From her office in France, Madame Annette Beneteau Roux, granddaughter of her company's founder, Benjamin Beneteau, oversees the largest boatbuilding company in the world.

In the US, the Beneteau and Jeanneau brands are madame's two most popular lines. Under the banner of Beneteau USA, the company markets the Beneteau line, once known as Oceanis models, as distinguished from the First line of performance cruisers. Historically, the Beneteau marque has been stamped on a cruiser with a distinctly European flair. However, recent French-European styling is less pronounced than in boats introduced 10 years ago. They can generally be characterized as having a turn of speed, spacious accommodations, and pricing competitive with…