Editing Avon Inflatables

{{Short description|English manufacturer of inflatable boats}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Avon Inflatables, Ltd
| logo = File:Avonboats.svg
| type = 
| industry = [[inflatable boat]]s
| fate = 
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded = 1959, [[England]]
| founder = <!-- or: | founders = -->
| defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| hq_location_city = 
| hq_location_country = 
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people = 
| products = 
| owner = <!-- or: | owners = -->
| num_employees = 
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
| parent = [[Zodiac Milpro]]
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
}}
'''Avon Inflatables, Ltd''' is a manufacturer of [[inflatable boat]]s, [[Rigid-hulled inflatable boat|RIBs]] and [[marine safety equipment]]. The company is based in [[Dafen, Carmarthenshire|Dafen]], near the town of [[Llanelli]] in [[Carmarthenshire]], [[Wales]], and supplies the leisure, commercial and military markets.

== History ==
The company was founded in 1959 in the town of [[Bradford on Avon]] in the [[England|English]] county of [[Wiltshire]], 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.<ref name="aboutus">{{cite web|title=Avon Inflatables Ltd. - About Avon Inflatables|url=http://www.avoninflatables.co.uk/page/about|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060417210236/http://www.avoninflatables.co.uk/page/about|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2006|accessdate=20 March 2017|date=17 April 2006}}</ref>

Until 1994, Avon Inflatables formed part of [[Avon Rubber]], 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.insidermedia.com/news/wales/84916-rebrand-avon-inflatables-after-acquisition|title=Rebrand for Avon Inflatables after takeover|publisher=Insider Media|date=14 February 2013|accessdate=27 February 2020}}</ref>

In 2019, Avon launched an electric jet-drive tender. The dinghy is powered by a battery from the [[BMW i3]] car and was developed in partnership with Torqeedo, owned by [[Deutz AG]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.boatmaginternational.com/10489-new-2019-avon-torqeedo-ejet-450-electric-tender/|title=New in 2019: Avon and Torqeedo launch the eJET 450 electric tender -|date=2018-09-14|website=Boatmag International|language=it-IT|access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>

==Avon and survival at sea==
There are numerous accounts of survival at sea involving Avon equipment.
* ''[[The Perfect Storm (book)|The Perfect Storm]]'' describes the use of Avon inflatable rafts under extreme conditions.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Junger|first1=Sebastian|title=The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea|year=1997|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=9780393076615|page=[https://archive.org/details/perfectstorm000seba/page/158 158]|url=https://archive.org/details/perfectstorm000seba|url-access=registration|quote=survival at sea, avon.|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Steven Callahan]] survived [[Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea|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 {{sic|it's}} job for 76 days.”<ref>{{cite book|title=Cruising World|date=January 1983|page=6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YN8KAmWqnYcC&dq=Callahan+survival+avon&pg=PA6|language=en}}</ref>
* Two sailors survived 13 days at sea in their Avon raft after abandoning ship in a 1981 incident.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cartwright|first1=Jerry|title=Lessons from two survivors|date=July 1981|publisher=Motor Boating|pages=22–30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEVoRKZaAr0C&dq=Lessons%2C+avon&pg=PA22|language=en}}</ref>
* Avon cites a 117-day survival.<ref>{{cite web|title=Avon Inflatables Ltd. - Ocean, Coastline and Modula Liferafts|url=http://www.avoninflatables.co.uk/page/oac|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215124132/http://www.avoninflatables.co.uk/page/oac|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 February 2006|access-date=20 March 2017|date=15 February 2006}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041104045100/http://www.avoninflatables.co.uk/ Avon Inflatables Website]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7343221.stm  Avon Move Production from the UK]

{{Zodiac Aerospace}}

[[Category:Manufacturing companies of Wales]]
[[Category:Companies based in Carmarthenshire]]
[[Category:Welsh brands]]


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