Beneteau and Fountaine Pajot launch E-LEKTRA MARINE electric sailing venture

Beneteau and Fountaine Pajot have put their biggest industrial bet behind electric sailing: E-LEKTRA MARINE, a 50/50 venture designed to move multihull electrification from showcase concept to standard production strategy. Unveiled April 22 at La Grande Motte during the International Multihull Show, the platform unites Beneteau, Jeanneau, Lagoon, Excess, Fountaine Pajot Sailing Catamarans, Fountaine Pajot Yachts and Dufour, brands the companies say account for roughly 60% of the global sailing market.

That scale is what makes the move matter for catamaran buyers. Instead of a single prototype or one-off special build, the venture is meant to create a shared technical base for yachts from 9 to 24 metres, with fully electric, low-voltage hybrid and high-voltage hybrid options. The companies say the aim is to help push 10% to 15% of the global sailing market toward electric by 2030, a serious target in a segment where more than 99% of sailboats still depend on an internal combustion engine for harbour manoeuvres, motoring in light airs and onboard energy.

The practical appeal is not only cleaner propulsion. E-LEKTRA MARINE is being built around the messy reality of how modern sailing yachts actually live at sea: solar power, batteries, generators, propulsion motors, hotel loads and shore-power integration all have to work together. The platform will include real-time consumption monitoring on a display interface, an owner-facing user interface, a standard architecture supported by a trained global network and refit options for existing boats. For buyers comparing a new catamaran purchase, that could mean clearer specification, easier servicing and a more predictable path to electrification across a dealer network that already knows the brands.

Both groups were already moving in this direction on their own. Groupe Beneteau has offered low-voltage electric solutions on sailboats up to 12 metres for several years, while Fountaine Pajot has deployed high-voltage hybrid systems on catamarans over 15 metres. Fountaine Pajot says it began thinking about energy transition in 2011 with its Eco Cruising concept, later bringing out the Aura 51 SMART Electric and the Samana 59 Smart Electric REXH2 prototype. Its Odysséa 2024 plan points toward carbon neutrality by 2030, and the company says 80% of a yacht’s carbon footprint occurs during use.

The new venture also ties into a wider industrial network. E-LEKTRA MARINE will work with Alternatives Energies in La Rochelle, Cirtem in Toulouse and EVE System in Lyon. Alternatives Energies says it pioneered electric and hybrid propulsion integration with a 100% electric boat in La Rochelle in 1998. If the shared platform delivers on its promise, electrified catamarans will stop looking like isolated statements and start looking like the next normal order sheet.