Jeanneau

Brand Overview

French builder of sailing and motor yachts, founded in Les Herbiers in 1957 by Henry Jeanneau.

Overview written fromjeanneau.com/jeanneau/historyread 8/31/2026

Part of

Groupe Beneteau↗

Also in the catalogue

• Beneteau
• Delphia
• Excess Catamarans
• Four Winns
• Lagoon
• Monte Carlo Yachts
• Prestige
• Wellcraft

Where they build

The building sites this yard publishes, in its own order.

• Les Herbiers

  Les Herbiers, France

Calculated from the models in the YachtCodex catalog, not from the builder's claims.

History

In 1957 Henry Jeanneau, already a lover of aeroplanes and cars, discovered powerboating watching a boat pass his window, built a wooden hull at Les Herbiers and won the 6-hour Paris race with it -- a pastime became a trade. The yard built its first fibreglass hull in 1958, its first production powerboat, the Sea Bird, in 1963, and its first sailboats with the Alizé in 1964; sailing was democratised through the 1970s, a Melody raced the single-handed transatlantic in 1976, and from 1980 Jeanneau went powerboat racing, later setting a production-engine speed record of 170.21 km/h in 1987. Between 1982 and 1998 Jeanneau was the exclusive supplier of the Sailing Tour de France, the Sun Kiss of 1983 became a reference among large cruisers, the Fleury Michon catamarans built for Philippe Poupon won the Route du Rhum in 1986 and the transatlantic record in 1987, the first Lagoon catamaran was built in 1985 and the first Prestige, by Garroni Design, in 1989. Jeanneau America was created in 1996, the Sun Odyssey line drove the 2000s, the Sun Fast 3200 of 2008 was European Yacht of the Year, the Jeanneau 64 of 2014 was the first production yacht over sixty feet, the sixtieth anniversary came in 2017 with production of the NC 895 starting in Cadillac, Michigan, and the walk-around decks arrived on cruising sailboats in 2018.

History written fromjeanneau.com/jeanneau/history· Historyread 9/22/2026