The golden years of motorboating
In France, from 1960 to 1974, household disposable income – which includes initial income and social benefits less taxes – sees annual growth of over 11%. Consumption soars, initially with the acquisition of household appliances and vehicles (car ownership rises from 30% of the population in 1963 to over 60% ten years later), before shifting to new needs such as enjoying leisure activities and getting away from things. The 1970s are marked by the emergence of a new trend for outdoor activities relating to leisure time, broadly expressed by a term adopted in France from America – and specifically California – with “fun”, influenced by the growing interest in surfing.
The fun concept is to some extent a legacy of the 1968 “revolution”. It defines a new culture of bodies and sport, inspired by the search for sensations, speed through gliding, and freedom. The recreational boat sector naturally follows this trend.
France is one of the countries where the widespread adoption of recreational boating sees the quickest and strongest progress. It is estimated that there are around 40,000 units – sailing and motor boats – “in service” in 1960, rising to 160,000 in 1970 and nearly 500,000 a decade later. This significant expansion logically reflects the purchases of new boats on a vast scale, as well as the longer lifespan of fiberglass boats compared with wooden units.
In this buoyant context, the period from 1970 to 1980 is however marked by the two oil shocks in 1973 and 1979. The first occurs when OPEC decides to raise oil prices after the Yom Kippur War, while the second is a result of the Iranian revolution.
Oil shocks: impact and adaptation
The 1973 shock leads to a drop in France’s gross domestic product (GDP) by around 3%. Growth, which had been progressing at 5% annually since 1950, drops back down to around 2% for the following decades. At service stations, pump prices surge by 20% overnight, while refined products, such as the resins used to produce hulls, also rise sharply. The second oil shock, in 1979, leads to an increase in the cost of energy resources on almost the same scale, but in the meantime, the industry and boat users have adapted.
At the Paris Boat Show in 1974, despite the troubled international context and seemingly unfavorable economic news, influential magazines like Bateaux and Neptune Nautisme agree that motorboating is in a healthy position, accounting for more than 60% of all units registered with the Marine Affairs authorities and three quarters of new boat registrations.
Consistent trends
Observers note several reasons for this rising wave. First and foremost is their ease of use. All the main controls are grouped together around the wheel, enabling a single person to handle a 5m runabout or a cruiser that is twice as long. With a constant speed, it is easy to plan ahead for the duration of a chosen route and then decide to change it without compromising your lunch schedule too much. The enthusiasm of new motor boaters is also linked to the sensation of speed, which is seen as a major safety factor as well for owners who are not necessarily well trained to handle volatile weather conditions and for whom skippering is only a leisure activity for their holidays. With a hull that is quick enough, it is easier to find shelter if the conditions suddenly deteriorate.
Surveys also show that even among the best-equipped boaters, very few are ready to embark on crossings, which results in relatively consistent uses. Whatever the boat size, the program for the day is almost always the same: cruising along the coast, spending a few hours at anchor for a picnic on board, going for a swim, enjoying some diving, or going water skiing for the quicker units. From runabouts to cruisers, from small sport fishing units to inflatables, the vast majority of boats are no more than 5.50 meters long, offering a wide selection of leisure platforms, with more or less space, a way of spending time on the water, leaving the beach behind and escaping the crowd. But the statistics only offer some very general indicators, which mask significant geographical or social disparities in France: for example, Brittany and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region are home to nearly half of the entire French fleet. However, the proportion of motorboats compared to sailboats is lower in Brittany (around 60%) than in other regions, where it can reach up to 75%.
Changing practices
To achieve growth like this in the 1970s, motorboating attracts a new clientele from areas without a maritime culture. For instance, the majority of summer users in the Mediterranean come from the Paris Region.
Small units, under 5m in most cases, with a fleet of around 130,000 boats in 1974, clearly illustrate the recent and widespread adoption of recreational boating. They arrive by road and are launched from their trailers on public ramps and pulled ashore in the same way, without occupying a berth in a marina. During the off-season, they winter in barns, garages or gardens.
In the higher category, with around 30,000 units, three quarters of the boats are between 6.50 and 7.50 meters long. The strong growth in sales of these dayboats or cabin cruisers, with “liveaboard” features, reflect a dream for autonomy and even self-sufficiency: spending your month’s summer holiday on board. But in reality, the vast majority of users return to port every evening and nobody sleeps on board, preferring instead the comforts of their second home nearby. These new recreational boat users are the direct beneficiaries of the policies rolled out during these years to develop marina infrastructures.
In France at the end of the Glorious Thirties, how can you choose a boat based on the use you are dreaming of or planning? French yards, facing intense competition from America, Italy and Scandinavia, pass the cape of the 1960s by adapting their work tools for fiberglass and developing their production capacity.
