AB inflatable RIB tenders

AB uses a fabric called CSM Orca manufactured by Pennel. It is the replacement for Dupont Hypalon which has not been manufactured since Oct 2010.

Pennel originally used DuPont® Hypalon® as a coating on their Orca material. Because of the Hypalon coating, inflatables built with Orca fabric – including these AB designs – were commonly referred to as Hypalon boats. 

Hypalon is DuPont's name for the chemical compound chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CP), which the company invented in 1940. In April 2010, DuPont stopped making Hypalon and Pennel needed to find another source of high-quality CP. They did; and extensive testing has shown that the newly sourced CP provides the same superior performance that was achieved from the DuPont compound. 

Over the years, CP has proved to be an excellent material for making boats. First of all, it's great at holding air... a most important feature for inflatables! It's also super abrasion-resistant, UV-resistant and chemical-resistant. Other uses for CP include roofing materials and liners for chemical treatment lagoons – so you know it's tough stuff!