Beneteau or Bénéteau () is a French sail and motor boat manufacturer, with production facilities in France and in the United States. The company is a large and recognized boat builder, commanding a substantial worldwide market, with its holding company (Groupe Beneteau) now also holding other prestige brands such as

Jeanneau Jeanneau is a French boatyard in Les Herbiers, in the Vendée département, which has produced yachts since 1957. It was founded by Henri Jeanneau, a hardware store owner, who began by producing power boats. Jeanneau specializes in monohulls, ...

and its

multihull A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, with four or more h ...

subsidiary

Lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

in 1995.

History

Shipwright founded the company in 1884, at Croix-de-Vie, France to build sailing trawlers. In the mid sixties, Benjamin's grandchildren Annette Bénéteau Roux and her brother André Bénéteau introduced a line of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

boats.

Production

The main production facility is in France with five factories in the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

area of France. However they have one US plant producing boats for the America's market in

Marion, South Carolina Marion is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, South Carolina, United States. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from South Carolina in the American Revolutionary War. The population was 6,939 at the 2010 census. Histo ...

which opened in 1986; since then the factory has nearly doubled in size to about . As of May, 2017, the Marion plant has built and distributed more than 8,700 boats.

Beneteau Sailing Models

Early Models

One Design Racing

Racer/Cruiser - First Series

These are racer/cruiser sailboats, with a higher emphasis on the racing aspects, yet are substantially equipped for comfortable cruising. Equipped with tall fractional rigs, high performance keels and upgraded deck hardware. Introduced in 1976 with the First 30 model designed by Andre Mauric. Current First models being offered include:

Sense Series

Introduced in 2010, the Sense range is a modern interpretation of a cruising yacht, incorporating several industry firsts, while the company continued to produce the more conventional Oceanis cruising range. It introduced innovations to deck, superstructure, and interior design. * Sense 50 (First built in 2010) * Sense 43 (First built in 2011) * Sense 55 (First built in 2012) * Sense 46 (First built in 2013) * Sense 57 (First built in 2016)

Oceanis Series

Seascape

In 2018 Beneteau purchased Seascape and rebrand it products under the Beneteau First brand.

Beneteau Powerboats Models

Swift Trawler Series

These are trawler yacht powerboats. The Swift Trawler 42 was the company's first trawler yacht and the first Beneteau powerboat to reach the U.S. Market.

Outboard motorboats

These are outboard powered motorboats in three different models: Antares cabincruisers, Barracuda seafishing boats and Flyer consoleboats.

Notable boats or models

* Beneteau 31 *

Beneteau 361 The Beneteau 361 is an American sailboat, that was designed by Berret-Racoupeau Yacht Design of La Rochelle, France and first built in 1999. Production The design was built by Beneteau in the United States, but it is now out of production. I ...

* Beneteau First 235 * Beneteau First 285 *

Beneteau Oceanis 321 The Beneteau Oceanis 321 is a French sailboat, that was designed by Group Finot and first built in 1995. Production The boat was built by Beneteau in France starting in 1995, with 848 examples completed, but it is now out of production. The O ...

Mumm 36 Mumm 36 is a sailboat class designed by Bruce Farr with about 100 boats built. History The Mumm 36 designed by Bruce Farr was built by Bénéteau Beneteau or Bénéteau () is a French sail and motor boat manufacturer, with production facil ...

Platu 25 The Platu 25 (formerly Beneteau 25) is a sailing boat designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr with the first boat being built by McDell Marine in New Zealand in the early 1990s. It became a class recognised by the International Sailin ...

References

External links

* {{Beneteau Beneteau