Arcata News

Arcata-based Wing Inflatables, Inc. announced it has recently been awarded two certifications that will help to continue its growth.Wing is now ISO 9001:2015 certified, attesting that the company’s quality management system and the knowledge of its employees have met rigorous international-standard requirements. This designation reflects Wing’s values of continuous improvement, quality processes and products, and customer satisfaction and has opened new markets for the products built on the North Coast.Wing also received a CE (European) boat certification for its P4.2 Craft…

A Coast Guard aircrew rescued two distressed surfers near Trinidad Saturday afternoon. At approximately 4:30 p.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay received a call from a person ashore stating his friends needed assistance and were stranded on Camel Rock. A Coast Guard MH-65 helicopter aircrew was launched from Sector Humboldt Bay and within minutes were on scene at Camel Rock, approximately one-quarter mile offshore. They discovered two distressed surfers needing assistance. The rescue swimmer was lowered to the surfers to determine their condition. Once initial assessments were complete, the surfers were hoisted to the helicopter and brought ashore to awaiting EMS at Arcata-Eureka Airport in stable condition.

Woodbridge International announced the sale of its client, Arcata, California-based Wing Inflatables, Inc. to Armada Acquisition Group of San Francisco, California. Wing Inflatables is a supplier of tubes, sponsons, and foam collars to the high-end inflatable boat and rigid inflatable boat market. Wing has recently designed and is launching a family of entirely new inflatable boats and accessories geared to the military Special Forces market. "Our new combat raiding crafts, the P4.7 and P5.8, brings Wing into new markets and into a new level of growth," said Elizabeth Wing, vice president of Wing Inflatables. "The time was right to bring in new resources that can help manage the growth, not only domestically but worldwide.

In the vessel construction market, small boat builder All American Marine of Bellingham, Wash., and RIB builder Wing Inflatables of Arcata, Calif. both reported a satisfactory 2010 in their niche markets, with good reasons to be optimistic about 2011. Bollinger Shipyards, a major builder in the offshore market also had a good 2010, but is bracing for the impact of the drilling moratorium going into 2011. Meanwhile, new yard, Argosy Boat Company, of Pierre Part, La., is still working to establish itself as a diesel-electric, Z-drive towboat builder.

The business of building better Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) is a serious one which utilizes and combines some of the world’s most advanced materials technologies. Comptetion in the market is stiff, as manufacturer claims and counter claims would indicate. The RIBs of today are finding themselves used for a much wider spectrum of duty than perhaps just five or 10 years ago, due in large to advances in design, performance and load carrying capabilities. Manufacturers have invested many hours and dollars to ensure that today’s RIBs are constructed of increasingly better, stronger materials that enable them to dutifully perform the rigorous duty that owners demand. A perfect example of how the use of RIBs has spread is seen in the U.S.

AB Inflatables Delivers For Diversity Of Applications