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Born on April 16 1913, Henri Amel was fascinated by sailing even from a very young age. As he came to the end of his teenage years, he started sailing alone on small yachts. He was to build boats in his bodywork business in Paris. Unfortunately, the war came along, and so Henry was called up. After the war years, he continued boat-building in Lyon. 

Since 1962 AMEL has also had a base in the Mediterranean, in the new port at Hyères. The La Rochelle workshops produced the Copain, the Pampero, the Super Mistral Sport and the Euros 39. As a pioneer in polyester construction, AMEL manufactures its boats using a GRP, assembling via stratification of internal bulkheads, deck and hull a single piece structure, forming an entirely waterproof and highly resistant composition.

Atlantic crossing

Taking just under a year from Oct 1975 to June 1976: La Route des Cocotiers. Mr Amel crossed the Atlantic making for the West Indies, then passed through the Panama Canal en route to Polynesia. On that voyage, Henry takes three other crew-mates. During this journey working with Jacques Carte and at a distance, Henry Amel designed the Maramu.

For the next 30 Years, the winning formula serves the Amel brand very well.

April 12 2005: Henri Amel died. From 2005, it was decided that boats produced by the yard would no longer be named after winds or islands but bore the name "AMEL". The French La Rochelle-Périgny factory expands, and a new 4000m² building is opened. It was expected soon; the yard would be producing larger units. This turned out to be correct, and the yard made the AMEL 64. January 2014: Jean-Jacques Lemonnier leaves his position as chief executive. He is replaced by Emmanuel Poujeade, Chantiers AMEL's financial director. Mr Lemonnier joined the company in March 2000 and is now Chairman of the Board.

March 17 2020

Due to the French President's speech of March 16 2020, and the subsequent government's lockdown, a decision made on March 17 2020, to suspend production at the Amel factory. Only a small team continued to finish works on two Yachts in the yard. Since that time, The Amel team worked on organising a return to work. On April 8, 30% of the Amel factory staff returned to the yard. All workers followed the doctor's recommendations to wear personal protective equipment. Tools and disinfection, social distancing were all observed. A few employees were able to return to work in all production stages. Of course, the workshop atmosphere is still tranquil compared to the usual conditions. The Amel Team will adapt to the needs, work at the factory will resume when the pandemic crisis comes to an end.

2018 Amel wins award

In 2018, Amel 50 was voted and awarded « European Yacht of the Year ». This prestigious industry title rewards the best yachts in 5 separate categories: Family-Cruiser, Performance-Cruiser, Luxury-Cruiser, Multihulls and Specialist Yachts.

« Amel say, "We are very honoured and very grateful that the Amel 50 Yacht was awarded European Yacht of the Year for the Luxury Cruiser Yacht category. Above all, we are proud and very happy for the whole team at the Amel Yard. Everybody associated has worked with real commitment and enthusiasm. We hope that the success of the Amel 50 will keep on growing for many years to come! »

Emmanuel Poujeade,

Chief executive of the AMEL shipyards.

Amel History researched and updated in 2018 by Network Yacht Brokers Barcelona

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