After more than 100 years in business – more than 60 in the marine sector – Villetard has been placed into liquidation by a French court.
The nautical leisure company based on Lacroix Island in Rouen, France, provided a range of comprehensive, tailor-made nautical services to recreational boaters and professionals, from retail sales of deck hardware to boat, engine and trailer sales, boat rental and training.
Customers included recreational boaters and professionals such as the SNSM (French National Sea Rescue Society), the SDIS 76 (Seine-Maritime Departmental Fire and Rescue Service) responsible for water rescue, underwater rescue, ship fires, the River Gendarmerie and others.
The company was one of the founders of the 24 Hours of Rouen powerboat endurance race, an event set up to rival the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The powerboat race was held on the River Seine in Rouen from 1964 until its cancellation in 2022 following a ban by the Rouen city council.
Boat and engine dealer
Villetard was established in 1924 by Marcel Villetard (senior), a disabled war veteran who was unable to find work as an employee and instead decided to open a small bicycle garage on Rue Duguay-Trouin in Rouen.
The company’s move into the marine market came in 1959 when Villetard obtained the dealership for Rocca boats and Johnson engines.
With the company expanding, Marcel’s two sons, André and Marcel (junior) purchased a plot of land on the banks of the Seine in 1963, transforming it into a marina area equipped with a slipway for launching boats and pontoons.
The company continued to grow and expand and in 1968 purchased land in Rouen enabling it to move into larger premises and open a diving department and in 1976, opened a branch in Fécamp.
The company was acquired in 2016 by Olivier Dumont who had joined as sales manager the previous year. He managed the company through a receivership period in a final attempt to restructure and save it but was unsuccessful.
