About us
Located in Tarare since 1963, META is the manufacturer of Bernard Moitessier's historical JOSHUA. Thanks to the Strongall® assembly process, patented by the shipyard in 1977, and its unique know-how the shipyard designs and builds sailboats, trawlers, speedboats and other floating buildings using the deck hull prestressed aluminum technique: our constructions are efficient, innovative, comfortable and very resistant.
About us
The History of the Site
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1952
It is in Chauffailles, in Saône et Loire, that Jean Fricaud, an enlightened self-taught metallurgist, takes advantage of his workshops to build his first 11m steel motor-sailer: the SAINTE MARTHE.
At the age of 13, Joseph, the eldest son, dreams of cars, drawing and mechanics... and of leaving school as soon as possible in order to start an apprenticeship-which he will do, with his father's blessing. -
1956
The workshops, in full effervescence, set up a construction line for hydraulic shovels, Joseph finished his apprenticeship as a mechanic in Lyon and left to enrich his technical knowledge in various regional boiler making workshops hoping, as soon as possible, to practice metallurgy on his own account.
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1961
Still in Chauffailles, Jean Fricaud is approached by Bernard Moitessier, for whom he agrees, as a good patron, to build the steel hull of JOSHUA. At the same time, Joseph set up under the name META and became a subcontractor for his father's excavator company.
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1962
Jean Fricaud, in Chauffailles, has exhausted all the possibilities for expanding his hydraulic excavator construction company and sets up an additional workshop in Tarare, on the RN7, near Lyon. META, still in Chauffailles, began to diversify and expanded its range of construction equipment.
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1963
Jean Fricaud seized the opportunity of a lifetime and sold his prosperous business to an industrial group: he had just built the motorboat NADINE and could finally devote himself to deep-sea fishing. But the buyer does not want to expand to Tarare, where the workshop has just been completed. Sensing "the emergence of a market", Jean proposed to his son to build steel boats there. Joseph obeyed and fate precipitated events: thanks to the publicity generated by Bernard Moitessier's exploits, META became a full-fledged shipyard in Tarare.
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1977
After having built more than 70 JOSHUAS, more than 30 DAMIENS II, and many other steel hulls, Joseph launches a big paving stone in the pond and abandons steel in favor of STRONGALL® aluminum, which he has just patented. His pre-stressed aluminum construction technique makes it possible to create extremely resistant deck hulls. The young subsidiary PROMETA, directed by François Fevre, also abandons steel for STRONGALL®.
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1984
Patrice Passinge is 17 years old when he joins META as a metal worker, under the supervision of André Ravatier, the company's workshop manager. Joseph carefully follows Patrice's efforts, and despite his young age, he soon proves to be an outstanding journeyman.
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1998
Patrice Passinge became workshop manager when, after his excellent career at META, André Ravatier took his legitimate retirement. At the end of the 90's, aware that Joseph was getting older, various buyers came forward with the objective of expanding the company. But Joseph wanted to preserve the family spirit of the company and decided to pass on META to Patrice, who had a solid background and an excellent culture of the business.
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2005
Joseph definitively transfers the META Chantier Naval Spécialiste du STRONGALL® brand and all its activities to Patrice Passinge.
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2006/2007
Construction and launch of FLEUR AUSTRALE, the magnificent custom sailing boat designed for and by Philippe Poupon. This large expedition ketch travels in all the waters of the world in complete safety, from the Arctic to the Antarctic via the Pacific Ocean.
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2009/2010
Design and construction of the Ecotroll 39 in partnership with Jean-Pierre Brouns and the Olbia shipyard. The smallest troller approved for ocean navigation, it sailed from Lyon to Greenland through canals and oceans before returning to Lyon via the Canal du Midi in spring 2011.
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2013
50 years of META Shipyard on the island of Frioul opposite Marseille. Great meeting with many clients and personalities owning META yachts.
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2016
META is diversifying by proposing hulls for various floating projects, such as the development of a floating restaurant (entre deux ô) visible on Roanne.
