Zodiac Aerospace was a French aerospace company that supplied aircraft systems and equipment. It was formed in 1896. It employed almost 35,000 employees and has around 100 locations throughout the world. Safran, a French aerospace and military corporation, bought it in October 2018.
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Is Zodiac based in France?
Zodiac Aerospace was a French aerospace company that supplied aircraft systems and equipment. It was formed in 1896. It employed almost 35,000 employees and has around 100 locations throughout the world. Safran, a French aerospace and military corporation, bought it in October 2018.
What is the mission of Zodiac Aerospace?
Zodiac Aerospace is a global leader in commercial, regional, and business aircraft, as well as helicopters and space applications. Comfort and conditions onboard aircraft, onboard systems, and safety, both in flight and on the ground, are its key areas of expertise.
Zodiac inflatables are made in the United States.
Nearly 90% of the RIBS sold in North America are made at Zodiac’s North American production facility in Summerville, South Carolina. For the entire Zodiac global operation, the Summerville factory also supplies the Yachtline and Bayrunner Series.
Is Zodiac still producing boats?
Breathe… Consider the pleasures of a family excursion to a secluded cove, the exhilarating sensations of water skiing, the thrill of scuba diving with friends, the satisfaction of fishing… With a Zodiac boat, you may enjoy all of these benefits! We appreciate and share your enthusiasm for navigation and exploration. With a Zodiac boat, you’ll have a constant companion for all your escapes, constantly by your side while you navigate the world’s waters. We’ll be there to carefully escort you, whether you’re an experienced captain or this is your first time on the water.
Zodiac Nautic and its 1,600 dealers will put their experience to work for you in more than 50 countries across the world. Join the Zodiac community, which has already attracted over a million customers. Zodiac gained worldwide notoriety after transitioning from the air to the sea. In the 1960s, the company shifted its focus to the leisure market in order to meet the demands of “vacationers” and their growing interest in recreational boating.
Zodiac Nautic has 120 years of expertise and is the originator of the inflatable boat. Its genesis is directly linked to all important advancements in the inflatable boat market. We are now the world’s leading provider of inflatable products and services. Become a part of the tale!
Who came up with the idea for Zodiac boats?
The French airship and aviation business Zodiac, which specialized in the construction of airships, founded Zodiac Nautic in 1896. In the 1930s, one of the Group’s engineers, Pierre Debroutelle, devised the inflatable boat. Inflatable boats were first developed for the naval aviation business, which needed quick and creative boats for military transport. In the 1960s, they were made available for leisure boating. The boat grew in popularity and was used by many explorers, including Jacques Cousteau.
Buyback and recovery
In July 2015, three entrepreneurs, including the current CEO, Dominique Heber-Suffrin, bought Zodiac Nautic at a tough moment. There are four brands in the Zodiac Nautichas Group:
- The group’s most important brand, Zodiac, is both generalist and universal.
- Bombard is a basic, dependable, and cost-effective brand.
- Avon Marine is a premium brand dedicated to large boats with electric power (yacht tenders).
- The professional and military boat brand Aka Marine.
Zodiac has overhauled its main Pro (la carte RIBs) and Open (Swiss Army RIBs) lineups since its purchase in July 2015, a “successful” operation for the French RIB brand, according to its CEO, Dominique Heber-Suffrin.
“Since the acquisition, we’ve gone back to the basics (manufacturing, marketing, etc.) by updating and launching new models. Because the Pro and Open brands were well-known around the world, it was a large risk to take. We’ve finally reached break-even, which hasn’t happened in 11 years, he says.
Focus on Zodiac Nautic Group brands
Bombard is the group’s low-cost brand, similar to Skoda in the car sector. The quality/price ratio is the goal here. It’s a good, efficient, and high-quality brand with sturdy, straightforward, and cost-effective boats. It safeguards the Zodiac brand, which provides higher-quality and more enriched boats, as explained by Zodiac’s CEO. Bombard is sold all throughout the world, including Australia.
Jet propulsion and electric motorization are two of Avonuses’ specialties.
“Avon Ejet has returned for a more environmentally friendly approach and has even created a full electric annex.” We’ve formed a collaboration with the yachting brand San Lorenzo, and we’re excited about the brand’s resurgence. Avon was one of the earliest companies to experiment with jet propulsion, but after 20 years, it was surpassed in the market by Williams Jet Tender. The brand is making a comeback, but this time with a twist. He adds, “It’s a technology that we’ll be employing on Zodiac.” Dominique Heber-Suffrin is a writer.
The group is targeting superyacht owners who enjoy “toys” and are searching for a “clean” product that will allow them to visit locations that are unreachable by yacht with this “prestige” brand.
