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Achilles Inflatable Boat: A Good Quality Dinghy - A Hypalon BoatAn Achilles inflatable boat has a reputation of making a rugged Hypalon boat with a high quality of craftsmanship - and a very good quality dinghy. The parent company of Achilles boats is Achilles Wendt Agenturen B.V. from the Netherlands. Wendt Agenturen B.V. is a manufacturer of plastic films and coated fabrics and they started making boats in 1994 in Japan. As of 2010 Achilles boats are now manufacturing their boats in China. I have gathered some evidence that their boats are made by Weihai Noahyacht Co. Ltd. Achilles still manufactures their own Hypalon fabric (CSM) in Japan. Achilles is one of the few companies that has decided to use exclusively Hypalon material(CSM) for their boats. This is very interesting because Achilles also manufactures PVC fabrics. They just feel that Hypalon (CSM) is a better fabric for boats. They did make boats out of Elvaloy, a thermoplastic coated fabric for the 1995 model year. So you will see Elvaloy Achilles boats on the used market. Other manufacturers have reported that Elvaloy had great welding properties, but that it was very difficult to glue. If you find a used Elvaloy boat be careful, as even though tube seams can be welded, floor seams, transoms and accessories may still be glued to the tubes. Achilles hand glued Hypalon (CSM) boats offer a high level of durability. You will notice on their website, www.achillesinflatables.com they organize their boats into Dinghies, Tenders, Rigids, Sport, Sport Utility, and Commercial. Great boats. Quality control has always been top notch. It will be interesting to see if that continues with the change in manufacturing location.
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