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2019
Based on our floating projects, Dominique Renouf called on META to build Solar Carriage. Real floating habitats with electric propulsion, the Solar Carriage are powered by photovoltaic panels and can navigate on canals and rivers in an ecological way, an important value of our company. In parallel, META is working on its first production boat, the META 36.
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03.2020
Thursday March 12, a few hours before the first presidential address concerning the containment due to COVID-19, Philippe Brabetz signs the takeover of META Chantier Naval Specialist of the STRONGALL®. Patrice Passinge will launch a carpentry workshop dedicated to the interior fittings of the META 36, at the Tarare location.
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11.2020
The takeover is final and the shipyard, renamed META Yachts—Architect Shipyard—Strongall® Specialist, resists to the COVID wave and follows its course. Philippe conceides his TurboKeels® patent to the company and initiates a range of innovative designs for modern, attractive and highly performing sailboats, new motorboats. META Yachts confirms the desire to invest in environmentally clean projects such as electro-solar housing barge carried by Dominique Renouf, and gorgeous Noé boat, carried by Nicolas Lallemand.
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03.2021
Inauguration de META Yachts Services, à Port Saint Louis du Rhône, sur la côte méditerranéenne, cofondée par Philippe Brabetz et Fréderic Switala, pour l'entretien, le gardiennage et la vente de bateaux META Yachts d'occasion.
Technical Legacy
Bernard Moitessier
Writer of great talent, exceptional sailor and philosopher recognized well beyond our borders,
Bernard MOITESSIER (1925 – 1994) has become a legend.
He has given rise to strong vocations by communicating his precious philosophy to all those who, in love with freedom, have “taken the plunge” and are blossoming far from our agitated lands. Everything or almost everything… has been said and written about Bernard, a very unusual character. “I am weighing these words because I fear that his formidable genius of simplicity has escaped some people and has disappeared into the oblivion of history, which would be unjust and regrettable. More than any other sailor, Bernard was haunted not only by the obligation of robustness of the boat, but also by maintenance, hence maximum simplicity. In this perfect sailor’s logic, the deck of JOSHUA – by its very studied simplicity – has always constituted, in my eyes, an essential work reference. Today, every builder (amateur or professional) should be inspired by the best of this masterpiece of practical common sense, on aluminum as on steel.
Drastically simple, but with minimum solutions that have been carefully thought through… On the JOSHUA bridge, nothing should catch, nothing should hurt, nothing should jam: no rails or screwed parts, but welding of sturdy rings instead (to make it easier to surf with the brush, to keep everything clean, and to do away with protective adhesives! Moreover, the most economical solutions were the order of the day, because Bernard was really not rich when Jean, my father, built for him in 1961, the hull number 1 of JOSHUA in CHAUFFAILLES. Among the original features of this deck plan – of a monarchal rigor – the famous “Chinese hood” for example, is worth the detour: 100% watertight thanks to its judicious volumes of depression in spite of the absence of flexible joint, inviolable, reducing thermal bridges, it divides by 3 the times of painting on its perimeter while maintaining the aspect of the new: who does better?
I was very young in the trade when my small team of journeymen started the construction of the JOSHUAS in TARARE, and Bernard’s sponsorship was a great help to me!
More than forty years separate us today from the launching of Bernard’s hull in LYON, and the spirit of the master is still deeply rooted in our reflexes – everything that could be tried differently often turned out to be less convincing, so thank you Bernard for your intelligent contribution to the design of the metal decks of our sailing ships.
Joseph FRICAUD
, Founder of META Chantier Naval
Strongall®
Our Strongall® construction technique
There is no such thing as the a universal or perfect material, and here is why we have chosen aluminum to replace steel:
- Aluminum boats are solid: constructions are homogeneous, without joints between welded elements and without weaknesses caused by composite associations of various materials
- Aluminum boats have a great longevity, are a good investment when budgets are under control and if they’ve been well designed and especially well built, they maintain a good rating when resold
- Aluminum grades 5083 and 5086 require little maintenance
Why Strongall®?
