Charles-Etienne Devanneaux

FOUNDER

Born into a sailing family, Charly has effectively been a sailor his entire life. He was a passionate racer in his youth and still is. In 2011, he won the Newport-Cabo Race and in the same year finished second in Transpac on the Beneteau First 40. The following year Charly won the double-handed division of the Pacific Cup (San Francisco to Hawaii) on a Beneteau First 30 and in two subsequent editions came in second both times. In the Pacific Cup 2018. on the new foiling Beneteau Figaro 3, Charly won the ''line of honor'' and in 2019 finished 4th in Division in the Transpac, being the smallest boat and only double-handed crew.

But you will see him cruising on his Lagoon 450 around the Caribbean islands or Sea of Cortez. He is using this ''free time'' to test a lot of new equipments before to advise customers.  Charly has also crossed oceans and posted podium finishes on catamarans; finishing third in the ARC 2012 across the Atlantic and in the 2016 edition of the race in a Lagoon 400 and Lagoon 42 respectively. Charly was formerly a manager in the marine division of Yamaha Motor Europe and is also a UCLA grad in Executive Education.  

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Anne-Cecile Devanneaux

CFO

After 20-years of working in the world of finance for Japanese and American companies, Anne-Cécile Devanneaux has found her way into the world of sailing and is loving it. While husband Charly sails the globe, Anne-Cécile makes certain the business elements on shore are operating as fluidly and seamlessly as they should. While she may not be regularly on the foredeck wrangling a giant spin while rounding a mark, she does enjoy cruising on the family catamaran, Clapotis, a well appointed Lagoon 450.

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Gunnar Swanson

BENETEAU BRAND AMBASSADOR

Gunnar grew up in a sailing family in Southern California. His grandfather sailed in the merchant marine and his father was a collegiate sailor. Next to enjoying sailing with his family, Gunnar loves nothing more than introducing new people to the sailing life. Ask about his second favorite hobby, making nautical leashes for man’s best friend.

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Benjamin Morse

SALES

Benjamin Morse is a California native and a 4th generation sailor whose family has owned boats since the 1930’s. He has sailed many boats from many points around the world, including Sabots, ancient canoes in Saipan, and long ocean voyages on tall ships.  A Sociology undergraduate from UCSB and a graduate of the UCLA Anderson School of Management's Executive Program, Benjamin has spent most of his career in the power-sports, automotive, and manufacturing industries, and is now following his boating passion full time, helping others find their ideal boat. His own sailboat, "Passage," is docked in Port Royal, Redondo Beach, where he lives.    

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Brad Fisher

SALES - OXNARD OFFICE 

Brad is a true fisherman and powerboat addict. 

He grew-up in Alaska, lived in Hawaii and has a long sailing experience on motor yachts 

(more to come) 

Cyprien Poulain

MARKETING MANAGER

Born in France, raised in California, Cyprien brings the energy of youth and a multicultural perspective to the Naos fabric. With a bachelor's degree in business and master's degree in art direction, he sees the world of boating and the ocean as a perfect and inspiring arena to apply all he has learned. Although he didn’t have an enormous amount of sailing experience before starting his tenure at Naos, he has now decidedly caught “the bug.” Fortunately for Cyp, there happens to be a vast array of beautiful boats all around for him to conduct what he keeps calling “marketing research.”

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John Nelson

SERVICE MANAGER

When John isn’t writing crime novels, he is the go-to, very efficient customer service manager at the Naos office. He has a varied background including motion picture and television production, but mostly spends his days making sure customers have everything they need to sail their new boats without a hitch. Nelson is a US SAILING certified Small Boat Sailing Instructor who taught beginning and advanced dinghy sailing at UCLA's aquatic facility for more than a decade. At NAOS Yachts, John interfaces with clients and our service personnel to ensure that warranty and service requests are successfully completed in a timely manner.

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Vadim Mantelzak

SAILTIME BASE MANAGER / SAILING SCHOOL

Vadim has been sailing for the last 10 years, but when you add up his hours on the water it’s probably more than most people have sailed in their entire lives . He’s as comfortable on a laser as he is on a TP52 -  as long as he’s sailing, he’s a happy man. He has mostly sailed the California coast, on down to Mexico, and like most of the Naos staff, he sees sailing as a way of life more than a job. Fortunately for Vadim, he is able to sail every day for a living. And fortunately for Naos, Vadim loves teaching as much as he loves to sail. He’s happy to patiently pass on the vast knowledge he has with the satisfaction that another person might well enjoy the sport as much as he does.  

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David P

SailTime Assistant

During his time at USC, he was introduced to sailing through the Nautical Science Program where he learned about the value of traditional seafaring. His first overnight voyage to Catalina Island was aboard USC’s 51’ traditional wooden schooner. The university also introduced him to tall ship sailing through their partnership with the Los Angeles Maritime Institute. The institute cultivated his passion for sailing through a 3-day voyage to Catalina aboard a 110’ traditional wooden brigantine. He also worked for a local sailing school administering their office, all the while, he continued his own sailing education skippering their fleet of Catalina 22’s and 30’ sailboats. David is looking forward to maintaining the NAOS Sailtime fleet. 

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Paul Devanneaux

SEA TRIAL MANAGER

Paul started to sail a week after he was born... If his schedule allows he does all customer seatrials explaining to them how to use an electric winch or turn the wheel to port or starboard. If there’s time and he’s in the mood, he can also demonstrate how to build a boat with a Lego or Playmobil.  Paul is usually in the office on Saturdays, training on his Beneteau First 14 but he’s a busy man so he takes no scheduled meetings.

Mike Stevens

SALES - HAWAII OFFICE

A licensed captain, and a lifelong sailor Mike purchased his first sailing dinghy in 1963, and has owned a series of cruising boats ever since. Although he loves cruising as much as anyone, he’s also been involved in high-level racing in the SORC circuit and is a regular in the local Wednesday night beer-can races. Stevens is also an experienced offshore sailor who has crossed the Atlantic four times in both monohulls and catamarans. Today, Mike is one of our most knowledgeable yacht salesmen at the Naos office in Oahu, Hawaii.

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