Banana boat

Notation

Boat dimensions
Length above :	3.05 m / 3.60 m
Width above sea level :	1.35 m / 1.55 m
Freeboard :	0.25 m / 0.30 m
Draft :	0.18 m / 0.20 m
Weight (ballast, keel):	22 kg / 38 kg
Sail area
Sail area close to the wind :	4.7 m² / 5.9 m²
Others

The banana boat is a folding boat resembling collapsible plastic - boat , which was developed by Nico Tjebbes 1971 and is built unchanged since 1976 mainly. Around 15,000 boats had been sold by 2006. Until 2007 the boat was manufactured by the company Tribell GmbH in Hamburg. Since then, the boat has been built by SieBroTec in Hamburg. The Banana brand was registered in 1980 as a word mark at the DPMA in the Nice 12 class (sports boats and their parts) by the then manufacturer Tribell and later taken over by SieBroTec GmbH.

The boat can be used as a rowing , motor or sailing boat, depending on the components used. There are six different sizes from 1.80 m to 4.25 m in length, as well as a folding canoe. The body is white and can be green in the smaller version.

The fuselage consists of four 4.1 mm or 5.1 mm thick plastic plates, which have a vaguely banana-shaped outline and are stapled together using a sealing insert . The plastic is milled in directly next to these connecting seams so that it can be kinked there. When folded, all four panels lie on top of one another, when unfolded two panels form the bottom of the boat and two panels form the side walls. When unfolding, the elastic floor panels bend upwards, automatically forming the bow and stern . Three wooden benches reinforce the structure. The banana boat, if it is equipped as a sailboat, is driven with a delta sail . The sailing characteristics are comparable to those of an optimist , whereby the boat can reach speeds of up to 6.5 kn (12 km / h). The engine can reach over 7 kn (13 km / h) if a so-called trim tail and a long shaft outboard with at least 5 hp are used.

Due to the construction, the boat is unfolded in a comparatively short time in relation to the classic folding boats and provided with the bench seats and straps .