Archambault: from the Surprise to the M34, the IRC yard in Dangé-Saint-Romain
Foundation and trajectory
Yard founded in 1967 in Dangé-Saint-Romain (Vienne) byJean-Jacques Archambault, who came from polyester lamination. Production of series-built racing-cruising sailboats in close collaboration with the naval architecture firmMichel Joubert thenJoubert-Nivelt. Judicial liquidation in 2015 after a first restructuring in 2012 (taken over by GCBTP, Gilles Caminade).
Construction
On the latest models (A35, M34, A13), hulls in glass/foam vinylester sandwich, injected decks, carbon masts (Axxon on the A13), deep bulb keels. IRC optimization on most of the post-2006 range.
After the liquidation
The molds were taken over in 2015 byBG Race in Saint-Malo (Servane Escoffier and Louis Burton), which relaunched a small series of Surprise. After BG Race’s liquidation, Didier Bouygues acquired the Surprise molds and foundedBateaux Phoenix (La Rochelle) which continues today small-scale production.
