6 sources · updated 20 Oct 2026
Born in Mont-Saint-Aignan in 1931, Philippe Harlé studied physics and chemistry before turning to sailing. In the 1950s he became a trainee, watch leader and then permanent staff at the Glénans sailing centre, drew the Archipel supply launch in 1958 and contributed to the Glénans navigation course.
He set up as a naval architect in 1963. His plywood Muscadet cruiser was a great success (nearly 600 built), followed by the Armagnac and Cognac, then polyester series such as the Sangria for Jeanneau and aluminium boats such as the Romanée. He drew about 220 boat types, and one French sailboat in five in the 1970s is estimated to have been his design.
In offshore racing he drew the Gros Plant, which he raced in the 1979 Mini-Transat, then the Coco. For the 1989 Vendée Globe he designed Jean-Luc Van Den Heede's IMOCA 36.15 MET. Alain Mortain joined his practice in 1982.
He died in La Rochelle in February 1991 while working on Helvim, Van Den Heede's second boat; Alain Mortain took over the design office.