Anyone wandering through Mayflower Park and staring at serried ranks of Jeanneau yachts at the Southampton Boat Show cannot fail to be impressed. Much the same can be said of Jeanneau’s many ranges of motorboats that now fill sections of the marina. The sheer size and number of exhibits show that this now world-famous name means business–big business. Both Jeanneau and Beneteau have pushed ahead with extensive new model programmes. Yet although Jeanneau has only been part of the Beneteau group since late 1995, it started life in a very different way.
Building the Jeanneau brand
Back in the mid-1950s, Henry Jeanneau was keen on fast motorboats. He entered France’s top race: the Six Heures De Paris. High-speed skimming dishes propelled by powerful outboard motors careered around a short course looping under three bridges on the Seine. Mayhem reigned for six hours. The boat that completed the most laps won. It was like a demented, shortened waterborne Le Mans.
Henry’s many racing successes led to a demand for his speedboats, so he and Michel Rabier formed a new company. Between 1957 and 1961 they built around 400 examples of these beautiful wooden boats. Then in 1964, Jeanneau hoisted sail on the van de Stadt-designed GRP Alizé and Storm day cruisers, followed by the top-selling Harlé-designed Sangria 25. Over 2,000 of this hugely popular yacht were built and the Jeanneau name became well established.
Jeanneau’s rapid growth and financial health attracted the attention of various American companies and Henry andwife Nelly eventually sold Jeanneau to Bangor Punta in 1969. Henry remained a consultant for two years to ensure that his manager Michel Richard enjoyed a trouble-free transition period. All went well until Bangor Punta was bought by Lear Siegler; which was in turn targeted a few years later by a private equity takeover in 1987. Overseas companies could not be part of the transaction so Michel Richard organised a scheme whereby 51% of Jeanneau shares became owned by the firm’s employees under a French government-backed scheme.
