Chantiers Amel is a French shipyard founded by Henri Amel in 1965. Based in La Rochelle, Amel is known for its production of ocean-going sailboats.
History Yacht designer Henri Amel founded Chantiers Amel in 1965. During World War II, Amel noticed that the floating caissons used by invading Allied naval forces in France relied on polyester resin construction, which he would ultimately adopt in the production of his boats.
Amel's first boat, the Super Mistral Sport, was built in Marseille after he took over a failing shipyard. The boat itself was a success, but the business failed. In 1963, Amel began building boats in the shipyard of another builder at La Rochelle. He split off on his own, founding Chantiers Amel in 1965. A fire burned his new shipyard to the ground in 1967, but it was rebuilt and a success by 1973.
Amel was blind for an extended period of his career.
At the time of his death in 2005, Amel donated 12,000 of his 13,000 shares in Chantier Amel to the company's employees.
Boats Chantiers Amel has produced a variety of sloops and ketches for blue water cruising and for day sailing. For many years, Chantiers Amel was known for its practice of only producing a single model at a time. Since around 2010, the company has been producing two models at a time; currently the Amel 50 and Amel 60. Both are sloops with optional solent rig staysails, designed by Jean Berret & Olivier Racoupeau.
+ Models Model Rig Length, metres From To Designer(s) Super Mistral Sport Sloop 7.06 1961 1972 Henri Amel Alisio Sloop 9.40 1962 1966 Henri Amel Copain Sloop 5.25 1962 1968 Henri Amel Pampero 5.74 1963 1968 Henri Amel Euros 39 Ketch 11.75 1966 1972 Henri Amel Garbi Sloop 6 1971 1972 Henri Amel Maramu Ketch 13.80 1978 1989 Henri Amel Mango Ketch 15.82 1979 1989 Henri Amel Sharki Ketch 11.95 1979 1989 Henri Amel Fango Sloop 10 1985 1991 Henri Amel Santorin Sloop 14 1989 1997 Henri Amel Super Maramu Ketch 16 1988 1998 Henri Amel Super Maramu 2000 Ketch 16 1998 2006 Henri Amel Amel 54 Ketch 17.20 2005 2011 Henri Amel Amel 64 Ketch 19.60 2010 2019 Jean Berret & Olivier Racoupeau Amel 55 Ketch 17.30 2011 2018 Jean Berret & Olivier Racoupeau Amel 50 Sloop/Solent 15.51 2017 Ongoing Jean Berret & Olivier Racoupeau Amel 60 Sloop/Solent 18 2019 Ongoing Jean Berret & Olivier Racoupeau
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