1987 Winchboat Popularity Soars 1987, after the commercial success of McCulloh's Winchboat operations. A number of parasail operators and equipment manufacturers began production of there own version of Winchboats. The first of these “copycats” to emerge was John Palmer, who introduced the “Inflatable Aquatic Vessel” (IAV). The first IAV was sold to Greg and Rich Vanderlaan of Maui Hawaii. The Vanderlaans soon became partners with John Palmer and assisted him with marketing his product. The concept of an inflatable boat for use as a commercial winchboat soon became a maintenance nightmare and ultimately was scraped and severed ties with Palmer and look to spencer boats of Key West, FL as a replacement utilizing palmers parasail canopy launch system. previous next