Inflatable boats are usually between six and twenty-one feet in length and are propelled by an outboard motor. They are used as racing vessels, rescue vessels and are found on dive boats. In the days of old it is thought that they were animal skins sewn together and filled with air. In the nineteenth century, the duke of Wellington used the first inflatable pontoon boat in a military expedition. When used for this purpose, they often carried torpedoes to the main ships or were used to traverse shallow waters to safely get to land in shark infested water.

The appeal of the inflatable boat is the cost effectiveness and its ability to compact for easy travel and storage. When inflated the tubes have sections that are filled with air, often a PVC type tubing is used, and if a section should spring a leak you can fix it without sinking. The floors of these inflatable boats can be made of wood, steel or aluminum for sturdiness.

Inflatable boats made for speed will have an inflated keel along the hull line to improve wave cutting and turning performance. These boats are made so that they can hydroplane and therefore gain an amount of speed not possible for the type of outboard engine it is designed for. While hydroplaning, you may reach speeds of up to sixty miles per hour, or one hundred kilometers per hour.

This type of boat can withstand a great deal of punishment from the oceans natural elements, such as water and sun damage. Once damage has set in, most people will simply replace their inflatable boat rather than repair it. Repair is typically done by using adhering products to chemically meld the topcoat and undercoat of the PVC or Hypalon shell, making the inflatable boat as good as new.

The market for the general boating store can still be expensive, just not as expensive as buying a non-inflatable boat. A typical paddle boat will cost from five hundred US dollars to fifteen hundred US dollars and even more depending on the accessories you may also purchase. Inflatable kayaks and pontoon boats can be purchased for as low as fifty US dollars.