This aluminum construction method was developed and patented by META Chantier Naval in 1977. The concept is that of a self-supporting aluminum deck hull, based on the use of thick sheets: the transverse structure is then reduced to a minimum (integrated tanks, engine cradle, mast belt, crash-box or watertight bulkhead) depending on the size of the boat.
This type of construction is synonymous to robustness and longevity, warrants of the significant investment a boat represents over the years.
The Advantages of Strongall®:
- Stronger than equal weight steel construction
- About 30% lighter than the same steel shell with comparable strength
- The use of thick sheets allows a greater intensity in welding thus eliminating the risk of “sticking”, and guarantees a better fusion of the metal
- Little or no deformation of the plating sheets
- The thickness of the sheets increases the resistance to corrosion and significantly reduces the risk of metal fatigue (repeated cycles of torsion-bending of the planks where the hull is a hollow beam moving on complex waves and swell phenomena)
- The hull is treated with inorganic Zinc Silicate
- The painting of the dead works and the bridge is only necessary for cosmetic reasons, they can remain raw without consequence for the material.
- A significant advantage for the shipowner, the absence of internal restrictive structures makes the design of the fittings more flexible.
Architectural constraint:
The hulls require developable hull surfaces and lively chine(s)—easily integrated in elegant and efficient designs!
Over 300 sailboats, motorboats and trollers have been built in Tarare since 1977, their extreme robustness secures navigation in particularly difficult areas: Arctic, Northwest Passage, Antarctica…
COME MEET US IN TARARE, AND GET A FEELING OF WHAT WE REALLY DO!
TurboKeels®
A solution for ballasting lead from one side to the other…
To displace the center of gravity without relying on complex tilting keels, Philippe Brabetz, new owner of the Meta shipyard, has come up with an ingenious solution: TurboKeels®, or how to ballast lead from one keel to another!
Already used on tilting keel sailboats such as IMOCAs, the system literally involves shifting the center of gravity of the boat—but a tilting keel requires a large draft and a complex, expensive and above all fragile mechanism not suitable for cruising yachts.
With TurboKeels®, Philippe Brabetz applies the above basic premise to twin keel boats. The 2 keels are then used as reservoirs to accommodate the ballast which travels from one keel to the other as needed, and following a closed circuit mechanism activated by a simple pump.
The advantages of Turbokeels are:
- Enhances power
- Diminishes heel angle
- Allows for shallow draft
- Beachable
- Simple, reliable and economical
Stronglite®
—The Stronglite® technique is undergoing scrutiny by our R&D team—
you can stay tuned and follow our social media networks
Our team
Philippe Brabetz
Owner & CEO
Nathalie Simon
Administration & Sales
Victor Kopf
Design Office Manager
Carolina Pagliuca
Multitask partner
Lionel
Dockyard Technical advisor
Simon
Aluminum Ship Builder
Morgan
Aluminum Ship Builder
Wesley
Chaudronnier
Océane Cambier
Engineer - Intern
Past Collaborators
Stay in touch
Our team
Philippe Brabetz
Philippe Brabetz has an architecture degree from the Paris-La-Villette School of Architecture. While studying to become a building specialist, he attends Dominique Presle’s naval architecture courses and becomes passionate about the subject.
He graduates shortly after the first Gulf War, when jobs were hard to come round, and nevertheless manages to join the Guignols’ team at Canal+, working at the design and production of TV sets and special effects as of 1995.
Ten years later, still passionate about shipbuilding, he joins the Nantes Naval Architecture DPEA which he tops by an internship for the construction of America’s Cup Areva Challenge monohull.
During his collaboration with shipyards and naval architecture firms in France, Spain and Morocco, he invents TurboKeels: a twin-keel system whose lest is ballasted from side to side. The invention patented, taking over META Shipyard seemed like the next best thing to do.
His mission is to consolidate the achievements of the legendary shipyard, but also to add the creative touch that will allow META to navigate today’s challenging waters and thus continue its fantastic adventure.
