Le Boat & Group Beneteau sign 10-year deal, unlocking more boating options

A new agreement between Le Boat and Groupe Beneteau under their Delphia brand in Poland will see Europe’s largest boat rental company invest over £100m into its international fleet over the next ten years.

The deal will ensure travellers have a greater range of options to choose from when planning their private boat rental vacation and provides innovation to the current charter market as it stands.

Of the 400 new Delphia boats slated to be built over the coming decade for Le Boat, 100 will be made in the next three years, including at least 25 in 2025.

These orders will be a combination of the current Horizon range, plus 34 of a premium new one to two cabin boat, aptly named “Liberty” which will be launched in 2025.

Enhanced boat models

In addition, the two industry leaders will also be developing a new three to four cabin model for launch in 2027.

This new model will be designed in collaboration with Le Boat and will have both private and charter variants; the charter version will be exclusive to Le Boat.

They will include full air conditioning, a superior fly bridge and provide the most premium boating experience on the waterways.

To cater for the growing popularity of Le Boat’s ownership program, the agreement will also enable customers to invest in the new top-of-the-range boats.

The program allows owners to enjoy guaranteed income whilst taking on average fourteen weeks’ holiday every year on their own boat, or a sister boat across Le Boat’s 17 cruising regions in Europe and Canada.

Since 2016, Le Boat has seen a three-fold increase in their boat ownership program in Europe since their Horizon fleet was launched.

Le Boat Ownership Program

The Le Boat Ownership Program was also recently rolled out to the North American Market.

As part of this supply agreement, Delphia and LeBoat are also working 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. 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,” said Cheryl Brown, Le Boat’s managing director.

“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.”

The new Liberty boat range goes on sale from June 11, 2024, and will be available to cruise from selected Le Boat bases in France, Germany, England and The Netherlands in the 2025 season.

Le Boat specializes in canal cruise rentals and boasts a fleet of more than 950 boats in more than 33 departure bases across eight countries, including France, Belgium, England, Scotland. Ireland, Germany, Italy, Netherland and Canada. 

No boating experience is required as Le Boat teaches your clients, and their crew, everything they need to know to captain their own private houseboat. 

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