The once ubiquitous grey Avon redstart..

[machone]

I hope it will put up with everything I will throw at it!

You are correct about the fabric, it seems it used to be made in Holland. This is from my-Inflateable-boat.com:

"An 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."

 

[pvb]

Out of interest, how does the price in the EU compare? The LSI290E is $2000 in the US, so I'd imagine it's going to be fairly pricey.

 

[machone]

Eur2000 or gbp1520

If it's well made and hypalon I think it will be worth it. Time will tell. American owners on YouTube seem happy with it! Avons weren't cheap, either.

 

[BabaYaga]

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.

I would take the above information plus some other statements on that web site with some salt...
Seems more likely that Wendt is a firm that sells Achilles CSM material - and possibly boats – in Europe.
Achilles is a fairly large Japanese chemical corporation, of which the inflatable boat business is just a tiny part. No mention of Wendt on their web site:
http://www.achilles.jp/english/company/
Good luck with your new boat, though. Don't think it will disappoint.

 

[eddystone]

Can also recommend Polymarine Sealant for curing slow deflation problems. Just pour it in through valves, inflate and shake it about a bit.

 

[michael_w]

Modern Avons do not have the same longevity of their older sisters. On my 2.80 air deck all the reinforcement, rubbing strakes as the like fell off. The much vaunted Hypalon fabric delaminated. Zodiac, the parent company couldn't care a flying feck.

Once assembled it's a very good and surprisingly seaworthy litte boat. It's just a brute to lug about and try and stuff in a cockpit locker. Ding, ding. Next round of the Avon v. Man wrestling match ...

 

[eddystone]

Modern Avons do not have the same longevity of their older sisters. On my 2.80 air deck all the reinforcement, rubbing strakes as the like fell off. The much vaunted Hypalon fabric delaminated. Zodiac, the parent company couldn't care a flying feck.

Once assembled it's a very good and surprisingly seaworthy litte boat. It's just a brute to lug about and try and stuff in a cockpit locker. Ding, ding. Next round of the Avon v. Man wrestling match ...

They are made in France now............ (light blue touch paper and retire)

 

[pvb]

They are made in France now............ (light blue touch paper and retire)

They stopped making ordinary dinghies some years ago.

 

[charles_reed]

I have a Redstart at home in the shed.
It's wet if you use it - impossible to row - and the attachment of an outboard totally improbable.
OK for those with lots of "attitude" but useless for one who cruises the Greek islands 6/12, usually anchoring quite a way from ports.
Now part of Zodiac, brand name only used for high-end RIBs.
I used to race Austin 7s - not a non-sequitur as the old Avon range are very comparable to "racing Austin 7s". Almost oxymoronic.

 

[Kelpie]

Impossible to row? I must have been using telekinesis to get to my mooring for all these years, then.

 

[Birdseye]

Not sure that Zodiacs are "nasty" (they're not "cheap" certainly!). My Zodiac Cadet Aero seems rather well made and will, I'm sure, last many years.

Had one. It didnt last . Wrong material

 

[pvb]

Had one. It didnt last . Wrong material

Bearing in mind there are so few hypalon dinghies on the market today, it seems that manufacturers perhaps have more faith in PVC than some owners do.

 

[machone]

Bearing in mind there are so few hypalon dinghies on the market today, it seems that manufacturers perhaps have more faith in PVC than some owners do.

From the research I've done I think it is more to do with profit, rather than faith!

There are advantages to Pvc and it is true that some dinghies are cheap enough to replace every few years where the hypalon generally are not. Most tradesmen will admit, when pressed, that if well made, a hypalon dinghy is harder wearing and therefore 'better' than pvc. British made Avon dinghies were good but obviously had a few flaws which would have been sorted with time. It is sad that they did not continue. They are not the only sad British manufacturing story, however. We don't support building or making things in our country for some reason.

 

[pvb]

From the research I've done I think it is more to do with profit, rather than faith!

There are advantages to Pvc and it is true that some dinghies are cheap enough to replace every few years where the hypalon generally are not. Most tradesmen will admit, when pressed, that if well made, a hypalon dinghy is harder wearing and therefore 'better' than pvc. British made Avon dinghies were good but obviously had a few flaws which would have been sorted with time. It is sad that they did not continue. They are not the only sad British manufacturing story, however. We don't support building or making things in our country for some reason.

Possibly, but the Avon dinghies were made to virtually the same design for decades, so I don't share your view that the flaws would have been sorted in time.

Hypalon dinghies are better than PVC, but are they twice as good? Faced with the choice of buying a PVC dinghy or paying twice as much for a similar-sized hypalon dinghy, many of us would take the view that we'd risk the PVC dinghy.

 

[Tranona]

Possibly, but the Avon dinghies were made to virtually the same design for decades, so I don't share your view that the flaws would have been sorted in time.

Hypalon dinghies are better than PVC, but are they twice as good? Faced with the choice of buying a PVC dinghy or paying twice as much for a similar-sized hypalon dinghy, many of us would take the view that we'd risk the PVC dinghy.

Exactly. Few people keep even PVC dinghies over the full life span. They tend to go with the parent boat when it changes hands and they really are not expensive to replace. If anything the market is going the other way with the lightweight (shorter life?) sector expanding.

Remember the Avon dates from the era when there were few marinas and more people anchored so durability was important - but my first Avon cost as much as an equivalent size PVC one does now - so roughly one third the price in real terms.

 

[DanTribe]

We had a black Redstart for several years, until about 2000. Much patched but still useable. We only stopped using it because people kept saying "Ooh, a black Avon, that's really old!"

 

[charles_reed]

I think, rather than faith it has to do with the fact that you can weld pvc and have to hand-glue Hypalon.
This results in such a price difference between the two, that it makes more economic sense to (in the Med) replace your PVC dinghy every 5 years (as it succumbs to Uv failure) rather than have a 25-year old Hypalon dinghy with other age-related problems.

 

[Neil]

3D do a Hypalon 240, looks ok on the web and is not too heavy, but it is twice the price of the PVC 250........Will it last twice as long?

 

[bumblefish]

And to combine two classics, here is my 1965 Seagull driving the Redstart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBVMTomZJ28

 

[arcot]

The plastic roll up floor common in Avons of a certain vintage
.
was replaced with an air floor that I belive was developed by Avon to replace the heavy roll up floor.
.
It seems that the air floor with thousands of strings solved the weight problem and provided a fairly rigid floor resistant to hogging over waves.
.
Perhaps the air floor was the ancestor to Stand Up Paddle boards?
.
Air floors of various and even custom sizes are available on Ebay