Inflatable sailboat success as Tiwal ships 3,000th blow-up abroad

With boats in Peru’s Lake Titicaca, San Francisco Bay, New Zealand and the Namib Desert, Tiwal (the 12 year old French company based in Brittany) has shipped its 3,000th boat.

Since its launch in 2012, Tiwal has focused on international markets. It designs, produces, and markets inflatable dinghies which fit into two bags and take circa 15 minutes to assemble. The idea came from Marion Excoffon, designer and co-founder. Her father refused to lend her his sailboat, so she designed and built her own with the added challenge of fitting a 3.2-metre-long and 5-metre-high sailboat into two bags – to send it to sail all over the world. Tiwal dinghies now ship to over 50 countries.

“From the beginning, we structured our business for export,” says Emmanuel Bertrand, co-founder.

The company generates 80 per cent of its revenue internationally, with its primary market being the United States. The latter has seen the most significant growth: +45 per cent in 2023, with most sales online.

“The challenge of successfully selling €6,000 boats online was not a given,” says Bertrand. “We are pleased, in the current period, to have invested in our e-commerce infrastructure over several years. We are reaping the benefits today. It’s a complex mechanism to implement effectively.”

Its presence in the US may have been helped by US boat dealership Nautical Ventures Group (NVG) which launched a new sailboat division in October 2022. Tiwal found itself in that mix alongside names such as Excess Catamarans, Beneteau First Racing and Hobie Cat boats and kayaks brands.

“Market studies are forecasting a solid 22 per cent unit growth in sales of imported sailboats for 2023,” said NVG CEO Roger Moore at the time.

Tiwal is now casting its eye on Asia, where it says, sailing is beginning to develop.

Tiwal offers four models of inflatable sailing dinghies, from family boats to solo sport sailboats, with the Tiwal 3 the recipient of several boating awards including for design and ‘best’ boat.

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