Kelt was based in Vannes, France. It also had a Canadian subsidiary in Aurora, Ontario.
What types of boats did Kelt build?
Kelt built fiberglass sailing yachts, mainly small to mid-size cruisers and performance cruisers. Known models include the Kelt 5.50, 6.20, 7.60, 707 and 8.50.
What is Kelt best known for?
Kelt is best known for French-designed production sailboats from the 1970s and 1980s. The brand is also closely associated with the later Feeling line after Kirie acquired the business.
Kelt was a French sailboat builder founded in 1974 and based in Vannes, France. The company also operated a subsidiary in Ontario, Canada, and its boats were built under the Kelt Marine name until the mid-1980s. Kelt later passed into Kirie ownership, and several designs continued under the Feeling brand.
History and shipyard
Kelt Marine was active from 1974 to 1986 in France, with a Canadian subsidiary in Aurora, Ontario. Sources place the original shipyard in Vannes, France. After acquisition by Kirie, the Kelt name disappeared from new production, and later boats based on Kelt designs were marketed under the Feeling name. The builder is now known mainly through its out-of-production sailing yachts and their presence on the used-boat market.
Model range and design
Kelt built fiberglass sailboats in a compact cruising and performance range, with documented models including the Kelt 5.50, 6.20, 7.60, 707, 8.50 and 9.0. The 7.6 was also built in Canada between 1980 and 1984, and Kelt designs were associated with designers such as Gilles Ollier and Philippe Briand. The brand is generally remembered for practical, relatively fast cruising yachts rather than large production volumes or motorboats.
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