Boat rental company Le Boat is to invest more than £100m into its international fleet over the next ten years.
The holiday company has signed an agreement with Groupe Beneteau that will see 400 of the boatbuilder’s Delphia boats built over the coming decade for LeBoat with 100 manufactured in the next three years, including at least 25 in 2025.
The orders will be a combination of the current Horizon range, plus 34 of a premium new one to two cabin boat, named ‘Liberty’ due to be launched in 2025.
The new boats will be based on the canals and water ways of France including, Brittany, Lot, Alsace, Burgundy, Loire-Nivernais, Midi and the Camargue as well as the Thames, Germany and the Netherlands.
In addition, the two companies will also develop a new three to four cabin model for launch in 2027.
The new model will be designed in collaboration with Le Boat and will have both private and charter variants with the charter version exclusive to Le Boat.
Features will include full air conditioning and a fly bridge, designed to provide a premium boating experience on the waterways.
“With these innovative new boats and stunning potential cruising grounds, this offers us a fantastic opportunity to grow both the charter and boat sales sides of our business.”
Cheryl Brown, Le Boat MD
As part of the supply agreement, Delphia and Le Boat are also working together to expand into the North American market using a partnership that will allow for the development of new fleets and new locations for both charter holidays and boat sales.
“We’re delighted to be building upon our long-standing relationship with Groupe Beneteau to support the next stage of Le Boat’s growth journey,” said Cheryl Brown, Le Boat MD. “It will allow us to continue developing high quality river cruisers which our customer will love and enable us both to expand into North America.
“With these innovative new boats and stunning potential cruising grounds, this offers us a fantastic opportunity to grow both the charter and boat sales sides of our business.”
For Groupe Beneteau, the collaboration with Le Boat is a further step in its strategy to move upmarket and innovate for sustainable and accessible boating, responding to new sailing expectations and to the growing demand of the sharing economy.
“LeBoat has been a key partner for many years with the premier fleet of Horizon models,” said Erik Stromberg, vice president of power and motor yachts for Groupe Beneteau.
“This next step continues the supply of Horizon models, as well as a new co-developed boat to support Le Boat’s charter business and boat ownership program.”
