Architecture, the new wave

Sangria, Écume de Mer, Flush Poker, Gin Fizz, Kelt 6.20m, Surprise, First 22, Jouët 680, First 35… These iconic sailing models were all commercial successes and all designed by the four architects who will help drive, from the start of this decade, the French boat industry’s growing international reach: Philippe Harlé, Jean-Marie Finot, Michel Joubert and Jean Berret. 

They arrive on a rapidly evolving market: in the shadow of Jean-Jacques Herbulot’s legendary Corsaire, whose design is starting to become outdated (1953), the choice of live-aboard series available is still limited over the second half of the 1960s. Alongside Michel Dufour, who has built up a lead with the Arpège and whose reputation now reaches beyond France, the selection is still dominated by traditional-style sailing yachts and foreign architects. 

Jouët, the leading yard at the start of the decade, which will soon become part of the Yachting France group, is struggling to find its second wind following the success of the Golif. And other future leading names from the sailing world, such as Jeanneau, are still looking to find an ideal plan for developing their ranges in a sector in which demand is continuing to grow.

The Salon Nautique show in January 1970 marks a turning point, with the simultaneous presentation of two flagships from this new wave: set up just a short distance from one another on the CNIT’s third floor, Écume de Mer and Sangria take the spotlight by combining a sporty style, designed to attract regatta racers, and a resolutely functional approach, to facilitate life on board. They also stand out from their competitors through their more generous volumes, with a width of 2.65m and 2.70m respectively. 

The Sangria’s architect, Philippe Harlé, already has a great reputation, after previously designing some exceptional boats. Born in 1931 in Mont-Saint-Aignan, a suburb of Rouen, he began his boat journey by racing on the River Seine at the helm of a Caneton, accompanied by a small crew of enthusiasts – including the brothers Alain and Didier Maupas – who will later create the GCL (Groupe des Croiseurs Légers). 

A brilliant student, Philippe is accepted to the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie and seems destined for a career as an engineer… before changing tack and focusing on the sea in the early 1950s, won over by his first training courses at Les Glénans. After becoming an instructor, then a permanent member of the CNG, in charge of technical issues, he writes the first edition of the famous Glénans Manual of Sailing and, from 1961 to 1962, oversees the building in Concarneau of the Illingworth plan Glénan, the association’s first-ever large boat. In the following months, he designs his first live-aboard sailing model, the Naïade V, a 9.45m ballasted dinghy – for Granville’s Louis Blouet – then commissions the revolutionary Muscadet built by Paul and André Aubin in their all-new yard in Rezé, near Nantes. 

Its detractors may well joke about its “soapbox” appearance, but the performance levels delivered by this budget plywood cruiser bring people on board and its order books fill up quickly: Aubin will build around 50 Muscadet units each year. 

The release in 1965 of the Armagnac – in the same spirit, but 1.60m longer and with a lot more volumes – confirms the interest among boaters in this original approach, moving away from traditional aesthetic principles to focus on practical aspects. 

Attracted by these new ideas, Olivier Gibert, sales director with the Jeanneau yard at the time, manages to convince Henri Jeanneau to trust Philippe Harlé with the brand’s new cruiser. The architect knows how to “water down his wine a bit” – from all perspectives – choosing to rein in his legendary radical approach to create a boat with a design and program that will be able to please all audiences… and agreeing to leave behind the names of spirits to name it after a light, celebratory drink. 

The Sangria is an instant hit, and goes on to sell more than 2,500 units in just over 10 years. All series combined, more than 7,000 boats based on Harlé plans will be produced by Jeanneau, including the Aquila (1976) and Fantasia (1981). Not to mention the successful boats designed for other yards, such as the Shériff (Yachting France, 1969), Romanée (Pouvreau, 1973), and the Kelt 6.20m, which, in 1974, will be the first model of the emerging yard set up by Gilles Le Baud.  

Unlike Philippe Harlé, Jean-Marie Finot is still virtually unknown when the Mallard yard shows the first Écume de Mer unit at the CNIT. However, the name of his boat is already familiar with regatta racers: the prototype – built two years earlier using a light alloy with a hard chine hull – showed its potential for speed during the 1968 and 1969 Quarter Ton Cup races in Breskens. In fact, the initial project of this young DPLG architect, born in Épinal in 1941, who also passed through Les Glénans (and even the Harlé firm, where he worked as an intern), was very different. 

First designed as a minimalist 7m lifting keel cruiser for his personal use, the Écume was transformed into a keelboat that was nearly 1m longer when the Dutch builder Walter Huysman proposed to create the prototype for Jean-Marie at an unbeatable price, with the condition that he would be able to take part in the Quarter event… 

Considering the good results achieved, André Costa, a journalist with Cahiers du Yachting, puts the architect in contact with the La Rochelle-based builder Roger Mallard, and everything follows on from there in just a few months: molds created in autumn 1969, first tests carried out in December, and boat presented in Paris in January… A few months later, Jeanneau releases the Folie Douce, a project born out of a collaboration between Finot and Harlé.

