In a game of who owns the biggest superyacht in the bay of Saint Tropez one afternoon in early May, there’s a pair of strong contenders: Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour with his 214-foot Benetti Zazou and Lebanese billionaire Taha Mikati’s 262-foot Chopi Chopi, the largest superyacht ever delivered by Italy’s CRN shipyard.
But there’s no need to get out a measuring tape to calculate the winner. François Pinault clearly takes the top spot with his 288-foot Le Ponant, a three-mast motorsailer and the flagship vessel in French cruise line Ponant’s fleet.
Eighty-seven-year-old Pinault, one of France’s richest people, is the founder of Kering, the luxury group that owns Gucci, St Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Alexander McQueen, among others. Currently worth an estimated $25 billion, he started out in the timber business in the 1960s. Artemis Group, the family’s investment arm, purchased Ponant in 2015 for a reputed $589 million, adding it to a portfolio of investments that includes sports brand Puma and auction house Christie’s. “When the possibility of acquiring Ponant presented itself, I did not hesitate for a moment,” Pinault has said about the acquisition.
Yet, even though it looks every inch like one, Le Ponant is not a private vessel, and while it’s available for whole-ship charter, guests can also rent cabins. That’s because this is a cruise ship that thinks of itself as a charter yacht, as I learned during my three nights onboard on the Côte d’Azur, just before the vessel set sail for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Here are 11 fascinating facts about the sailing cruise ship/superyacht Le Ponant.
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The Original French Cruiseship Sans Bullet Holes
In 1988, a group of French merchant navy officers came together with an idea to do something different in the cruise space. “We wanted to bring the French touch to sea,” explains cofounder Jean-Philippe Lemaire, who became the inaugural captain of Le Ponant when it launched in 1991 from the SFCN (Société Française de Construction Navale) shipyard in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, on the outskirts of Paris.
Its delivery marked not only the inception of Ponant, the cruise company, but also the first French cruise ship to hit the water. It sailed the river Seine to join its inauguration in La Rochelle, on France’s Atlantic coast.
In April 2008, as Le Ponant was crossing back from Seychelles to the Mediterranean, the vessel was seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia. There were no passengers on board, but all 30 crew were taken hostage. They were freed a week later, after French commando intervention. Before the first guests returned, the yacht was completely refurbished to remove all bullet holes and fix broken doors.
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The Luxe Makeover
Image Credit: Ponant To mark three decades in the water, Le Ponant’s entire interior was ripped out during a three-year refit in Genoa, Italy. The vessel emerged in 2022 with a new configuration—including half the number of cabins it had to begin with. Previously accommodating 64 passengers in 32 cabins, it now sleeps a maximum of 32 people in 16 cabins, a mix and match of rooms and suites including five with generous-sized balconies. The goal was to create a superyacht sensibility.
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Chip off the Old Block
Image Credit: Ponant Jean-Philippe Lemaire’s son, Jean-David, was 7 years old when Le Ponant launched. “I saw the bottle of Champagne smash, and as the young son of the captain, I was the one bothering the crew members when I came onboard,” the now co-captain says. Father and son have crewed the vessel together, with Jean-David as Captain and Jean-Philippe as Captain Advisor, in Australia’s remote Kimberley region. “As a father and a captain, it was one of my best experiences,” Jean-Philippe says.
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Heave-Ho!
Image Credit: Ponant Whenever conditions allow it, Le Ponant raises its 10,800-square feet of sails to harness the wind for propulsion—a figure the company puts at approximately 30 percent of all cruising time. “When the wind speed is 10 to 20 knots, I’ll be sure that the sails are up and I’ll tack the vessel back and forth to use the wind for passenger’s comfort,” says Jean-David, who adds that he has just come off a two-month Caribbean rotation where he had the sails hoisted more than 90 percent of the time. “We are now designing our cruise itineraries in the Caribbean to use the sails as much as possible,” Jean-David says.
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The Large, Swanky Owner’s Apartment
Image Credit: Ponant Set apart from the other cabins on deck four—and backing onto Le Diamant, the vessel’s dining room—the vast Owner’s Suite is decorated in elegant, earthy tones, with wide windows, a living and dining area that can accommodate up to four people, a separate bedroom that includes a dressing room and table, and a bathroom with twin showers and toiletries from luxury Parisian brand Diptyque. The 500-square-foot suite opens out onto a private 97-square-foot balcony, an ideal spot for a glass of Champagne Henriot while the sun sets.
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Go Anywhere Draft
Image Credit: Sofia Steeg Not long after it emerged from its 2022 refit, Le Ponant set sail for the Kimberley in Western Australia, where it was one of the first non-Australian flagged vessels to visit one of the world’s most inaccessible cruise destinations. “Our shallow [13-foot] draft means we can explore such extreme destinations,” says Jean-Philippe.
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A Full Toy Chest
Image Credit: Ponant Fishing rods, scuba gear, glass-bottomed kayaks, electric underwater scooters, bikes, and stand-up paddle boards are just some of the non-motorized water toys Le Ponant keeps on hand for guests’ enjoyment in its toy chest. There’s also a large pool area that is inflated when the vessel is at anchor.
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Buried Treasure
Long considered a talisman for good luck by seafarers the world over, three coins were hidden under each of Le Ponant’s three masts during its build. As a nod to the vessel’s heritage, the coins are Napoléons, rare gold coins featuring a portrait of Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte wearing a laurel wreath. “Even if we didn’t have a lot of money at the beginning, we still brought these coins to fit below the mast,” says Jean-Philippe.
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A Two-In-One Experience
Image Credit: Ponant/Julien Fabro Le Ponant toggles between single-cabin bookings and whole yacht charters. The beauty, for guests, is that they can enjoy a superyacht experience without paying charter prices. The non-cruise ship experiences include barefoot walks on polished teak, morning yoga sessions on the sun deck, or dives off the transom straight into the sea, with a crew member waiting for your return with a towel and a glass of wine.
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A Beautiful Wine Cellar
Image Credit: Chateau Latour Le Ponant’s cruising itineraries traverse many continents, yet no matter where the vessel is cruising, the wine list will transport you straight to France—specifically to the country’s finest producers and terroirs. Pride of place in Le Ponant‘s cellar are the wines of Château Latour, one of the five Bordeaux First Growths and another of Pinault’s showcase acquisitions. The onboard selection overflows with yacht charter favorites: Cristal and Dom Pérignon for Champagne, small parcel reds and whites from Burgundy, and, of course, a fine collection from Bordeaux.
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Haute Cuisine
Image Credit: Ponant While bigger is better on many cruise ships when it comes to food and beverage venues, Le Ponant‘s philosophy is the exact opposite. The vessel’s sole restaurant, Le Diamant, is an intimate dining room where white linen tablecloths and soft lighting are paired with exquisitely plated dishes—although the aft deck can comfortably accommodate all 32 guests for alfresco meals. Executive chef Cédric Diebold’s cuisine draws inspiration from the local cuisine where the vessel is cruising. That could range from lightly battered and fried zucchini flowers with focaccia topped with caramelized onions, olives and anchovies, while in the bay of Saint Tropez, it could be freshly caught, flame-grilled red mullet with a zucchini tartare.
