The Falcon Family
Marius Heyneman founded Falcon Inflatables in the 1985.
Over the years his wife, sons and daughter have joined him in making their family business one of the top brands in inflatable boat manufacturing.
When we arrived at Falcon we were greeted by founder Marius Heyneman, a legendary figure in South African inflatable culture.
Marius brought us to his office where we talked shop and listened to stories as he shared his experiences from the early days of Thundercat racing, through the journey of establishing his own manufacturing company. Conversation ranged from nostalgic to technical, from mutual friends to the development of welded seams.
Later, we had a chance to sit down and talk with Marius’ son, Chris about the future of Falcon Inflatables.
Chris Heyneman, along with his brother Marius Jr, took over the family business when their father retired. Building off their father’s legacy of quality and innovation, they are branching out and excited for what’s next.
After touring their headquarters, Marius invited us to the Falcon family estate.
Just outside Swellendam, the estate is a compound of houses, guest cabins, lapas and braii spots on a large tract of land that butts up against the river.
This is the foundation of Falcon, the family and the company,
Marius Jr. and Chris know the river like the backs of their hands. They chart it’s fluctuating depth and map the debris along the bottom regularly. This is where they jump the dam, racing up and down the river while testing the latest Falcon models.
After a sunset cruise on the family’s Falcon 575, we gathered around picnic tables by the river, had a couple beers and told boating stories until it got dark. Family to family, we at IBR were thrilled to get to know the Falcon Inflatables at work and play.