Product Description

The SUPER CARAVELLE has been the flagship line of Sevylor boats for over 50 years. Origanaly called the "Caravelle", the first oval boat manufactured in the world to incorporate DIN construction (boat within a boat safety chambers). Over the years, numerous improvements were made to the boat including the addition of tunnel chambers to the bottom of the boat (to help with tracking and stability), oval molded oarlocks (for ease of rowing), grommets (for the installation of the Sevylor SBM 12 volt trolling motor) and improvements in the PVC material used in the construction of the boats making them the new SUPER CARAVELLES. Sevylor uses a heavy gauge virgin PVC on all SUPER CARAVELLES. You can be assured many years of reliable service from the SUPER CARAVELLE just like the millions of people that curently own one.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82766 in Sports & Outdoors
• Color: N/A
• Brand: Sevylor
• Model: XR56GTX-7
• Dimensions: 8.60 pounds

Features

• All-around inflatable recreational boat for two persons
• DIN safety chamber; made of extra heavy, special quality PVC
• Accepts optional Sevylor's SBM 12V electric motor
• Tunnel chambers, 2 molded oarlocks
• Maximum weight capacity: 360 pounds

Amazon.com Product Description
A classic all-around inflatable boat, this two-person Sevylor Super Caravelle (model XR56GTX-7) is made of extra heavy, special quality PVC and can accept Sevylor's optional SBM 12V electric motor. In production for over 37 years, the Caravelle was the first Sevylor boat to feature the DIN safety chamber, which inflates inside the main outer chamber and will help keep you afloat if the outer chamber suffers a major hole. Other features include two molded oarlocks, tunnel chambers on the bottom of the boat for support and tracking, and a Boston valve.

Specifications:

• Length overall (LOA): 6 feet, 6 inches
• Beam: 4 feet
• Weight: 8 pounds
• Capacity: 2 persons
• Weight capacity: 360 pounds

Tech Talk:
Boston Valve: A large, screw-on valve that can't accidentally be unplugged and provides quick deflation (by just opening up the valve and allowing air to escape).

About Sevylor
In 1948 in Vitry, a small suburb of Paris, France, Berco Grimbert created an electronics company called Societe Electronique de Vitry, or SEVY for short. Soon, a friend of Grimbert's from New York commissioned SEVY to produce high frequency welding machines capable of fusing a new material called PVC (poly vinyl chloride). SEVY's machines worked very well and the American friend developed a very successful business manufacturing swimming pool related products. He then taught SEVY how to work with PVC.

One of the first PVC products SEVY produced was inflatable bathtub called Dou Dou. It was an instant hit in postwar France--mothers could bathe their children even where no facilities were available. The media hailed Dou Dou as a significant invention. Soon, SEVY added small pools and flotation devices such as rings, beach balls, and inflatable swim jackets to its product line. Safe, hygienic products, made of PVC and designed for portability, durability and convenience, became the SEVY trademark.

The company quickly outgrew its small facilities in Vitry. Mr. Grimbert accepted an attractive offer from the French government to take over a defunct textile factor in the tiny Alsatian village of Buhl. After establishing its new headquarters, the company added the letters "lor" to its name, and became Sevylor. In French, l'or means gold. By coincidence, or possibly fate, Sevylor has proven to be "as good as gold" to its owners, retailers, consumers, and employees.

Customer Reviews

First rate cheap raft
This is a first-rate cheap raft-but sometimes that is only what you need. The thicker PVC material looks and feels very durable. The two person boat, however, really fits only one adult. I am 5'10", and I can comfortably sit in the boat, back up against one end and feet up against the other. Maybe you can squeeze a child or some gear in between your knees.

On flat water with no wind, you could use this raft to get from your boat to shore. You can use it at the beach, pool, lake, slow moving stream and the like. But I would not count on it as a safety device for a boat. It takes too long to inflate in an emergency. The sides are really too low to offer a dry ride in any kind of rapids.

Note also that it has molded in oarlocks. If you don't buy your paddles with the raft, make sure your paddles can fit into these proprietary locks (holes). I had a breakdown kayak paddle I got from REI that was too thick in diameter to get into the holes. I used the kayak paddle as, well, a kayak paddle, and found that the raft easily spun left and right with each stroke. Oars would be best.

This boat has six separate chambers that need to be inflated. Only the main outer chamber uses a screw-on closure (Boston valve?). I bought a Coleman pump with fittings to blow this thing up; the pump will not fit the main chamber, though you can get still get some air into it. You want to blow it up nice and firm, but if you leave it out in the sun inflated, you'll want to partially deflate it, as the heated air in the chambers can expand and prematurely split the chamber's seams. If you do this, the raft should last a long time.

For what this raft is, it is well above the quality of the standard pool toy. But make sure that is all that you are looking for in a raft, and you will be happy.

Beware ...
The MAXIMUM weight capacity, stamped on the boat, is 300 lbs, not 360 lbs. Plan on at least an hour to pump it up to a pressure well above 1 - 2 PSI. If 2 adults fit in this boat and it will still float, they must be exceedingly thin or small. Otherwise the baoat seems to be well made.