Buying a used Jouet: a name that spans three ownership eras
A used Jouet is a purchase into a shipyard's changing ownership as much as into a boat: the Sartrouville yard behind these boats isn't a single consistent builder, but one that changed hands and names more than once — from the family-run Chantiers navals de Sartrouville and P. Jouët & Cie, to the Dubigeon-Normandie-owned Yachting France that carried the name through its final two decades. Because the yard itself didn't survive past the 1980s, condition, prior ownership, and the specific construction era matter more here than the badge on the transom.
Which era to target
Anything built before 1958 came out of a wood-construction yard; from 1958 on, once the business began producing polyester hulls through a Dieppe partner, Jouet's boats were built in fiberglass. Boats carrying the Yachting France name — including designs like the Philippe Harlé-designed Jouët 27, built 1973-78 — reflect the yard's later, larger-scale fiberglass era, and that era ended when the company folded in the late 1980s, one of the yards lost to French boatbuilding's first industry-wide downturn. Buyers should treat that closure date as the effective end of factory parts support and continuity for the brand, regardless of which era a given boat comes from.
What to inspect across the range
On the smaller centerboard cruisers from the fiberglass years, published reviews single out the swing-keel lifting mechanism as a recurring weak point: boatnews.com's review of the Jouët 550 notes a lack of keel stability, and dedicated owner documentation for the Jouët 680 describes cases where the centerboard's lifting gear failed and left the board stuck down, effectively converting the boat into a fixed-keel design. Buyers considering one of Jouet's centerboard models should have that lifting mechanism specifically inspected before purchase.
Navigating the lineup
The range runs from small centerboard daysailers meant for shoal or trailerable use up to larger fiberglass cruisers from the Yachting France years; sorting by era and hull configuration is more useful here than sorting by model name, and the full model directory on this page breaks the lineup down further.
Where they're listed
Jouet listings appear across 10 countries. United Kingdom has the most listings with 6 (33.3%), followed by Netherlands and Switzerland.
Country view
18 listings · 10 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | $11,142 | 6 | 2 | 33.3% |
| Netherlands | $11,587 | 4 | 0 | 22.2% |
| Switzerland | $7,442 | 1 | 0 | 5.6% |
| Germany | $34,353 | 1 | 1 | 5.6% |
| Spain | $69,870 | 1 | 0 | 5.6% |
| France | $87,338 | 1 | 1 | 5.6% |
| Ireland | $11,645 | 1 | 1 | 5.6% |
| Martinique | $38,429 | 1 | 0 | 5.6% |
| Sweden | $38,795 | 1 | 1 | 5.6% |
| United States | $15,000 | 1 | 0 | 5.6% |
All Jouet models
1 model grouped by length overall. Open any model to see recent asking prices and active listings.