The Story of CNB

Passion, know-how and commitment

When the golden-black hull of the Mari-Cha II was launched into the Garonne for the first time in 1989, Dieter Gust and Olivier Lafourcade had won their bet! Two years earlier, the renowned yacht architect German Frers had entrusted the two passionate sailors with the construction of the 92-foot-long yacht in the location of the former shipyard Ateliers et Chantiers du Sud-Ouest. Impeccable metalworking, profound knowledge of the system, perfect joinery… the foundations for Construction Navale Bordeaux had been laid! In 30 years, the shipyard has continuously evolved, without ever losing sight of their basic principles: modern elegance, best quality, excellent sailing performance!

At its Bordeaux site, CNB has 5 production halls with a total surface area of 50,000 m2, its own design office with more than 60 employees and a total of 68 ultra-competent production teams capable of meeting any challenge.

And so, in 1997, the product department CNB Pro was established in parallel to the yacht building. It made a name for itself in the construction of passenger-, work-, and operational ships.

In 1998, the introduction of composite materials and the mastery of injection molding followed.

Since 2008, CNB has been very successfully building semi-custom yachts, consistently utilizing the experience from mega-yachts. The target of this product line is building very functionally safe, high-quality and fast yachts, that fulfill the demands of a small crew regarding both nautical as well as technical requirements.

This concept together with the outstanding cost/performance ratio led to the CNB 76 being the most successful yacht ever built in this market segment. The CNB 66 continues this philosophy as the third model of this series – and casually captivates with an amazing appearance.

In the last 30 years, more than 100 yachts and professional ships have been launched from the shipyard in Bordeaux, carrying the brand CNB Yacht Builders across the world’s oceans. Names like Hamilton II, Grand Bleu Vintage and Chrisco have become synonyms for elegance and perfection in the sophisticated world of super-yachts, earning CNB many prizes. But above all, we are proud of the fact that we have been able to form long-term relationships to our yacht owners, built on trust and individual support!