Beneteau

History

Shipwright Benjamin Bénéteau 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 boats.

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.

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.

Oceanis Series

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

Beneteau Idylle Series

This series of cruising boats consists of five types designed by Andre Beneteau, Berret-Racoupeau and German Frers. They were built 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 and Flyer consoleboats.

Boats