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Zodiac Nautic is a French company known for their inflatable boats.
Because of financial trouble, the company was sold to private owners in 2015. [1]
Zodiac Nautic was originated in the Société française de ballons dirigeables et d’aviation Zodiac (Zodiac airships and aviation French company), which specialized in the production of airships. In the late 1930s, one of its engineers, Pierre Debroutelle, invented one of the first prototypes of inflatable boats. In 1937, the Aéronavale, the French Naval Air Force, commissioned several boats from Zodiac. [2] The company started marketing to the general public in 1949. Zodiac received publicity in late 1952 after Alain Bombard made a crossing of the Atlantic in a production model of a Zodiac inflatable boat called L'Hérétique. [2] [3] [4]
The company eventually stopped using materials for balloon production after the creation of synthetic nylon fabrics better suited for inflatable boats in the late 1950s. [3]
Zodiac opened a temporary workshop in Courbevoie, expanded its already established factories and increased its workforce which allowed the company to begin producing 17 boats a day. [3]
In the 1960s, the company turned to the leisure industry to accommodate vacationers and their growing interest in recreational boating. [5] Zodiac boats were brought into the mainstream in the late 1960s as Jacques Cousteau equipped his Calypso with several of Zodiac's boats. [2] [4]
In 2007, the company sold its Marine division to the American investment fund Carlyle. [3]
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An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium, and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflatables depend on the presence of a gas to maintain their size and shape. Function fulfillment per mass used compared with non-inflatable strategies is a key advantage. Stadium cushions, impact guards, vehicle wheel inner tubes, emergency air bags, and inflatable space habitats employ the inflatable principle. Inflation occurs through several strategies: pumps, ram-air, blowing, and suction.
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The Zodiac Milpro Futura Commando 470 or in short FC470 Combat Rubber Raiding Craft (CRRC), also known as the "Combat Rubber Reconnaissance Craft," is a specially fabricated rubber inflatable boat often used by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army, and others. The CRRC is typically called "Zodiac," referring to the boat's manufacturer, Zodiac Milpro.
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