Many “buyer’s guides” present the main types of boats on the market. Although deep changes are taking shape, they are still based on the five general categories inherited from the previous two decades:
Inflatables
Most of the units are 3 to 4 meters long and well-suited for a 25hp outboard, more than powerful enough for water skiing. France’s Zodiac, with its famous Bombard brand, now faces stiff competition from other countries, including Italy and its industrial giant Pirelli. However, French-made products are still renowned for their quality and reliability, especially those from the firm founded by Tibor Sillinger in 1962, focused on small and medium-length foldable inflatable dinghies and increasingly popular semi-rigid units. A few models over 4 meters are launched, while the gradual appearance of inflatables with fiberglass bottoms already heralds the future “semi-rigid” revolution.
Outboard open hulls or dinghies
In this traditional entry-level category on the market for motorboats with rigid hulls, all the manufacturers work each year to offer better finishes and more attractive designs, no doubt to try and counter the rising popularity of inflatables, which are more affordable for water skiing in particular. The Cormorant yard offers no less than a dozen references in this entry-level category on the rigid hull market, and Jeanneau has around 10, from the 4.35m Caraïbe to the 5.20m Mustang, available with outboard or inboard versions.
Inboard open hulls or runabouts
Positioned a notch higher in terms of programs and performance levels, we can see a clear trend moving towards sporty features and more refined designs. French builders, who generally specialized initially in the dinghies segment, struggle faced with the presence of several major American brands now manufactured under licenses in Europe to mitigate dollar exchange rate fluctuations. As with dinghies, the V-shaped hull continues to dominate the catalogues. Leading performers include the Miura and San Remo from Rocca or the RV GT Sport from Rhône-Verre.
Outboard and inboard day cruisers or cabin cruisers
In this category, which is increasingly popular through its potential for various uses, the common denominator is the closed cabin, with the possibility for occasional sleeping.
Equipment and accessories for coastal camping or short coastal cruises are increasingly included, along with more powerful engines to tow skiers. Major French builders, like Jeanneau with the outboard Sea Bird, Jouët with the Carlton or Rocca with the Super Mistral, aim to offer a supplementary range on this buoyant segment to try and retain customers who are initially drawn to their dinghies and runabouts. This is not the case for the category’s pioneer Arcoa, with its 5.70 to 6.80m hulls, which continue building on a career that began around 10 years earlier.
Cruisers
This high-end category offers real on-board living possibilities, with headroom, a galley module, a toilet and storage units. The builders compete with one another to come up with ideas for live-aboard features, targeting family cruising. The addition of a flybridge, which is still generally offered as an option, is increasingly becoming the norm. Some models are specifically designed for sea fishing, following the American Fisherman trend.
Diesel engines, which are increasingly powerful and lightweight, become standard, with turbo units becoming common. Faced with the foreign yards, few French brands really risk venturing into this segment, with the exception of ACM, Arcoa and Jeanneau.
The term “yacht” refers only to units over 12.50 meters. A few French builders are present, including Guy Couach, offering high levels of comfort and liveaboard capabilities, combined with beautiful finishes.
Alongside this, the displacement hull, overshadowed by the V-shaped hull for smaller units, shows its enduring appeal with the emergence of a new type from the United States, adding a new term to the French recreational boat vocabulary: trawlers. Kirié positions itself on this segment by launching the 11m Ange de Mer.
Changes on the horizon
Bénéteau, a new player from the commercial fishing world, starts to attend the Paris Boat Show in 1965, with little hope, presenting an unusual 5.80m wooden cruiser called “Ombrine”. Influenced by this family-run yard which is specialized in work-boats, as is Ocqueteau, a major evolution for the future of French motorboating starts to take shape. Dayboating cruisers gradually give rise to a new definition of the traditional and up until now very modest “sport fishing” boat. Its silhouette changes, integrating a high wheelhouse towards the front of a cockpit spanning the boat’s width. Its sleek lines reflect the utilitarian rigor of work units.
The adoption of the semi-planing hull, combined with more powerful shaft-line inboard diesel engines, makes it possible to combine speed with economy and stability. In the mid-1970s, Bénéteau’s Antares 7.50 makes its mark through its growing success, becoming a benchmark in this segment and paving the way for the release of a 6.50 version in 1978.
Outboard versions like Ocqueteau’s Aliénor soon complete the catalogues for French-style “center console” or “sport fishing” boats, in various forms. Even the sporty Rocca adapts a “sport fishing” unit from one of its day cruisers.
Across all engine systems, this new category continues to make market share gains in the coastal cruising sector.
As the 1980s approach, the growing motorboat market encourages builders to innovate to meet the increasingly diverse expectations of increasingly demanding and well-informed customers. The categories and names inherited from the heroic early days of the 1960s are in full transition: from four or five types, we will see nine or ten categories within the following decade, including some with completely new programs. Whether utilitarian or luxurious, boats are becoming more powerful, with increasingly high performance levels, seemingly without being too concerned by rising energy costs, as if motorboating’s main mission, more than ever, is to leave everyday concerns far behind in its wake.