Aka Marine is a professional and military-oriented brand. These goods are intended for use in areas such as security, border security, and so on. Flexible and semi-rigid boats are included in the range. “It’s a new brand for a B to B market, with a new team, especially in the US, with sales people, a marketing manager… We’re attacking a significant market,” explains Zodiac’s president.
The group’s worldwide brand, Zodiac Nautic, offers a variety of leisure and commercial boats.
“Since the buyout, we’ve been attempting to establish a connection between the past, present, and future.” We won’t be able to modify the brand’s positioning or the company’s DNA in a single day. We don’t want the market to be brutalized. As a result, we refreshed the line and introduced new models, most notably the Open 7, which allowed us to position ourselves as a leader in maritime and sporting goods, attracting new customers.”
Through a network of 1600 sales and service shops, the Zodiac Nautic Group now has a presence in 90 countries. The company employs 400 individuals worldwide, with the majority of them based in France.
- Ayguevives is responsible for the group’s headquarters, production, and logistics. The inflatable boat manufacturing plant is located here, near Toulouse.
- Pessac is in charge of R&D and after-sales servicing. The research institute near Bordeaux now employs three engineers, down from fifteen at the time, and has attracted significant investments in the last three years.
- EMEA sales department, marketing Svres:
- A factory and a sales and marketing department are located in Summerville, South Carolina (US).
- PVC RIB manufacturing plant in Enfidha, Tunisia
- APAC Sales Department, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The market is booming, and it need further development.
PVC or Hypalon for Zodiac boats?
Hypalon (a rubber cloth) or PVC are the two materials used to make inflatables. Before you start repairing an inflatable, you need to know what kind of material was utilized to make it.
If you’re trying to mend a tear, it’s usually easy to distinguish whether cloth is which since Hypalon has various colors on the outside and inside, whereas PVC has the same color on both sides.
Today, all Zodiacs are constructed of Strongan, a PVC material developed by the company. However, numerous models were manufactured of Hypalon before to 1968.
This means that unless the boat was built before 1968, any repairs you undertake yourself will require Stabond as the adhesive. In that instance, before deciding whether to use Stabond or a Hypalon adhesive, you’ll need to confirm the material as described above.
EXCEPTIONAL LOAD
You counted correctly! On this Zodiac boat, there are 12 football players. The Zodiac boat has an amazing weight-to-area-below-water ratio, allowing it to carry significant cargo and is suitable for a day excursion with friends and family in complete safety.
REASSURING STABILITY
The buoyancy is dispersed on the sides, and the center of gravity is low: all of this ensures stability, making it nearly difficult for the Zodiac boats to capsize when laden!
BUOYANCY, SECURITY
Zodiac boats’ buoyancy tubes are divided into multiple compartments by waterproof barriers. The boat retains its capacity to float and is essentially unsinkable when fully laden, even with a deflated compartment, thanks to its significant air reserves.
Are Zodiac boats trustworthy?
Zodiac boats have proven to be so dependable that a second firm, Zodiac MilPro, was formed to satisfy orders and meet the unique requirements of the military and professional water bodies such as the coastguard and sea rescue agencies.
In the 1950s, the design was upgraded to include a robust transom to which an outboard engine could be mounted, making it suitable for military usage. Rigid flooring were later added.
Alain Bombard, a French sailor and zoologist, utilized this revolutionary design to sail solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1952. It was a 65-day journey.
Later, in the 1960s, Jacques Cousteau, a well-known marine biologist, adventurer, and underwater explorer, popularized Zodiac boats by utilizing them as tenders and dive boats on his daring missions.
The documentary series ‘The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau’ launched Zodiac boats into the mainstream, causing sales to skyrocket all around the world.
So, if experts and the military utilize zodiac boats, can we be certain in their dependability and durability?
What type of watercraft does the Navy Seals use?
The Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat is a high-speed, high-buoyancy, extreme-weather vehicle designed for SEAL insertion and extraction with a secondary role of marine interdiction. Sailors from the United States Navy employ the RHIB for visit board and search missions at sea.
The 11-meter-long Naval Special Warfare Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (11m NSW RIBs) are made of composites with a reinforced fabric inflatable tube gunwale. They can operate in strong seas and gusts of up to 45 knots, although the Navy restricts their use to softer sea conditions for everything but heavy-weather training (wind speed is less than 34 knots).
In its Naval Special Warfare role, the 11m NSW RIB carries a crew of three and a SEAL element (8 passengers), and is increasingly used by Naval Expeditionary Warfare in a marine interdiction/Visit Board Search & Seizure (VBSS) role, organic to LPD-17 Class ships, with a Navy crew of three and a Marine Corps boarding team.
A lifting bail is included in the Navy VBSS model for launch and retrieval from LPD-17 Class ships.