Avon Inflatables

The company was founded in 1959 in the town of Bradford on Avon in the 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.{{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}}

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.{{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}}

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.{{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}}

There are numerous accounts of survival at sea involving Avon equipment.

• The Perfect Storm describes the use of Avon inflatable rafts under extreme conditions.{{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}}
• 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 {{sic|it's}} job for 76 days.”{{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}}
• Two sailors survived 13 days at sea in their Avon raft after abandoning ship in a 1981 incident.{{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}}
• Avon cites a 117-day survival.{{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}}

{{reflist}}

• [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]

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Category:Manufacturing companies of Wales

Category:Companies based in Carmarthenshire

Category:Welsh brands

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