The story of the EZ Raft
by EZ Raft 17 Aug 2023 08:16 PDT
The story behind the EZRAFT is that Hans and Frank were working in Saudi Arabia as Dutch expats, going sailing and snorkling around beautiful coral reefs on the Red Sea every weekend.
But storing away or setting up a dinghy was always a major sweaty task, involving lots of steps, many loose parts, wasted time and effort, and heavy lifting. Dinghies would typically not fit in the cockpit lockers, while inside the cabin they needed an entire sleeping berth. Some boats have expensive dinghy garages, but that is sacrificing valuable space to store inflated air...
Yet left on deck or on davits the dinghies were always exposed to the elements, blocking the view and hatches (airflow), tangling with sailing lines, and in the way in general.
Towing the dinghy was also clumsy and not suitable in all weather conditions. It reduced speed, hindered manoeuvring, caused even faster decay, and still left the dinghy exposed.
So due to the extreme heat, the relentless sun, continuous dust, etc, our traditional inflatable rubberboats were literally falling apart every year; the glue melting, colors fading and connections leaking. Not very eco-friendly either to throw away an entire boat each year...
Still a dinghy is often indispensable, to set an anchor, or get ashore and back.
We realized that there should be a much better solution to all this dinghy hassle in the world - which I had experienced throughout my sailing life in Holland and abroad, but which was even exacerbated by the harsh weather conditions in Jeddah.
And rather than continue making some oil sheiks even richer, we decided to make the sailing world a little better!
We listed all the drawbacks of dinghies, and started to develop one that would tackle all the issues above once and for all.
For that, obviously a dinghy had to be radically more compact to store and easier to handle. It took us years to test and perfect, but we succeeded; Kitesurfing technology, combined with a smart boat design and a clever telescopic paddle system, provided just the convenience we aimed to achieve.
We are happy to now share those benefits with other sailors out there!
And it is very rewarding to hear the positive feedback from our users.
The EZRAFT can take 3 kW / 4 horsepower (20 kg), and easily 4 people.
The larger models even up to 6 people.
We claim to be "DRIEZT", since our users can enjoy dry feet while onboard; unlike other inflatables the EZRAFT is not a "floating bathtub", people are instead seated above the waterline at all times. Moreover the innovative self-draining design ensures that water is quickly drained away from the cockpit of the boat, below the trampoline - keeping luggage and passengers comfortable and dry.
But of course the biggest advantage for most users are its ultra-light weight (just 11 kg | 24 lbs, unparalleled!) and super small storage size (backpack format; just 75 x 30 x 30 cm | 2.5 x 1 x 1 ft). Combined with the telescopic paddle system (needing just extraction to deploy), this results in an extremely easy set-up / storage, in just minutes - no need to fix floorboards or paddles, just (electric) inflation.
The innovative inflatable dinghy was developed - the EZRAFT:
- Ultra-light: Half the usual weight!
- Super strong: Load capacity + Connections sewn rather than glued or welded
- Extremely small to store: Conveniently with telescopic paddles standby
- Very easy to set up, and pack in one go - no loose boards, seats or paddles
- Comfortable: Dry, self-draining, positioned fully above the water