Inflatable Pontoon Boats

Inflatable pontoon boat RFQ checks

A pontoon is bought for the deck, and the deck is a beam figure

The useful measurement on a catamaran or pontoon platform is the space between the tubes, which follows beam rather than length. The published range steps 163 cm at 300 and 330 cm, then 183 cm at 380 and 400 cm. Twenty centimetres of beam changes what the platform can carry and how it behaves with weight off-centre far more than seventy centimetres of length does.

Work out what has to sit on the deck first — people, cargo, a working position, a mounted seat — and choose the beam that accommodates it. Then treat length as the capacity adjustment rather than the primary choice.

Airmat and RIB catamaran are two different products

The programme lists CAT380 twice: once as an airmat with EVA rated 15 hp for 5 persons, and once as a RIB catamaran hull rated 25 hp for 6 persons, both at 380 cm on the same 183 cm beam. Ten horsepower and one person apart, at the same name and the same dimensions, because the construction underneath is different.

The airmat build packs down and inflates at the water, which is what a platform carried in a vehicle needs. The RIB catamaran holds its shape under power and in shallow chop, which is what a trailered working platform needs. A quote naming only the length has not chosen between them.

Two configurations publish their gaps

CAT280 and CAT360 state length and rated persons but print "confirm by RFQ" against beam and maximum horsepower. That is a deliberate gap: those configurations vary, and the figures are settled per order. A supplier who returns firm numbers for them without asking about the intended use has estimated rather than specified.

If either size fits, put your intended beam and motor into the enquiry and require both back in writing. It is a quick and reliable test of whether the reply is coming from the factory sheet.

Frame, floor and kit are where quotes diverge

Ask how the deck is retained under load, and whether the EVA is bonded to the airmat or supplied as a loose mat. Ask whether the transom is aluminium or wood, since the catamaran range uses both across configurations, and match it to the motor you intend rather than to the maximum rating.

Then ask for complete carton contents and packed dimensions. A platform boat is bulkier packed than a single hull of similar rated capacity, so the freight assumption belongs in the comparison from the start rather than after a supplier has been chosen.

FAQ