Avon Inflatables, Ltd is a manufacturer of

inflatable boat An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and Bow (watercraft), bow made of Inflatable, flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and Hull (watercraft), hull are often flexible, while for ...

RIBs The rib cage or thoracic cage is an endoskeletal enclosure in the thorax of most vertebrates that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum, which protect the vital organs of the thoracic cavity, such as the heart, lungs and great vessels ...

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

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, 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) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset. The town's canal, historic buildings, shops, pubs and restaurants make it popular with tourists. The parish had ...

in the English county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, and moved to its current location in the 1960s. During the 1990's the hulls were built in Cowes on the 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 Technologies 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 Wiltshi ...

, but the business was then sold and now operates independently of its former parent. Since 1998, the company has been a division of the French company Zodiac Marine & Pool before being taken over by the Zodiac Group's Military and Professional division, which in 2012 became an independent company named Zodiac Milpro. In 2019, Avon launched an electric jet-drive tender. The dinghy is powered by a battery from the

BMW i3 The BMW i3 is an electric car that was manufactured by German marque BMW from 2013 to 2022. The i3 was BMW's first mass-produced zero-emissions vehicle, zero emissions vehicle and was launched as part of BMW's electric vehicle ''BMW i'' sub-bra ...

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 3 ...

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