Avon Inflatables, Ltd is a manufacturer of

inflatable boat An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and bow made of flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and hull is often flexible, while for boats longer than , the floor typically consists ...

s, RIBs and marine safety equipment. The company is based in Dafen, near the town of

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carma ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and supplies the leisure, commercial and military markets.

History

The company was founded in 1959 in the town of

Bradford on Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, and moved to its current location in the 1960s. During the 90's the hulls were built in Cowes, Isle of Wight, initially under license by Galt Composites & later as part of Avon Inflatables. Until 1994, Avon Inflatables formed part of

Avon Rubber Avon Protection plc is a British company that specialises in the engineering and manufacturing of respiratory protection equipment for military, law enforcement and fire personnel. Its corporate headquarters are south of Melksham in Wiltshir ...

, but the business was then sold and now operates independently of its former parent. Since 1998, the company has been a division of Zodiac Marine of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 2019, Avon launched an electric jet-drive tender. The dinghy is powered by a battery from the

BMW i3 The BMW i3 is a B-segment, high-roof hatchback manufactured and marketed by BMW with an electric powertrain using rear-wheel drive via a single-speed transmission and an underfloor lithium-ion battery pack and an optional range-extending pe ...

car and was developed in partnership with Torqeedo, owned by

Deutz AG Deutz AG is a German internal combustion engine manufacturer, based in Porz, Cologne, Germany. History The company was founded by Nicolaus Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine, and his partner Eugen Langen on 31 ...

Avon and survival at sea

There are numerous accounts of survival at sea involving Avon equipment. * '' The Perfect Storm'' describes the use of Avon inflatable rafts under extreme conditions. * Steven Callahan survived adrift for 76 days. In a 1983 letter to ''Cruising World'', Callahan said “I must express my appreciation to Avon, who built a good product that did job for 76 days.” * Two sailors survived 13 days at sea in their Avon raft after abandoning ship in a 1981 incident. * Avon cites a 117-day survival.

References

External links

Avon Inflatables Website Avon Move Production from the UK
Manufacturing companies of Wales Companies based in Carmarthenshire Welsh brands {{water-transport-stub