6 interesting facts about GUMOTEX you didn’t know about
Did you know we are registered in the Guinness Book of Records? Or that the Czechs were the first in the world to cross the Atlantic on an ultra-light catamaran with GUMOTEX floats? Read and learn.
1. Instead of toys for kids, toys for adults
How did the idea of producing inflatable boats in GUMOTEX come about? We don’t know exactly. According to some, it was the development of a material that was too heavy for the production of rubber toys, but was no problem for boats in water. Paddlers play instead of children.
2. Boat for both swamp and ice
GUMOTEX also prepared a lifeboat without a bottom – focused on swamps or thin ice. But that didn’t work out. This blind branch was gradually replaced by an inflatable rescue footbridge not produced by Boats and Outdoors division, but Gumotex Rescue Systemsspecializing in rescue systems. We like looking for new ways.
3. GUMOTEX as a movie star
GUMOTEX supported another Czech film. When you say James Bond, everyone thinks of a martini with vodka – shaken, not stirred. When talking about the film Rafters, Jirka Mádl, Vojta Kotek and the GUMOTEX inflatable raft are what comes to mind of most of the viewers. In April 2017, a new paddler film, Špunti na vodě, where GUMOTEX is once again in the spotlight, goes to cinemas. Follow the news on their official Facebook profile.
4. With penguins in Antarctica
The Nitrilon material used to make inflatable boats got to Antarctica where we tested it for a long time as part of the Czech Antarctic Program research project. In freezing conditions, the material successfully passed the test. Learn more about our materials here.
5. World leadership on the Atlantic
Czech yachtsmen Martin Ducháč and David Křížek, members of the Sector No Limits Team, were the first to cross the Atlantic on an ultra-light catamaran. Its special floats were made of Hypalon from GUMOTEX. They overcame the route of 3,600 nautical miles between Spanish Cadiz and La Marine and the Caribbean island of Martinique in just 33 days.
6. GUMOTEX in the Guinness Book of Records
However, we still lacked the entry in the Guinness Book of Records, and we decided to fix it. Raft PULSAR 450 took 72 children from the Delfín swimming school in Prostějov. That day it carried a heavy weight – almost three tons (exactly 2,997 kilograms).
17. 2. 2017
Photo: Bioscop, Gumotex photo archive, Instagram fan creekstopeaks, participant of the photo contest 60 years of Gumotex
Text: Barbora Robková
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