Inflatable Boat History

According to records in the Guinness Book of the World, the history of inflatable boats can be traced back to 880 BC, when King Assyrian II ordered his troops to inflate and inflate the hide boat so that it can pass through the river. In ancient China, in the Song and Ming dynasties, people also used sealed and inflated animal skin boats to cross rivers.

In 1839, the Duke of Wellington made the first pontoon test of an inflatable boat. In 1840, the Englishman Thomas Hancock designed an inflatable raft and included the introduction of his work in the book “The Origin and Process of British Natural Rubber” published several years later. In 1844, a navy captain Halkett designed a wheel-shaped inflatable boat, which was used in many Arctic expeditions.

In France and the United Kingdom, Z0DIAC and RFD successively launched the first generation of modern inflatable rubber boats. In 1919, the founder of RFD Ray Foster tested an inflatable boat on Lake Wisely in England and improved his design in the 1930s. This is the original owner of the later inflatable life raft.

Pierre designed the first U-shaped rubber boat in 1937, and he applied for a patent for this design on August 10, 1943. This is the most straightforward version of sports and entertainment inflatable boats to this day. The inflatable rubber boat is a kind of light boat. When it is not in use, it can be vented, disassembled into several parts, folded up, and transported in the carriage. When in use, it can be transported to the beach, inflated and installed with various components, and then placed in the water for sailing.

The internal layout of this boat is extremely simple, and most boats do not have a canopy. The deck can be arranged in a plane or a cockpit. Generally, it can only be driven by 2 to 4 people.