Bénéteau, the world’s biggest sailboat builder, has announced plans to double its boat-building by 2015.

The French group, which also operates the Jeanneau and Lagoon brands, made the revelations, as it confirmed its 2011 forecasts at its annual financial meeting in Paris.

Bénéteau predicts that its boat sales will be up by 20 per cent this year on 2010, when they were worth €573.5 million.

Emerging markets, such as Brazil and the Far East, are the areas where Bénéteau expects the majority of the growth to come from and it has already purchased a new production facility in the South American country.

CEO Bruno Cathelinais indicated that a similar investment in China was also possible. He said: ‘Our concessionaires in China are having to learn everything from scratch, but once everything is in place, growth will be very fast indeed.

‘Companies fortunate enough to have solid financials have not been focussed on finding funds, but instead on developing new markets.’

By 2015 emerging markets are expected to represent 14 per cent of Bénéteau’s business.

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