History of Inflatable Boats

There are reports by sailors as early as the 1600s of seeing animal skins filled with air being used as one man floats to cross rivers. They were inflated by mouth and sometimes mistaken for early attempts at scuba.

In the early 1800’s the discovery of vulcanised rubber bought with it many attempts of inflatable boats.

The first known design that consisted of a U-shape tube was in 1937 by Frenchman Pierr Debroutelle. And the use of wooden transom was patented in 1943. This version was the predecessor of today’s inflatable boats and ribs.

In the 1950’s a French navy officer called Alain Bombard was the first to combine the inflatable tubes onto a rigid hull with an outboard engine. Zodiac a former aeroplane manufacturing company build that first boat for him. Bombard was the first to sail across the Atlantic Ocean using his inflatable as a tender. His good friend and world renowned diver Jacyves-Yves Cousteau was convinced with the performance of the inflatable as a tender with its shallow draught, good performance and stability he started to use them on his expeditions.

Inflatable boats became increasingly popular in the 1970’s when their potential as rescue boats was realised because of their handling and safety in rough seas.

Today inflatable boats range from two metres to fifteen metres in length, white to fluro in colour and with just as many uses. Since the late 1990’s inflatable boats have been increasingly cheaper as large factories set up in countries with cheap labour and produce boats in large mass.

The modern rigid inflatable boat (RIB) consists of a V-shaped hull made of either aluminium or fibreglass with a strong transom capable of carrying large or multiple out-board engines. The V-shape hull design allows it to easily cut through waves even in very rough conditions, with the tube still giving a smoother more comfortable ride.