Beneteau-Fountaine Pajot: Hamon to head Elektra Marine

By Press Mare

10/09/2026 - 19:33

Groupe Beneteau and Groupe Fountaine Pajot have appointed Philippe Hamon president of Elektra Marine, the 50/50 joint venture the two companies announced in April to electrify boating. The announcement came on 10 September in Cannes, during the Cannes Yachting Festival, together with the confirmation of JOOOL as the single brand for the solutions Elektra Marine markets and an increase in the number of boats and shipyards involved.

Hamon spent nearly thirty years in the automobile industry, notably at Valeo, a sector shaped by electrification, component standardisation, shared platforms and large-scale industrialisation. His remit covers the growth of the business, the structuring of the product offering and its rollout across a growing number of brands and models.

"Given my experience in the automobile industry, I am convinced that standardization and platform strategies make it possible to offer reliable energy management systems at competitive prices. JOOOL already has significant experience with electrification in the boating sector. The partnership between the BENETEAU and FOUNTAINE PAJOT groups will enable us to accelerate standardization. The systems developed will be available to other partner shipyards, allowing them to benefit from proven and competitive solutions," said Philippe Hamon, President of ELEKTRA MARINE.

The joint venture pools expertise, development work and production volumes to offer standardised electrification solutions open to the whole boating industry. Its stated target is to contribute to electrifying 10 to 15 percent of the global sailing market by 2030.

JOOOL brings together propulsion, energy storage, conversion and management, along with interfaces and services, on a platform designed to suit different boat sizes and uses. The offering rests on 28 years of experience in marine electrification, more than one million hours of operational data at sea, 44 hybrid sailboats sailing across five continents and several shipyards already using the technology.

"With JOOOL, we're not starting from scratch. We're building on proven solutions to create a robust, standardized, and scalable offering. Five months after announcing our partnership with Groupe Fountaine Pajot, we're picking up the pace: dedicated governance, a single brand, and a shared platform for electric propulsion and onboard energy autonomy. The challenge now is to create the conditions for scaling up marine electrification," said Bruno Thivoyon, Chairman of Groupe Beneteau.

"Our conviction is clear: the decarbonization of boating will only be able to scale up if we are able to go beyond individual initiatives. We have gained practical experience with electrification on our own boats; the challenge now is to put that experience to work toward a collective goal. Together with ELEKTRA MARINE and JOOOL, we want to help shape a new generation of solutions that can set the standard for the entire boating industry," added Mathieu Fountaine, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Groupe Fountaine Pajot.

JOOOL solutions cover several electrification configurations, both low- and high-voltage, built on shared technical blocks. Eight brands are involved: BENETEAU, JEANNEAU, LAGOON, LAGOON Signature, EXCESS, Fountaine Pajot, Fountaine Pajot Yachts and Dufour. Four models come from Groupe Beneteau and ten from Groupe Fountaine Pajot. Three shipyards outside the two groups currently work with JOOOL: Leopard Catamaran, RM Yachts and Chantier de l'Arsenal.

Support runs through 19 after-sales service centres worldwide. Onboard connectivity combining satellite and cellular networks via a secure gateway allows the system to be monitored remotely wherever the boat has a connection. After-sales teams can view status reports and alarms, analyse parameters and historical data, change certain settings and deploy software updates, helping the crew or a local partner and, where the fault allows, restoring the system without an on-site visit.

JOOOL belongs to Alternatives Energies, founded in 1997, which has been developing electrification solutions for the naval and maritime sectors for nearly thirty years.