered and designed for performance, fuel economy, reliability, durability, quiet operation and low maintenance.  Sail Outboards range from 2.5hp, 4hp, 6hp, 8hp, 9.9 hp, 15hp, 25hp, 40hp, 60hp and are available in 2 stroke or 4 stroke models with your choice of 15" short shaft or 20" long shaft.  Electric start, electric tilt and trim are available on some models.

Click here  For Sail Outboard, Parsun Outboard and Nautic Outboard Motors technical specifications and information

 OUTBOARDS, OUTBOARD MOTOR MARINE ENGINE INFORMATION

Outboard motors also called  outboards, outboard engines, for powering boats have been  developed as a self-contained unit with engine subsidiary systems, and propeller designed to be mounted at the stern (rear) transom of the boat. They are the most common motorized method of propelling small boats or watercraft.