When Henri Jeanneau began building wooden outboard boats in 1957, he had no idea that his name would one day be at the top of the world’s boating industry charts. It was probably equally unimaginable at the time that, more than 60 years after the release of one of his earliest models, Jeanneau owners would still be in love with their boat.
The 1950s were often the scene of great individual ventures, driven by a desire for freedom and speed, leading to some exceptional careers. The context of the creation of the today world famous Les Herbiers yard in the Vendée region of France was narrated as a comic strip in the style of Michel Vaillant – the young and daring fictional French racing driver who captured the imagination of several generations of readers. There was plenty of material to work with – a man
