Company history

The history of the French yard Latitude 46 is complicated. Should it be considered the beginning of 1929, when the Tofinou was born, or 1987, when Philippe Joubert made it world famous? Legend has it that the classic wooden 7 metre Tofinou was built by Captain Merle in the already non-existent state of Dagomey in 1929. Half a century later her owner asked Joubert to restore her, but instead a matrix was removed from Tofinou and a new fiberglass yacht was built. The Owner received his yacht (supposedly the only white Tofinou) and then went on to build it to order.

Thanks to the classic lines, Tofinou 7 became very popular. A monotype class was created and the yachts of the sea «people (»so the name Tofinou translated from Dagoya) began to participate in regattas.

The idea of building modern yachts in a classic way became the philosophy of Latitude 46, and the shipyard is located on the island of Re.

Led by a design bureau Joubert-Nivelt In 1995, the Andreyale range of classic motorboats was launched, and in the early 2000s, Tofinou 9.5 and Tofinou 12 were introduced. They were sports monotypes too.

In 2007 Philippe Jubert retired, selling Latitude 46 to French entrepreneur Christian Iskovici. The new owner added to the range of 8, 12 and 16 yachts to which Philippe Stark has put his hand.

Company status

In 2013, Latitude 46 went bankrupt and was sold to French Experton-Revollier SA, which already owned the shipyard. Wauquiez. By the way, Christian Iskovici took over both businesses.

Production .

In 2014 Latitude 46 changed her registered office from Re Island to La Rochelle mainland. The shipyard has 1500 square meters of production space and more than 5000 square meters of repair hangars and storage facilities. The company, which, together with the Wauquiez shipyard, is managed by the Iskovici family, employs around 50 people.

Model range

Latitude 46 yard produces Tofinou dealers and a range of classic Andreyale boats. The shipyard has also been building yachts under the Alphena Yachts brand since 2007.

The shipyard’s main bet is on the Tofinou brand, the line is gradually expanding. At the Düsseldorf show in 2017, Latitude 46 presented the Tofinou 10c model. The flagship model is considered to be Tofinou 16, which appeared in 2012.

Features .

Today there are more than 400 Tofinou 7 hulls in the world and yet these yachts are a niche product. The Tofinou 7, 8, 9,5 and 12 are recognized as monotype classes and regularly participate in French classical yacht regattas like the Régates Royales and Voiles de Saint-Tropez. Latitude 46 builds yachts to order with the possibility of customization (unless it is against class rules). The owners of Tofinou are a small community of people with similar interests and affluence (there is even a Tofinou International Club). Owning a Tofinou may be a pass to this narrow circle, but it «is not» cheap.