The Finot Group is created almost at the same time, with Laurent Cordelle, Gilles Ollier and Philippe Salles as its first employees. And the number of projects ramps up in record time: full range with Mallard, Brise de Mer made with a light alloy by Leguen-Hémidy, orders for boats in Italy (with Comar) or Japan (New Japan Yacht Sail), prototypes winning IOR races, huge success for the Rêve d’Antilles, a cruiser yacht designed for amateur builders, release of the astonishing Aloa 29… The Bénéteau yard, which wants to develop a full range of Firsts, will entrust him with designing the First 18 and 22, two innovative models, featuring a pivoting keel and groundbreaking ergonomics that had never been seen before on small live-aboards.

But this architect’s contribution is not limited to just the impressive list of his creations (with thousands of units produced of some models). Jean-Marie Finot helped the boat sector take a major step forward by being the first French naval architect to identify the benefits of computer-aided design (CAD): from the early 1970s, he invests in IT and develops programs that enable him to test all sorts of hull options for his boats.

At the same time, he shakes up certain preconceived ideas, showing that a bulky hull can perform well when close hauled and remain balanced when listing provided that you effectively anticipate the shift in the hull’s axis. His work will help establish new standards, for both cruising and racing, thanks in particular to his renowned 60 foot monohulls, which were wide and light, and won four consecutive Vendée Globes. He also innovates in terms of ergonomics, designs the first aft saloon (on the Yamaha 29, in 1973) and launches the trend for bathing platforms (for the Comet 13, in the early 1980s), which will quickly become essential features on series cruisers.

Michel Joubert and Jean Berret, the two other key figures from this decade, do not escape the rule seen at the time whereby an architect’s reputation is built first and foremost around their competition results. Both of them took their first steps by designing prototypes for the Quarter Ton Cup from the late 1960s. They were both born in the Paris region – in 1944 and 1946 respectively – and learned to sail on the Seine and Marne, but their pathways are very different. The son of Pierre Joubert, the famous illustrator for young audiences, Michel starts out as a mechanic with the Merchant Navy, before designing and building in 1968 his first boat, Arès, a quarter with which he wins the Semaine de La Rochelle event. He will then spend around 10 years seeking international recognition – accompanied by Bernard Nivelt, who becomes his partner in 1975 – and will finally secure his first major victory in the 1980 Half Ton Cup with the Ar Bigouden. 

In the meantime, he designed – in 1974 – large centerboard schooners for Jérôme Poncet and Gérard Janichon (the crew of the famous Damien) and the singer Antoine. And his original approach attracts the heads of the Gibert and Jeanneau yards, which open up large series for him with the Flush Poker and Poker in 1972, followed by the Gin Fizz in 1975, the first polyester sailing model to be popular with long-distance cruising enthusiasts. 

This is followed by a number of successes, including the Surprise – built from 1976 by Archambault – the model that will launch the major trend for sporty dayboats in France. 

The other stroke of genius accomplished by these two architects takes place in the early 1980s, when Michel takes inspiration from Hawaiian multihulls to design the large Charente Maritime, which will shake up the world of offshore racing by dominating all the events at the time… and will serve as a springboard for the success of the cruising catamaran Louisiane, symbolizing a “French touch” that will immediately see English multihulls fall out of favor and will boost this market.

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Jean Berret initially started out in wood-related professions before training at the École Boulle and school of decorative arts. He works in interior design for a certain time before heading up product development at the La Rochelle-based yard Quéré-Paillard and, throughout his career as an architect, he retains a particular focus on the materials used and the details of the slightest element on each boat. His first steps are also tied in closely with the IOR race: he makes a name for himself thanks to the good results achieved by his quarter Beneze, in 1975, and enjoys his first success with the prototype Jaunac in the Mini Ton Cup in 1977. 

Called on for a number of prototypes of all sizes, he achieves various podium finishes, but will need to wait until 1981 to see one of his designs win the Half Ton Cup, with the First Evolution King One, skippered by the illustrious Paul Elvstrøm. In terms of series, from 1978 he renews the small centerboarder concept with the Jouët 550, 600 and 680 range, all fitted with efficient daggerboards. In 1979, as requested by the Bénéteau yard, he designs the First 35, the first model from a long and successful collaboration with the Vendée-based builder. An essential boat on more than one level: drawing inspiration from the lines of his successful three-quarter tonner Oesophage Boogie, Jean Berret shows that the potential for speed of a racing yacht can be successfully combined with the welcoming capacity of a comfortable cruiser. This is illustrated for instance by the inclusion of two spacious rear cabins, a configuration that the First 35 is one of the very first models to offer as standard.

Symbolizing the buoyancy of the French boat industries during this period, Jeanneau releases, at more or less the same time, the Symphonie, a boat designed by a very young architect called Philippe Briand, who will be one of the main driving forces of the following decade…