SMITHS FALLS, ON — A new agreement between Le Boat and Groupe Beneteau under their Delphia brand in Poland will see Europe’s largest boat rental company invest over £100 million into its international fleet over the next 10 years.

Le Boat says the deal will ensure travellers have an even greater range of options to choose from when planning their private boat rental vacation, and provides innovation to the current charter market as it stands.

Of the 400 new Delphia boats slated to be built over the coming decade for Le Boat, 100 will be made in the next three years, including at least 25 in 2025. These orders will be a combination of the current Horizon range, plus 34 of a premium new one to two cabin boat, named ‘Liberty’, which will be launched in 2025.

The two companies will also be developing a new industry-leading three-to-four cabin model for launch in 2027. This new model will be designed in collaboration with Le Boat and will have both private and charter variants; the charter version will be exclusive to Le Boat. They will include full air conditioning, a superior fly bridge and provide the most premium boating experience on the waterways, according to Le Boat.

To cater for the growing popularity of Le Boat’s ownership program, the agreement will also enable customers to invest in the new top-of-the-range boats. The program allows owners to receive guaranteed income while taking on average 14 weeks’ holiday every year on their own boat, or a sister boat across Le Boat’s 17 cruising regions in Europe and Canada. From 2016, Le Boat has seen a threefold increase in their boat ownership program in Europe since their Horizon fleet was launched. The Le Boat ownership program was also recently rolled out to the North American market.

As part of this supply agreement, Delphia and LeBoat are also working to expand into the North American market using a partnership that will allow for the development of new fleets and new locations for both charter holidays and boat sales.

“We’re delighted to be building upon our long-standing relationship with Groupe Beneteau to support the next stage of Le Boat’s growth journey,” said Cheryl Brown, Le Boat’s Managing Director. “It will allow us to continue developing high quality river cruisers which our customers will love, and enable us both to expand into North America. With these innovative new boats and stunning potential cruising grounds, this offers us a fantastic opportunity to grow both the charter and boat sales sides of our business.”

The new Liberty boat range goes on sale starting today, June 11, and will be available to cruise from selected Le Boat bases in France, Germany, England and The Netherlands in the 2025 season. No experience is required. For more information visit www.leboat.ca or call 1-800-734-5491.