Featured Inflatable Brands
Inflatable boats for sale
-
Advertisement
-
Advertisement
-
Advertisement
-
-
Advertisement
Contact Seller
XInflatable
Ideal for day cruising, scuba diving and tender for larger boats these Inflatable boats vary in length from 3ft to 55ft and can carry 3 to 22 passengers. These powerboats use the following propulsion options: outboard engine or oars. There are a wide range of Inflatable boats for sale from popular brands like Zodiac, AB Inflatables and Walker Bay with 570 new and 457 used and an average price of $25,471 with boats ranging from as little as $657 and $655,691.
Inflatables Guide
Inflatables have a very interesting history, which, like many types of boats, predates their use as recreational vessels. To prevent damage and injury when transferring people from one boat to another, the inflatable collar was developed to ring the entire boat in what amounts to a shock-absorbing inner-tube. When the utility of this type of craft was recognized inflatables developed at a rapid pace, and today theyāre quite advanced as compared to the early versions.
Today inflatables come in the form of fully inflatable boats and RIBs (rigid inflatable boats), which have a rigid hull thatās surrounded by a large inflatable ācollar.ā There are also a few versions that split the difference, by adding a fold-up hard deck that gets inserted into the boat when itās inflated. Fully inflatable boats gain the advantage of easy storage, since they can be deflated completely and packed away into a small area. This makes them ideal for use as a dinghy, or as a tender for larger vessels. RIBS, on the other hand, enjoy the abilities of a rigid wave-splitting hull which can smooth out a bumpy ride. Both versions are considered extremely seaworthy ā remember, theyāre essentially wrapped by a gigantic PFD ā and thanks to todayās tough materials like Hypalon and Neoprene, puncturing the collar is an extremely rare event (and when it does happen, patching the hole is an easy process). These materials are also resistant to UV radiation and often are protected by a layer of nylon to extend their lifetime.
While inflatables have mostly been used as tenders and for commercial purposes to date, large RIB versions have gained wide acceptance in Europe as dedicated pleasure boats. Will they catch on the same way in American waters? That remains to be seen, but thereās no arguing about he rugged, seaworthy nature of inflatables.