Yachting Art Magazine

To mark the Grand Pavois 2026, Yachting Art ActuNautique met Matthieu Le Bihan, director of Sevenstar Yacht Transport in France. Over the past ten years, the company has developed a boat transport business based on the Atlantic coast, which notably supports the export of French boat manufacturing. From specialised cargo ships to container ships, and from the United States to Polynesia, this highly specialised logistics sector is evolving in line with the market. Matthieu Le Bihan introduces us to this business in this programme filmed at the La Rochelle Yacht Club.

Sevenstar Yacht Transport: ten years of growth in France

Transporting a boat by sea does not necessarily mean sailing it. To transport sailing boats, motorboats or yachts over several thousand miles, another option is to load them onto commercial vessels specially adapted for this type of operation.

This is the speciality of Sevenstar Yacht Transport, whose international operations date back some thirty years. Its expansion into France began ten years ago, followed by the opening of an office in La Rochelle six years later.

Matthieu Le Bihan’s career path partly explains this move. Before joining Sevenstar, he was already working in the maritime transport of boats, specialising in a particularly technical area: offshore racing yachts competing in events such as the Route du Rhum, the Transat Jacques Vabre, the Mini Transat and the Figaro series.

Sevenstar then identified an opportunity: to apply this expertise to the much larger market for pleasure craft produced by French shipyards.

La Rochelle at the heart of a major nautical production hub

The reasoning is based on an industrial reality: a large proportion of French boat production is concentrated on the Atlantic coast, particularly around the Vendée, La Rochelle and Aquitaine regions.

According to figures from the Federation of Nautical Industries cited by Matthieu Le Bihan in the programme, around 80 per cent of boats produced in France are destined for export and long-haul export.

Historically, however, these boats would leave Europe from ports outside France. They would therefore have to be transported by lorry or shipped by sea to ports in northern Europe.

The challenge for Sevenstar was therefore to bring the transport vessel closer to the factories and to establish a proper yacht loading point on the French Atlantic coast.

A simple idea on paper, but much more complex to implement in reality. It is necessary not only to have the vessels available, but also to secure the cooperation of a port, organise handling operations, consolidate the boats and minimise the cargo ship’s lay-up time as much as possible.

From two to twenty annual calls at La Rochelle

The expansion took place gradually.

When the business first started, Sevenstar made only one or two calls a year. After four or five years, the frequency had risen to eight to ten calls. The opening of the La Rochelle office then accelerated the process: fifteen calls, then around twenty annual calls today, according to Matthieu Le Bihan.

This increase in volumes has also made it possible to increase the frequency of sailings. In maritime transport, the two are closely linked: more ships mean more port calls, whilst a higher frequency in turn makes the service more attractive to shipbuilders.

The main route on which Sevenstar has built its French operations links Europe to the United States and the Caribbean. Eleven vessels operate continuously on this route, which potentially represents one Atlantic crossing every fortnight.

La Rochelle is also connected to the Mediterranean with five to six annual calls, serving destinations such as Palma, Italy, the Adriatic and Turkey.

How is a yacht loaded onto a cargo ship?

This is one of the most spectacular aspects of this business.

Transporting a yacht obviously involves more than simply placing a boat on the deck of a cargo ship. Each operation requires specific technical preparation.

Sevenstar has a design office in Amsterdam that works from the plans provided by the shipyards. The engineers draw up the loading plan to the nearest centimetre, as well as the lifting plans and cradles required to secure the boat. These are certified by Lloyd’s, explains Matthieu Le Bihan.

The fleet is therefore only part of the operation. Human expertise, engineering and mastery of handling operations are just as important.

This expertise also makes it possible to work on large vessels. In the longer term, new materials could further transform lifting operations. Matthieu Le Bihan cites, in particular, the potential for increased use of Dyneema to handle yachts under better conditions.

From bulk transport to a boat shipped to the other side of the world

The nautical market is, however, evolving rapidly.

Following the particularly busy years in the wake of the Covid period, manufacturers and their distributors are now seeking new markets. However, not all destinations can be served by the major scheduled routes operated by Sevenstar.

The company is therefore simultaneously developing so-called ‘spot’ solutions, capable of meeting specific demand: the Indian Ocean, Polynesia, Asia or other destinations served less regularly.

In such cases, Sevenstar can purchase space on a vessel operated by another shipping line. Matthieu Le Bihan specifically mentions CMA CGM, Maersk and MSC among the partners likely to be called upon.

The benefit is not necessarily financial. A bespoke service may cost more than bulk transport. However, it offers two significant advantages: the frequency of departures and the number of accessible ports.

Yachts on container ships

This development is leading to surprising solutions, including the transport of boats on container ships.

For certain vessels, specialised equipment allows for the transport of cargo whose dimensions exceed those of a standard 40-foot container. Boats can be loaded onto ‘flats’ and, for the largest dimensions, onto several supports forming a proper transport bed. This solution applies in particular to boats up to around forty feet in length in certain configurations mentioned in the programme.

Each case therefore requires collaboration between Sevenstar’s technicians and engineers and those of the shipping lines to precisely define the handling and transport method.

The second-hand market is also becoming global

This capability is now attracting interest from another sector: brokerage and the second-hand boat market.

The internet has largely globalised this market. A boat owner based in the Philippines can easily find a model in the United States that matches their requirements exactly.

All that remains is to transport the boat.

Unlike the regular industrial flows of shipbuilders, the point of departure and destination can vary with each operation. The challenge therefore lies in establishing a specific logistics chain, from the port where the boat is located to its final destination.

This is probably one of the most interesting developments in Sevenstar’s business: being able to combine the advantages of a specialised fleet and regular routes with those of the global network of major shipping lines.

Ten years after establishing itself in France, the company continues to adapt its business model in line with developments in the boating markets.

In this 14-minute programme filmed at the Grand Pavois in La Rochelle in 2026, Matthieu Le Bihan talks to Yachting Art ActuNautique about this decade of development and takes us behind the scenes of a line of work rarely seen by the general public: transporting boats on boats.