Jeanneau

Jeanneau builds sailboats and powerboats in Les Herbiers, in France's Vendée region, where the company has been based since its founding in 1957. Now part of Groupe Beneteau, the brand puts the number of Jeanneau boats afloat worldwide at more than 250,000.

Henri Jeanneau ran a hardware store in Les Herbiers when he started building powerboats in 1957. Sailing models joined the range as the business grew, and the yard never left town: nearly seven decades later, the boats still come out of Les Herbiers. The company now sits within Groupe Beneteau, the French marine group whose brands also include Beneteau and Lagoon.

On the sailing side, the Sun Odyssey cruising line currently runs from the 350 to the 490, the Jeanneau Yachts 55, 60 and 65 sit above it, and the Sun Fast 30 One Design and 3300 cover offshore racing. Powerboat ranges include the Cap Camarat family of center console and walkaround outboards, the Merry Fisher wheelhouse boats, which stretch from the 605 to the 1295, and the DB day boats, offered as the 37 and the 43 with inboard or outboard power.

Sun Odyssey cruisers are a common sight in charter fleets, and Jeanneau's production scale feeds a deep secondhand market. On GetBoat, listings for the brand include Sun Odyssey 54DS and 50 DS sailboats, Prestige and Velasco motor yachts from earlier production years, and small Runabout outboards. Few nameplates cover that much water, in age as well as in price.