Growing and maturing
It should have made history, become a benchmark, a symbol for excellence. Instead, it became an example of unforeseeable disappointment. In the early 1980s, a French company dominates the light sailing market: Bic Marine (formerly Dufour) floods the world with hundreds of thousands of windsurfs. The company is soaring. It acquires its German rival Windglider and, thanks to this prestigious brand, secures a coveted position. At the Los Angeles Games in 1984, the Windglider becomes the first-ever Olympic windsurf board. Much to the dismay of its inventor, the American firm Windsurfer.
A decade of conquest seems to be opening up for French boards. Unfortunately, from 1983, the market begins a sharp downturn. In just a few months, the trend is over. The wind changes. Midway through the decade, there may still be more than three million windsurfers. But the general public is already kitted out. They stop buying. Professional athletes and other acrobats on the waves continue to impress the crowds, speed records are broken, championships and regattas produce fierce battles. But mass leisure starts to wane, mass production changes pace. Before long, it comes to a stop. The windsurf killed the dinghy. Now it is taking on water itself.
Triumph of finance and the turn towards austerity
You needed steady nerves to be at the helm of a French boat company at this time. The 1980s marked a decade of economic “deregulation”, 10 years ruled by money, with finance triumphant. Amid the fallout from the second oil shock, a global paradigm shift, the end of state-directed economies driven by the Reagan-Thatcher duo, monetary, economic, and social disruptions following the French left’s rise to power in 1981, the 1987 stock market crash, the collapse of the Soviet Union two years later, and the early signs of the Gulf War, all company leaders find themselves on a rollercoaster ride of business highs and lows.
As soon as he takes office, French President François Mitterrand sees the franc plummet to its lowest level. On the stock market, French shares drop 20%. The ruling left party rolls out a number of social reforms: a 39-hour working week, a fifth week of paid leave, and retirement at 60. Then, they implement a radical economic program, nationalizing five major industrial groups, 36 banks and two financial companies. They introduce a wealth tax. France is rowing against the global tide of privatizations and market deregulation. Capital flees the country, and the franc is devalued twice. In 1983, following a fierce internal battle, the “turn towards austerity” starts to take shape. But the entire French economy is listing. The number of unemployed reaches and then exceeds two million. Surprisingly, the boat sector navigates these turbulent waters without any major shipwrecks.
Growth in production and exports
During the 10 years from 1980 to 1990, the charts continue to show significant growth in both production and the fleet of French boats, from sailing to motor models. In terms of production, revenues climb 70% between 1980 and 1990, up from 228.7 million euros* to 423.9 million euros. With the workforce growing by just 11% (6,274 staff), this indicates a spectacular rise in prices (inflation reaches 13% in 1981, before dropping back down to 3% from 1986) rather than the margins generated. Exports represent more than 50% of production in 1985 and continue building on their growth.
However, these figures mask a recession that occurs from 1981 and becomes more marked in 1982, before easing the following year. In 1982, for the first time, the recreational boat building sector sees a drop in its sales figures. The increases in VAT and annual registration fees do not help. However, following this deep trough, the expansionist wave resumes after 1985, with continued growth reaching over 10% on average.
In terms of sailing, registrations contract sharply from 1981 to 1985, compared with 1976-1980: 24,326, with one third under 6m, down from 38,793, with around half under 6m. For motorboats, the trend is not as clear: 88,339 boats registered between 1981 and 1985, including 79,436 under 6m, compared with 96,196 between 1976 and 1980, with 88,089 under 6m.
Four times more motorboats
We can see that the production of motorboats and cruisers is nearly four times as high as sloops or ketches. Even though it is clear to everyone that sailing embodies and drives the French boat industry, the two major sailboat building rivals – Bénéteau and Jeanneau, both based in Vendée – have taken on board that it would be foolish to neglect such a mass market. So, they are careful not to overlook propellers. In fact, quite the opposite. By winning the Paris Six Hours event in 1980, Bénéteau causes a surprise in a sector that had not seen it coming. With this newfound legitimacy, the Saint-Gilles Croix-de-Vie yard launches ranges of motor cruisers aimed at replacing sport fishing boats for its customers that might be intimidated by sailing. Jeanneau responds immediately with victories in the Niger raid and exploits in the F1 and F3000 events, thanks to its carbon-kevlar catamarans. The two yards ramp up their models that are in direct competition. But they know that their most interesting margins will not be achieved with motorboats: France no longer produces outboards and has only one marine diesel manufacturer: Renault Couach. However, a boat’s propulsion system on its own represents more than 55% of its overall price, and even more for smaller models, which make up the vast majority.
Two sailing heavyweights
This is no doubt the main reason why the most visible competition between the two new recreational boat heavyweights – accounting for 70% of national production between them – intensifies for sailing. Bénéteau and Jeanneau both release new series production models at a spectacular pace. They continuously upgrade their features and increase their size. While the core market was around eight to nine meters at the start of the decade, the 10 meter mark is quickly passed, meeting the demand among customers for larger, quicker and more comfortable sailing models.
