Ocqueteau was established in but in the eighties, along with much of the leisure boat industry, Ocqueteau suffered severe financial problems just prior to being sold to Jeanneau.
Around Jeanneau made a new effort to expand away from their existing customer base with the introduction of a range of river cruisers — predominately targeted at the Hire Boat industry. These study boats ranging from 9m to 14m were the three Eau Claire models, the , and plus the They can still be seen moored or chugging along French canals and rivers.
At a similar period, Jeanneau less successfully promoted some commercial 8m m Chalutier fishing vessels based on the Esteou hull. But after just four years Lear Sigler themselves had new owners who sought to refocus the company back to their core business and therefore decided to dispose of the overseas boat building interests. Back in French ownership and under the leadership of Michel Richard, the driving force behind the employee owned venture, considerable effort was expended over the next four years on new initiatives to increase the viability and productivity of Jeanneau, including forays into joint ventures, new products and overseas licencing.
Crucially in Jeanneau harnessed the expertise developed during the achievements of the JTA special projects team to develop for series production, the Lagoon range of cruising catamarans. Designed by Marc Van Peteghem and Lauriot Prevost, the very first was the Lagoon 55 , launched April and an immediate success, gaining sales enquires worldwide.
Over next ten years the Lagoon range was expanded to offer capacious cruising multihulls from the Lagoon 34 through to the mammoth 20m Lagoon In a joint venture was established with Italian Ferretti Craft to develop and build the Yarding Yacht range.
Models included the Yarding Yacht 27 , 33, 36 and Several of these had versions also marketed under the new Prestige brand.
The increasing demand for both the JTA and Lagoon products resulted in a new dedicated factory being opened in Nantes in , this also reduced the transportation nightmare for some of the maxi multihulls that had previously been required for their 80km journey to the coast.
To capture some of the growth of the Greek boat charter market from until the Daniel Andrieu designed Sun Magic 44 was built under license in by Olympic Marine S. A at Sounio, named as the Atlantic Despite these four years of active trading and development by the employee backed company, the near collapse of the pleasure boat market in the early nineties left Jeanneau with increasing debt and they filed an overall loss in which resulted in the banks demanding new capital investment that was unavailable to the employees.
The Jeanneau employees retained a significant, but minority shareholding. The new management also tried to move into larger sailboat designs with the Sun Fast 52 and the Bruce Farr designed, Andrew Winch styled, Sun 63 of which only two boats were completed. Chatellier also rationalised some of the marketing by reducing the myriad of individual model names, with many of the sailboats being rebranded under the family groups of Sun Odyssey and Sun Way.
The Chatellier management considered that to develop the Jeanneau brand worldwide, they needed to overcome the barriers of high importation costs and local taxation and therefore needed to establish local overseas production, so Jeanneau then sought agreements for local manufacture in North America Canada and Poland. In addition Chatellier had proposals to also build some models in Italy and also for the Sun Fast range to be produced in Australia.
It is not currently known if either of these projects actually resulted in boat production. The Canadian operation was established in November as Jeanneau Canada, trading as a satellite business, making a dramatic appearance into the North American marketplace through the acquisition of the large, but failing, Quebec based boat producer Doral.
Doral had exported boats to both the American and European markets since with a range that incorporated the famous Cadorette and Thundercraft brands.
During some Jeanneau sailboats were also produced by Jeanneau Canada. The Sun Odyssey Some Doral power models were exported back to Europe, including the Doral Splash jet boat which was marketed with the Jeanneau name of Corail Jet.
In the Sun Fast 17 and the Sun Odyssey This strange 4. The Dual has similarities to earlier micro-keel boats like the Illusion, the Deception and 2.
One particularly high profile project also in was when JTA was commissioned by Universal Studios to construct two 60 foot trimarans, based on highly successful racing trimaran Pierre 1er. Not to be daunted by a failure, thirty years after the unsuccessful J Club sailing dinghy, Jeanneau tried again in with the Sun Club 9. A simple unsinkable beach dinghy, suitable for children and aimed at clubs and beach resorts.
However neither the Sun Club 9 nor the seemed to have generated enough sales to gain volume production. Yet despite all these initiatives sales from the Jeanneau boat building divisions continued to decline in both sail and particular power sectors and employment numbers fell to Following pressure from the consortium of bank creditors and a bankruptcy, the company effectively collapsed in November amid claims of ineptitude and even maladministration by the CGI management.
History and differing fortunes had now brought these long-term rivals together to form the largest leisure boatbuilding group in the World.
But more important than buildings, equipment and model brands was the huge knowledge and expertise of many of the Jeanneau team who had been with Henry from the early days and were retained within the refreshed business. The following year, Magnen returned Karen Liquid to JTA for modifications that included a carbon boom and additional keel ballast, improving overall performance and gaining a second Atlantic crossing win in just 24 days 15 hours.
Marking the turn of the millennium was the launch of a new small Jeanneau sailboat, the lift keel Sun designed by Olivier Petit of which almost were produced before production ceased a decade later.
The Sun was joined in by a larger, but less successful sister, the Sun that in addition had fixed keel and inboard engine options. Look at the Jeanneau layout and compare. In addition, on the larger models, you lose the huge, bow sail locker forward because the cabins are pushed forward that is so convenient for light air or downwind sails—literally, just drop them down the hatch.
Result: in some of the competitors boats cruising series the boat is more suited for day-sailing, and one that will likely have less resale because of its appeal to a much smaller segment of the market. I would discuss this option with your dealer if considering it. The Jeanneau is oriented towards comfort for daysailing and offshore.
The competitions cruising models are primarily intended for daysailing. The accommodations are more flexible with space under the cockpit now available for accommodations, not just junk.
The arrangement also provides a much larger, more comfortable and conversational main saloon and a large sail locker forward.
Jeanneau benefits from the mass buying power of the group it is a part of, making this product among the best values on the market. The wood story. Many people ask us how the woodwork can be so outstanding in a production boat.
The answer lies in technology and volume. NOTE: The opinions expressed here are those of the author, and you should verify any facts that you desire to have verified. Senior Sales Consultant, Partner eric.
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Home Jeanneau History. Jeanneau's story by decade In , Henri Jeanneau, already passionate about aeroplanes and automobiles, had just discovered a brand new passion for powerboating, one that began as he watched a boat pass by his window. Soon afterward, in Les Herbiers, France, home to a rich heritage of artisan work, he began building a wooden hull with which he participated in the 6-hour Paris race, the largest national race at the time. He was first to cross the line, and this galvanized him.
So, a past time became a trade. The shipyard built its first fibreglass hull. This new material, a petrochemicals product, created a technological breakthrough without precedent. First and foremost it takes a dedicated team with lots of experience and knowhow building quality boats. Not just with the work ethic here but the overall spirit. It reminded me of another group of boat builders I know, one that I have worked closely with for the past 20 years, from a city not unlike Cadillac, in France, called Les Herbiers.
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