Our team
Nathalie Simon
Born in the same valley as META and with a name familiar to windserfers worldwide, her career was mapped out: since 2008, Nathalie has been assisting the shypyard’s management from an administrative, commercial and accounting point of view.
An Executive Assistant by training, she favors positions which allow for the widest diversity of tasks, within human scale structures. It is an interactive and stimulating format that she appreciates and that participates to the great complementarity between her very “maritime” professional activity and very terrestrial personal interests: running, cycling, hiking are all activities which fill her up with the energy and enthusiasm we much appreciate.
Nathalie is a valued collaborator, who faithfully has and does contribute to the welfare of the company .
Our team
Victor Kopf
Victor discovers marine environment at a young age, in the Charentais canals where he first tackles sailing. What began as a simple hobby turns into passion and he quickly becomes a sailing instructor.
Combining this passion to his science based academic curriculum helps him develop strong professional skills, relevant to the naval architecture degree he soon decides to pursue. He enrolls at Southampton, in England, where he obtains a license and master’s degree in Yacht Design and Ship Science.
Upon returning to France, he shapes his experience working with large firms such as Marc Lombard, Berret-Racoupeau, as well as for the J-composites Website.
Lover of nature, water sports and concerned about the environment, Victor tackles a first adventure: his first transatlantic round-trip, aboard an Attalia.
He is now—and for our greatest pleasure—in the midst of his second great adventure: his meaningful collaboration as a fully-fledged member of the META team.
Our team
Carolina Pagliuca
Carolina supports Philippe in the implementation of the company’s long-term vision, while respecting the human values echoed by META
Our team
Lionel
Lionel has learned and confectioned his skill at aluminum ship building at META, where he’s been a faithful member of the team since 2004. He has become the metalworkers’ go-to person for all questions related to Strongall® boat building techniques.
Not only is he an experienced boilermaker, he’s got a secret skill up his sleeve: he grows grapes which participate in the making of one of the local Rhone wines.
We’re looking forward to the META vintage 😉
Our team
Simon
Our team
Morgan
Our team
Wesley
Our team
Océane Cambier
Our team
Past Collaborators
Pascal Ravatier worked with META short of 25 years. Difficult to say exactly how many boats he helped build that still navigate our wordly seas. We will forever remember his exemplary skills, good humour and kind disposition.
Léo Jouberton is a SeaTech Toulon engineer. Passionate about sailing since a young age, he did his final internship with META. His know-how and interpersonal skills will not be forgotten. He’s pursuing his training in naval architecture in Nantes, and we wish him Good luck!
Mohamed Ibenseddik chose mechanical engineering. He joined our design office as an intern to work on the development of the TurboKeels project, of which he followed the prototype’s construction. We will always be happy to hear from him.
Romain Acquaviva is a passionate sailor, computer scientist… and now also a naval architect. After a brief stint at META to assist Philippe at the design office, he’s now set up a structure dedicated to designing luxury mega-yachts, and remains a privileged collaborator.
Killian Cabanes has perfected sailing in Les Glénans but is also a certified welder. He joined META to participate at the construction of the Territoire line, by Alpen Yacht Concept, a company he’s also personally invested in.
Michaël Leleux built his own sailboat to sail around the world, but the trip was cut short in the Canaries following Covid 19. He was welcomed to join META for a few months as a boilermaker and is now navigating other seas. We do not despair to see him around again soon.
Kevin Denis is a Companion of Duty and joined META in 2019—he progressed quickly but was needed by his own to manage the family equestrian centre. Nevertheless faithful to META, and of a job he is fond of, he remains a collaborator of choice.
Anticorrosion
METAGRIP®
This zinc-based product is the best protection against hull corrosion so far. We are its historical retailer and use it for all of our buildings.
Whether used as antifouling or covered by a regular antifouling, METAGRIP® welds perfectly to the steel or aluminum hull thanks to the absorption phenomenon.
It does not deteriorate and therefore fully respects the underwater environment.
WARNING: due to the summer holiday break all orders registered after 28/07 will only be shipped first week of September.
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You are not in metropolitan France?
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