Beneteau or Bénéteau () is a French sail and motorboat manufacturer, with production facilities in France and in the United States. The company is a large and recognized boat builder, with its holding company (Groupe Beneteau) now also holding other prestigious 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 (watercraft), 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, wi ...

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'') an ...

in 1995.

History

Shipwright founded the company in 1884, at

Croix-de-Vie Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie () is a commune in the Vendée department, region of Pays de la Loire, western France. It is situated on the Côte de Lumière. The community originated in 1967 from the unification of two communities on either side o ...

, 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 (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

boats.

Production

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

Vendée Vendée () 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.Marion, South Carolina Marion is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, South Carolina, 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 ...

, which produced boats for the American market and opened in 1986. Over time, the factory nearly doubled in size to about . By May 2017, the Marion plant had built more than 8,700 boats. The Marion plant was closed in September 2020 and production was moved to the existing facilities in France.

Beneteau sailing models

Below is a list of Beneteau yacht 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. They are equipped with tall fractional rigs, high performance keels and upgraded deck hardware. Introduced in 1976 with the First 30 model designed by Andre Mauric. The 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 the 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 cabin cruisers, Barracuda seafishing boats and Flyer console boats.

Notable boats or models

* Beneteau 31 * Beneteau 361 * Beneteau First 235 * Beneteau First 285 * Beneteau Oceanis 321 * Mumm 36 * Platu 25

References

External links

* {{Lagoon catamaran Beneteau French companies established in 1884 Companies listed on Euronext Paris CAC Mid 60