CNB YACHTS - 35 Years of Craftsmanship & Innovation

CNB was founded in the late 80's at the shores of river Garrone in Bordeaux and a few years after it was acquired by the Beneteau group to be a producer of premium custom and semi-custom yachts that were otherwise not offered by the lineup of the standard production models. At the time, CNB was already known for its production quality, artisan mastery, attention to detail and exceptional interior and exterior finish.?

All in all about 90 CNB yachts have been built to date and not even a single unit, an individual production of CNB yachts is similar to another. All yachts are known by their names originally given to them and the vast majority of them were exported mostly to Europe. Famous designers collaborated with the brand such a Bruce Farr, Frers, Phillippe Briand and others.

On 8 April 2021, Group Beneteau announced a major buyout of CNB to Solaris Yachts which is based in the historic town of Aquileia in North East of Italy. Istion Yachting representing CNB in Greece was present at the first dealers meeting held at the Italian shipyard.

Solaris Yachts is a young, energetic & passionate team, an Italian shipyard with a deeply rooted yachting DNA and sophistication depicted in all its core design.?

The shipyard is responsible for massively manufacturing roughly about 70 boats each year, sailing and motor yachts with a plan to double production in the coming years. Those numbers do not include the new CNB models which by the way do not share the same hull moulds with the Solaris sailing models. The shipyard will expand its facilities in order to further boost its production capacity. Solaris Group also owns the Solaris Advanced Composites that has delivered various Wally & Solaris custom high performance yachts like the Wally 101 “Y3K”. An abundance of high tech design and construction experience.

Just after the acquisition, CNB introduces 2 new models, the CNB78 and the CNB88. They are designed by Phillipe Briant who now has the flexibility to undertake and design something that can be immediately implemented without any limitations and corporate hassle or board approvals for his designs to take form. The flexibility of the yard along with that of the designer's, the common sense approach ensures a very much improved yacht compared?to its predecessors. The list of makers is expanding, and so is the list of options.?

Both the 78 and 88 will keep some of the known CNB design features; a longitudinal tender garage with a simple roller launching mechanism and no complicated crane maneuvering arrangements, a totally flush deck for improved circulation (you can start walking from bow to stern and all around the aft deck and cockpit without having to step up or down), they will be lighter than their predecessors (lighter CNB78 hull compared to previous CNB76), their stern area will be about 90% of the maximum boat beam and they will feature two longitudinal hard chines that give a more racing look while hiding the actual increased width of the vessel. The design of the coachroof?keeps a slick line and a somewhat aggressive look as seen on its profile view.

Going down the hatch, the look will be more modern with seamless wood running from the sides up to the hull deck joint and then soft materials will be used to make the interior lighter and wider. Teak, walnut, oak all in their natural colors with no extra treatment, while the cabins will feature normal household rectangular beds.

For many sailing enthusiasts, an owner of a CNB yacht is not an owner of a CNB64 or a CNB92 or a CNB95 but the owner of a brand new, entirely custom-made yacht with a unique personality, a “Marina II”, a “Maricha II” or the owner of “Grand Bleu Vintage”

The future prospects look brighter now and the new CNB78 will be featured in 2023 in Cannes to steal the (boat) show.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Alex Thedoridis - Istion Yachting