3 sources · updated 20 Oct 2026
JPK Composites was founded in 1992 by Jean-Pierre Kelbert, a former member of the French windsurfing team and European champion in 1988 and 1989. Until the early 2000s the yard built windsurf board floats and made composite parts for other yards in the region.
After meeting naval architect Jacques Valer in 1999, Kelbert turned the business towards racing sailboats. The first model, the JPK 9.60, came out in 2003. It was followed by the JPK 10.10 (2010), the JPK 10.80 (2015, European Yacht of the Year at Düsseldorf), the JPK 1180 (2018), the JPK 1030 (2019) and the JPK 1050 (2025). These boats have shone in the Fastnet Race and the Sydney-Hobart.
From 2012 the yard also developed a fast-cruiser range (JPK 38 FC, 45 FC, 39 FC, then the 48 FC announced in 2026), and in 2023 it unveiled its first motorboat, the JPK Nomad 40.