TIWAL – Inflatable sailing dinghy – Simple, safe and fast

by Melinda Henshaw on 28 May 2017 Imagine owning a high performance luxury sailing vessel to take your family and friends over the open ocean to secluded beaches. Or getting an adrenaline rush and core body workout, zooming along, hiked out, while honing a life skill. No hassles with trailers or cyclones – because you keep it on your boat or in your garage!

Former Olympian, Melinda Henshaw, is bringing to Australia a new French design called the TIWAL which makes getting out for a sail quick, easy — and heaps of fun. The hull is made from a tough PVC with a UV protective layer. The racks are made from lightweight aluminium, carbon mast and foils, a 7m or a 5.2m square sail – and it fits in two bags. The entire boat weighs just 50kg and can be rigged in 20 minutes.

The Tiwal story – The inflatable sailing dinghy
The TIWAL was designed by Marion Excoffon, a French designer, who used to sail with her family on their 30 foot sailboat. When she turned 20, she asked her father whether she could take it by hersel and he refused. She told him she would design her own boat and a few years later she showed him the first prototype of the TIWAL.

Later, she tried to sell this concept to the big guys in the marine industry. They all turned down the project. So she decided to manufacture the boat by herself and as of today, there are almost 700 TIWALs sailing around the world, 200 of which are in France.

Boat Shows
TIWAL is exhibiting at Sanctuary Cove, Melbourne and Sydney Boat Shows this year.

Day 1 of the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show has seen a large amount of interest in the sailing dinghy, the TIWAL. From large boat owners to enthusiastic water loving families this boat has the opportunity to make accessibility to sailing much easier without needing storage space. Kept in two bags, this boat can be rigged in twenty minutes and sailed anywhere with four feet of water depth. Whether it is thrown off the back of a launch or raced around the buoys, this dinghy suits a range of young, old sailors as well as inexperienced sailors. For those interested in learning to sail, the boat offers a comfortable, stable ride. You have to try it to believe how well it sails, and if the wind behaves, the TIWAL will be offering test sails on Saturday afternoon at Sanctuary Cove.