Ambrose Weeres, a farmer from Minnesota, is credited with inventing the first pontoon motorboat in the United States in 1952. In order to create a more stable vessel, Weeres toyed with the idea of using cylinders to add extra support to a floating structure. Living in the “land of 10,000”, Weeres was well acquainted with the needs of boaters and saw the potential to market a new boat design.

The first time you see pontoon on the open waters, it can be bit concerting. Due to their flat hulls, pontoons often appear to simply be a fixed room or platform bobbing across the water. All pontoons, even inflatable pontoon boats, feature the same basic construction Weeres developed to stay afloat; there is a pair of closed cylinders (aka pontoons) that support the structure and provide its stability.