Resurrection of the old Jeanneau Advanced Techniques
The production of the new sailboat Figaro Bénéteau 3 deserved a specific investment for the Bénéteau Group. The technicality of the boat (foils, weight control, respect of the monotype...) implies a high quality of construction. It is therefore a new factory, based in Nantes under the Cheviré bridge, which will build the next Solitaire du Figaro yacht.
If the production tool will be new, the site has already hosted the production of many racing yachts. He was then called Jeanneau Techniques Avancées and saw the construction of high-tech multihulls for the time. Production in Nantes was finally stopped in the 2000s.
Industrial investment
The former JTA site currently serves as a logistics platform and hosts the administrative offices of a Bénéteau Group subsidiary. A programme to refurbish existing buildings is under way to boost sailboat production. A department of the Vendée group is currently working on the design of the new industrial tool. This will be a substantial investment, the amount of which Bénéteau has not yet disclosed.
Bénéteau Racing Division Group
In order to best meet the needs of the Figaro Bénéteau 3 project, a new pole is created within the Bénéteau group. This is Groupe Bénéteau Racing Division, a service, without its own legal status, which will host project teams dedicated to sailing yachts oriented towards performance and offshore racing. Made up of professionals from all the companies in the group, the teams will bring together the best skills available in each field.
The first project for Bénéteau Racing Division Group, the new one-design Solitaire du Figaro should mobilise a dozen people to design. Internal recruitment is underway. Mirna Cieniewicz, Head of Communications at Bénéteau Group, said that other projects would follow Figaro 3 without specifying which ones.
A tight schedule
Rehabilitation work on the Nantes Cheviré site will be launched in January 2017. Production start-up must follow quickly. The calendar foresees the launch of the Figaro Bénéteau 3 prototype in summer 2017. The plant will then deliver approximately 50 monotypes by 2019.
For more information.. Bénéteau Figaro 3, a mass-produced foiler
