Beneteau

A Beneteau Oceanis 473 (47.3') at anchor

Beneteau or Bénéteau (Euronext: BEN) is a French sail and motor boat manufacturer, with production facilities in France and the United States.

History

Shipwright Benjamin Bénéteau founded his 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 boats. Madame Roux is still active in leadership.

Beneteau today

The company is a large and recognized boat builder, commanding a substantial worldwide market share for sailing yachts, predominately in the United States, France and the United Kingdom. It has five factories in the Vendée department of France and one US plant in Marion, South Carolina. The Beneteau USA plant opened in 1986; since then the factory has nearly doubled in size to about 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2), with roughly $25 million of total capital invested in the US. This is considered to be an advanced marine factory; it is newer than most of its competitor's factories.

Note in the models below that the First Series is much faster than the Beneteau Series (lower PHRF means a faster boat), the latter series have similar performance ratings to similarly-sized Catalina models. Bénéteau vessels have won numerous prizes, among other European Yacht of the Year 2002, 2007 and 2009.

Beneteau models

NOTE: PHRF shown is for Northern California Base Rate full keel standard mast unless otherwise described

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.

Current US models:

Current World models:

Prior models:

  • First 18
  • First 21.7
  • First 21.7 S
  • First 210 Spirit
  • First 211
  • First 22
  • First 23
  • First 235
  • First 24
  • First 25
  • First 265
  • First 27
  • First 27.7
  • First 27.7 S
  • First 28
  • First 285
  • First 29
  • First 30
  • First 300 Spirit
  • First 305
  • First 30E
  • First 310
  • First 31.7
  • First 32
  • First 325
  • First 32S5
  • First 33.7
  • First 34.7
  • First 345
  • First 35
  • First 35.7
  • First 35S7
  • First 35S5
  • First 36.7 PHRF 81 (Southern California rating)
  • First 36S7
  • First 375
  • First 38
  • First 38S5
  • First 40.7 PHRF 51 (Southern California rating)
  • First 405
  • First 41S5
  • First 42
  • First 42S7
  • First 435
  • First 44.7 PHRF 39 (Southern California rating)
  • First 456
  • First 45f5
  • First 47.7
  • First 51
  • First 53f5
  • First Class 7
  • First Class 7.4
  • First Class 8
  • First Class 10
  • First Class 12
  • First Class Challenge
  • First Class Europe
  • First Class Solo

Oceanis Series

These are cruising boats, though these boats are viable for Performance Handicapped Racing Fleet (PHRF) handicapped racing.

Current US models as of July 2014:[1]

Current World models:

Prior models:

Beneteau Idylle Series

This series of cruising boats consist of 5 types designed by Andre Beneteau, Berret-Racoupeau and German Frers. They were build between 1982 and 1988 and mainly sold in France and the US.

Outboard motorboats

These are outboard powered motorboats in three different models:

Antares cabincruisers:

Barracuda seafishing boats:

Flyer consoleboats:

Lagoon models

Lagoon 380 Catamaran cockpit

Lagoon catamarans are the world's best selling production catamarans.[2] All of the boats are sloop rigs with spacious cabins in each hull and living space on the bridge deck. All of the Lagoon boats are designed by VPLP.

Lagoon 380 showing her keels

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Beneteau USA Oceanis series". Retrieved 2014-07-28.
  2. ↑ "Lagoon Catamarans - About". Retrieved 2008-12-05.

External links

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