In the 1980s, Bénéteau’s plants simultaneously produce hundreds of units of more than 10 sailboats ranging from 5.50 to 14 meters. For instance, the First 25 reaches over 1,100 units. Alongside this, the company builds semi-prototypes for crewed races, dominating the Ton Cups, the world championships for 8 to 12m live-aboard sailboats. In 1982, it launches an 8m racing one-design – the First Class 8 – with such success, selling 300 units in less than two years, that it will soon be followed by a Class 10 and a Class 12. In 1988, it breaks the mold by enlisting fashionable designers such as Philippe Starck then Pininfarina.
Without a doubt, Bénéteau has built up remarkable expertise in large-scale production in just a few years. In 1983, its Chairwoman Annette Roux is named “Businesswoman of the Year”. The following year, the company floats on the stock market, with the inflatable boat manufacturer Zodiac also taking this step, after recovering from some choppy waters. In 1985, buoyed by 21% revenue growth and its profits climbing 138%, Bénéteau announces that it is building a plant in Marion, in the United States. What other French company can say the same?
But Jeanneau is far from standing still. It also increases the number of sailing cruiser models – the Suns – which all enjoy success. The 10m Sun Rise reaches over 1,600 units, while the 11m Sun Fizz sells more than 1,300 units. To respond to the Class 8, the Les Herbiers yard launches the Fun, slightly smaller, but clearly also designed to attract sailing schools and future offshore racers.
From 1982, riding the wave of enthusiasm created by each new offshore event – around the world or across the Atlantic, there are now one or two major ocean crossings each year – the Les Herbiers yard sets up a high-tech facility called Jeanneau Techniques Avancées. This unit builds the large multihull prototypes that reign on the waves and the airwaves. Philippe Poupon’s large catamaran Fleury-Michon takes to the water in 1986, followed by a mini-series of 18m trimarans, new 12m catamarans in the Formula 40 class, and Florence Arthaud’s trimaran Groupe Pierre 1er, which wins the 1990 Route du Rhum… Alongside this, it supplies three successive one-designs for the Sailing Tour of France.
A masked crisis
The rivalry between the two Vendée-based yards takes them to the top of the European market. It drives the entire boat sector along with them, although without masking the underlying crisis that plagues it throughout the decade. At the 1982 Grand Pavois show in La Rochelle, the prestigious Wauquiez yard announces that it is in great difficulty. The following year, the young and dynamic Kelt Marine is placed into court-ordered receivership. It will stop trading in 1986. One year earlier, Yachting France, which has filed for bankruptcy, is taken over by the sportswear brand Lacoste. The same year, in 1986, Dufour is sold to an auto equipment manufacturer, which will sell it again less than two years later. In 1987, it is the turn of the builder of excellent aluminum sailboats Pouvreau to file for bankruptcy.
Undercapitalized, lacking cash flow or unable to find any real profitability in limited series, many yards are too fragile to weather the slightest economic upheaval. Not to mention financial raids or industrial disasters. While Jeanneau’s employees take on debt to buy out their company from its American owner, who is looking to move on, Bénéteau faces an unpredictable crisis. The supplier of a resin catalyst has sold it a defective product, and hundreds of Firsts are affected by an unknown ailment: osmosis. The gelcoat is no longer waterproof, it blisters and becomes porous. The Saint-Gilles yard needs to treat the boats that have been affected. It eventually wins its case against this supplier. In the meantime, for the first time since taking the lead, it posts a loss of 1.8 million euros.
The rise of chartering
However, interest in the sea and demand for sailing cruisers show no sign of weakening. These stormy conditions do not significantly undermine the robust development of a mature French boat industry. The expansion covers all activities: marinas emerge from the sea, equipment manufacturers prosper (Plastimo) and hardware distributors expand their networks throughout France (Uship). In 1986, a new law brings a fantastic breath of fresh air to an emerging sector: chartering. The Pons Law introduces tax exemptions for tourism-related investments in overseas departments and territories. This is great news for these regions: in five years, the rental fleet in the French Antilles increases tenfold. It grows from 110 boats in 1986 to nearly 1,000 in 1990. The number of tourists attracted by the prospect of a week sailing in the sun is multiplied by seven. This is an opportunity for the yards: the new charter companies order dozens and soon hundreds of boats.
The recently created Fountaine-Pajot yard launches the first French mass-produced cruising multihull in 1983 – the Louisiane – to ride the wave of the ocean racing victories of its big brother, the Charente Maritime. It does not yet know that it is setting in motion the future boom in these boats. With their live-aboard features and comfortable design, the two-hulled units are ready to conquer the charter fleets. New manufacturers will benefit from the emerging trend, such as Jeantot Marine in Les Sables d’Olonne and Catana in Canet-en-Roussillon.
There are 159 charter companies in 1985. This will reach 254 five years later. Their small workforce of around 1,000 staff will generate over 50 million euros of revenues. And this is just the beginning.
By 1990, the 4,644 companies in the French boat industry employ more than 30,000 people. For the first time, their revenues pass the two billion euro mark, with more than half on exports. The French recreational boat industry is now a solid economic sector with strong benefits boosting the various coastal regions.
A decade comes to an end. The world is shaken when Iraq invades Kuwait. The 1990s will be the stage for some major upheavals.
(*) Where possible, to facilitate comparisons with today, all the amounts indicated are converted into euros