The pair say the time has now come and Le Saffre, together with the new majority shareholder Duke Street Capital, has made the official announcement.

Le Saffre and Frasquet now become members of the supervisory board and will oversee strategic and consulting missions for the group, including acquisitions and mergers.

The new management team includes Patrick Francois as CEO, Herve Ferriere as VP of sales and marketing and Pierre Bourhis as CFO.

Francois will remain chairman of Navimo's subsidiary Accastillage Bernard based in Cannes, which he has been running since March 2003 when he joined the group.

The new team has become group shareholders, together with Le Saffre, other major managers and Duke Street Capital as majority shareholder.

The ?125m Navimo Group includes Plastimo, Goiot, Max Power, Nuova Rade, XM Yachting, Accastillage Bernard, Moine and DNS as development and manufacturing facilities and distribution subsidiaries in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Spain, Italy and the USA.

"I've been 28 years in this industry and I still love it, even though there is so much more to do! But the time has come for a younger generation to take over, " said Le Saffre.

"I am proud to have managed this group that has now reached a size and an organisation that is ready to partner with the long time players of this industry who share our vision, that the leisure boating industry is rapidly moving from the era of craftsmanship to that of industrial players with a worldwide vision."