History of Jeanneau Yachts

Jeanneau boats and yachts have existed since 1957. The company’s creator Henri Jeanneau, always passionate about cars and aeroplanes, discovered a new hobby — a vivid interest in motorboats. First, he built a racing boat with a wooden hull, on which he won the 6-hour Paris race. Victory ignited him, and he opened a case. A year later, his team built the first fibreglass boat.

Once in 1964, the company started creating sailing boats. Since that moment, the shipyard has been developing both types of vessels with equal interest and knowledge.

For instance, in 1980, the company began experimenting with Kevlar hulls and got involved in racing (Formula 1, Formula 3000, Niamey-Bamako Rally), while in 1982, it became the exclusive supplier of the Tour de France.

In the year 1985, the company introduced the first sailing catamaran Lagoon. In the subsequent years, the department for this multihull line grew into a separate entity, gaining significant recognition in the industry. With this, the Jeanneau brand continued to surprise its audience. It won the motorboat races in 1987. One of the Jeanneau boats even set a speed record of 170.21 km/h.

1989 marked a significant milestone with the launch of Prestige, a luxury motor yacht brand by Jeanneau. This brand continues to flourish with its own distinct identity and reputation.

Current status

Since 1995, the French shipyard Jeanneau has been part of the Beneteau group but kept an independent technical policy, producing sailing and motor yachts under its brands. The yachts of this brand represent a significant part of the world charter fleet. Some say, that Jeanneau yachts are slightly higher in quality and technologies than Beneteau yachts.

Production

The production of Jeanneau yachts is based on four French sites located near Nantes. Sailing yachts account for more than half of Jeanneau’s production. The company’s dealer network remains independent from the Beneteau group and has offices in 80 countries.

Model range

The company’s lineup includes sailing boats of three types – racing-cruise Sun Fast (Andrieu Yacht Design), cruise yachts with the Mediterranean cockpit and cruise yachts with high deckhouse Sun Odyssey, as well as luxury cruise yachts Jeanneau. The last two lines are the creation of the famous French designer Philippe Briand.

The Jeanneau motor range of yachts up to 50 feet in length includes NC open and closed cruisers, small budget open Cap Camarat outboard boats and budget closed cabin boats, also equipped with outboard engines – Merry Fisher and Merry Fisher Sport.

Features of Jeanneau Yachts

Jeanneau considers itself one of the pioneers of revolutionary inventions such as injection moulding procedure, joystick control, 360 Docking, and propulsion systems with Volvo IPS loudspeakers or Zeus rotary gondolas. Circa 130 engineering specialists work at Jeanneau’s specialized research and design facility. This approach towards innovation in the production of series boats is commendable and deserves recognition and appreciation.