Eric Séchaud, founder of Lorient shipyard Sailwood, hands over the reins to Glen Maine, 37, previously a partner. Eric Séchaud remains involved in the marine joinery business. Having worked for the Arcoa shipyard in the 2000s, then for Coriolis Composite, Eric Séchaud quickly surrounded himself with a team of joiners, including Glen Maine, a cabinetmaker by training. Eric Séchaud jokes: "He arrived one day with a book of his achievements at the age of 21 and never left!" . Another partner completes the governance team: sailor Benoît Lequin, double North Atlantic crossing record-holder. He adds: " He brings experience in project management and composites."
Negotiations with the Region for new premises
The yard employs eight people and generates sales of 600,000 euros, 60% of which is for the yachting industry (interior fittings, teak decks, etc.). The new manager has two priorities: to negotiate the acquisition of the 1,700 m² premises that Sailwood rents from the Region on avenue de la Perrière, and to secure long-term supplies of wood. Glen Maine explains: "We're turning to Costa Rica, where the forests are very well managed and of better quality than in Asia," says Glen Maine. On the other hand, we're moving more and more towards composite when it comes to teak decks."
The company has also diversified, with a major order for 600 m² of composite cladding for the building industry.
Sealoft resurfaces
One of Sailwood's trademarks remains its atypical projects: a model for Jean-Louis Etienne's Polarpod, blank hulls for the Tara Foundation, wooden dashboards for the Magma shipyard in Monaco... Eric Séchaud also points out: "We're not losing sight of Sealoft, our floating habitat concept, either, and we're convinced of its long-term potential. Sealoft has been a success on the rental market, but a failure on the sales front, because harbors equate it with a bumboat. Our fault is that we don't take on the role of bumboat, whereas so many private owners do... "However, the company has noted renewed interest. for example: two new orders are under consideration in the Lorient harbor and at Inzinzac-Lochrist, on the river.
