France · Founded 1884 · Groupe BeneteauBeneteau
The oldest name in series boatbuilding and still the largest, whose Oceanis line defined what a mainstream cruising monohull looks like.
The story
Benjamin Bénéteau opened his yard at Croix-de-Vie in 1884 to build sardine boats, and it was his granddaughter Annette Roux who, taking over in 1964, made the decisive bet on fibreglass. Where others saw a cheap substitute for wood, she saw the only way to build the same boat a thousand times. The Evasion and First ranges of the 1970s turned a Vendée workshop into an industrial concern, and the First 30 gave the yard a competition pedigree it has traded on ever since.
The Oceanis line, launched in 1986, is the commercial backbone: a cruising monohull conceived for owners who sail a fortnight a year and want light, space and simple handling rather than heavy-weather credentials. Beneteau today anchors a group that also owns Jeanneau, Lagoon, Excess, Prestige and Delphia, builds on three continents, and remains the volume reference against which every other series builder is measured.
- Country
- France
- Founded
- 1884
- Group
- Groupe Beneteau
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