Are inflatable boats allowed on the Swiss lakes?

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1
In spite of the end of good weather I'm thinking to buy an inflatable boat at least with paddles. The best case is to buy a small portable electro engine as well. Who knows, it is allowed to use such kind of engines without license? It is less than 1 hp.

2
I've only seen the cops on them. The Civies are Target practice I think.

3
I advise you to go to the Bauhaus in Schlieren. They sell all kinds of boat related stuff (including inflatables and electric / gas outboards) and the staff seems knowledgable.

4
Check where you will be allowed to use it before giving out too much money. I have a feeling I read somewhere that the limit for a boat without a license is 300m from the shore - and that is not all that far really on Lake Zürich.

5
We and some friends bought boats for 1 Aug and took them on the Turlersee, I think some were bought from Landi and you could attach motors (though they only had oars).

6
There are no problems with inflatable dingies using paddles to propel them accross the lakes.

I used to row accross lake Luzern and Lake Geneva whilst my father swam and vise versa back.

Just used to worry that the odd paddle steamer wouldn't see the swimmer.

7
I dug around a bit further and found this page in the Zürich Navigation Site.

Schlauchboote, welche nicht immatrikuliert werden können (d.h. über keine Bootsnummer verfügen), gelten als Badegeräte. Diese dürfen nur in der inneren Uferzone benützt werden

Rubber dinghies, which cannot be 'registered' (i.e. they have no boat number) are classed as 'Bathing Equipment' These may only be used in the inner 'shore-zone'.

Als innere Uferzone gilt der Gewässergürtel bis zum Abstand von 150 m vom Ufer. Die äussere Uferzone erstreckt sich von 150 Metern bis 300 Metern vom Ufer oder von Wasserpflanzenbeständen. Zudem gibt es im unteren Hafenbecken und um die Inseln Ufenau und Lützelau eine erweiterte Uferzone.

The inner 'shore-zone' is the area of water up to 150m from the shore. The outer shore-zone is the belt of water between 150m to 300m from the shore or from an area of aquatic plants. In addition, in the lower harbour area and around the islands Ufenau and Lützenau there is an extended shore-zone.

8
Well, at bauhaus they sell zodiac type sturdy rubber boats which I guess will have no problem going through the procedure to get them registered. I mean, they sell 4 and 5 hp outboards (as well as electric) with these boats.

9
Very useful tips!!! Thank you all, guys!!

10
I would prefer a folding kayak to an inflatable. Faster, dryer and less wind prone.

Engines are not allowed on smaller lakes like Türlersee and Greifensee.

I think this is really not in line with current swiss law:

http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/7/747.201.1.de.pdf

"Art. 4255 Besondere Regeln

Schiffe, die kürzer sind als 2,50 m (Art. 16 Abs. 2 Bst. b), Strandboote und derglei-

chen (Art. 16 Abs. 2 Bst. c) dürfen nur in der inneren Uferzone (150 m) oder im

Abstand von höchstens 150 m um sie begleitende Schiffe herum verkehren."

"20. «Strandboot» ein aus einer zusammenhängenden Luftkammer beste-

hendes Schlauch-, Vergnügungs- oder Badegerät, das aus einem träger-

losen, nicht verstärkten Werkstoff hergestellt ist. Luftmatratzen,

Schwimmhilfen und dergleichen gelten im Sinne dieser Verordnung als

Strandboote,"

A beachboat is defined as being built from non reinforced material. Therefore an inflatable built from stronger material like Gumotex Nitrilon or Grabner should be allowed beyond 150m.

11
Boats that are larger than 2.50m must be registered , whether they are inflatable or not.

12
As I understand this page, boats longer than 2.5m must be registered with the exceptions of paddling boats, 'beach boats', kayaks, rowing boats, surf boards and the like. So plenty of longer boats not requiring any formalities.

13
Ressurecting this thread for advice: bought a 3m inflatable boat primarily for river floating, but...can i use it on lakes too?

14
The followng are excluded from the 2.5m rule; Paddle boats, beach boats and the like, Kayaks, rowing racing boats and sailboards.

No clue what is a beach boot

15
I'm only guessing but

16
So the answer would be "yes" then? Strange that I never saw people in such boats on the lakes...maybe there aren't fancy enough?

17
With the amount of water in Switzerland, I have aways been surprised that there are so few people out in any sort of canoe or kayak, with a marked absence of kayak shops. With so many lakes, rivers and canals, this country is blissful for boating.

18
Strangely enough, I was having this conversation the other day as we were also commenting on the fact that there were no inflatables on the lake and wondered whether it was because they were banned.

19
Keeping in mind that the "toy" inflatables are not menat for going anwhere off-shore - they are meant as pool toys really, so perhaps that is where they are.

THe other thing that I have never seen here, is people floating down rivers, or mucking about in lakes, using inner tubes from car tyres. I have seen the very occassional homemade raft, using large plastic containers as the base.

I did see someone floating through Basel on Saturday, alongside a 2 metre long blue shark. :-)

However, amongst the "proper" boats, inflatables and folding boats, are also absent. I do see the occassional Klepper or Nautiraid, but not nearly as many as I woud expect.

20
I bought a sit-on-top kayak online from Germany a couple of years ago as they were so expensive here!

I go out nearly every day when it's not too windy, and it's true that I hardly ever see anyone else. Maybe the deep water puts people off as it's hard to find shallow areas that aren't also swimming areas, which means that kayaks etc are not allowed.

My daughter keeps asking me to let her have a go by herself but I think it's just way too dangerous for children. It only takes a bit of wind and suddenly everything changes, and that's with my very stable kayak, from which it's very difficult to fall out!