The Company

 

  BIC Sport, the world leader for water and board sports



 

The world market leader in the field of windsurf for over 20 years, in the last 20 years BIC Sport has diversified into the manufacture of surf boards, kayaks, sailing dinghies for children, and has most recently focussed its knowledge and experience on launching an extensive range of Stand Up Paddle boards. This latest brand new board sport is largely based on the principles of simplicity and accessibility that have underpinned BIC’s enduring success.

BIC Sport has become the world’s leading expert for water sports. A forerunner in the industrial scale manufacture of surf and SUP boards, a benchmark manufacturer in the demanding surf market, BIC Sport is also a European market leader in sit-on-top kayaks, with a range of innovative kayaks that have picked up numerous design awards. In competition sailing, BIC Sport is behind a new concept in Junior windsurf competitions, with the Techno 293 One Design that has seen massive growth in the last few years. And more recently BIC Sport has created a similar dynamic in the world of dinghy sailing, where their highly innovative O’pen BIC model has totally revitalised the world of child/youth dinghy racing.
 
For its manufacturing/production, BIC Sport has created an industrial process facility that is unique in the field, using three differing construction technologies : thermoform, thermoform on a PE core, and blown extrusion. Located at its base in Vannes, Brittany, France, this production facility turns out over 65,000 pieces of product every year for export to more than 90 countries.




 

BIC Sport is the only manufacturer of windsurf and surf boards to have kept its production in Europe.


 

A unique manufacturing facility with the following features.

25 000 m2 of factory space in the "Prat Industrial Zone" at Vannes, South Brittany, France.

Three manufacturing techniques : Thermoform, Thermoform on a PE Core and blown extrusion.

Unique skills range and commitment to sustainable development.

65 000 products manufactured every year.

60% of products exported to more than 90 countries around the world.

 


 

 

BIC Sport respects environmental concerns and over the years has developed clean and energy efficient manufacturing processes.

In 2007 BIC Sport was awarded the French sailing industry's "Prix du Bateau Bleu" for the ecological concept behind the O'pen BIC.

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BIC Sport's emphasis on the importance of design is reflected in their roster of designers. BIC Sport has won seven Design Stars awarded by the "Observeur du Design" organisation for its kayaks and for the O'pen BIC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  A Story of the sea

 

 

1979 - 1990 The rapid expansion of the sport of windsurfing had not escaped the attentions of the lover of all things to do with the sea that was the Baron Bich. He believed in the sport and invested in the powerful industrial manufacturing capacity that would enable him to produce tens of thousands of affordably priced windsurf boards. At that time windsurfing had already designed its own destiny : to become the most popular sea/water sport of the late 20th century. With that impetus BIC Sport rapidly became the industry's biggest manufacturer with more than 80,000 boards leaving the doors of its factory in Vannes, Brittany.
During the 1980s, BIC Sport wrote some of the most interesting pages of the sport's history by inviting some of the biggest name shapers and legendary competitors to design and promote its boards. The names of those boards will live long in the memory : Electric Rock, Hard Rock, Astro Rock...


1990 - 2000 At the end of the 1980s windsurfing morphed itself into a new version of the sport, funboard. It was becoming elitist, under attack too from other, newer board sports like surf and snowboarding and started losing its edge.  And while BIC Sport continued to lead the industry with its series of consistently strong products such as the Vivace, Veloce and Saxo, there were less people coming into the sport and it began to contract. So BIC Sport began diversifying, firstly into the surf market with the 1994 release of their Natural Surf, the first ever mass production surf board, which brought that sport within the reach of just about anybody. Other models followed, the Longboard 9' followed by the Shortboard 6'7, designed by one of the best shapers of his time, Gerard Dabaddie, achieving commercial success to match.

 

2000 - 2010 Serious concentration on the competitive aspect : in 2000 and 2001 BIC Sport won World Championship titles in Funboarding. Strengthened by these successes, BIC Sport stepped back from top level competition to concentrate its efforts on the development of formula, mono-type competition, more open to a wider range of participants and more in keeping with its image of making the sport more widely accessible.

 

2000 - At this point, the brand new funboard, the Techno 283, revolutionised and re-launched funboarding. It was an overnight success with the factory in Vannes running night and day to satisfy the surging demand. It was also to become the first formula/mono-type board to be approved by the French Sailing Federation alongside the development of Funkids competition. This was a big first step on the road to "mono-type".

 

2001 - Although the big success of the Techno 283 helped mask the problems of an overall shrinking windsurf market, BIC Sport responded by diversifying even further into other sports and activities related to the sea. BIC Sport launched its first sit-on-top kayak, the Bilbao, which very quickly received a design star award. Tobago, Ouassou, Scapa, Yakka.... A series of models followed and met with similar commercial approval thanks to their innovative concept, the design and the manufacture quality.

 

2002 - 2003 - Mono-type competition finds its way into the world of surf. Once again BIC Sport brought innovation to the sport, being the first to organise a world class mono-type surf contest : the BIC Longboard Challenge. BIC also vastly extended its range of surf boards.

 

2003BIC Sport gets involved in the new sport of kitesurfing by setting up the Takoon brand, who began releasing safe kites at a time when the sport was perceived as dangerous.

 

In 2005 -  the Techno 293 One Design replaced the legendary Aloha board as the mono-type for under 17s. In France only at first but very quickly successful all over the world, success that lasts to this day. The 2009 World Championships attracted 260 competitors from 25 countries. As things stand the Techno 293 One Design class is one of the most dynamic in windsurfing and one of the strongest in the entire world of sailing.

 

2006 - BIC Sport released the O'pen BIC, a board for kids and teenagers that finally managed to rival the Optimist design that had been market leader for almost 60 years. In just four years the O'pen BIC managed to impose itself thanks to its design and innovation, and by the new kinds of competition it made possible. Already, more than 3600 O'pen BICs are sailing somewhere in the world.

 

2006 - 2010 - The end of the century's first decade can be summed up in a few words : consolidating successful product ranges with quality designs, with innovation and accessibility always the priorities.

In windsurfing, the Core and the Beach boards are the best examples. The continuous search for development of mono-type boards is also a top priority.

In kayaking, thanks to the Yakka, BIC Sport was able to make its mark in the inflatable kayak market with a very strong product.

In surfing, research continued on the development of Longboards (Magnum, Nat Young 9'4...) and the ACS range.

Alongside that, the BIC 245 dinghy was given a new look, refreshing the range that has existed for 40 years.

In kitesurfing, Takoon continued its research for better performance and safety, the Nova kite being their biggest success to date in those respects.

 

BIC Sport 2010 is THE international water sports specialist.

And on the industrial side, BIC Sport is the only surf and windsurf board manufacturer to have kept its manufacturing in Europe, thanks largely to its ability to innovate and diversify.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Key dates of BIC Sport


  • 1979 : Founding of the company
  • 1980 : Launch of the first windsurfer, the Dufour «Wing»
  • 1994 : Acquisition of the Tiga brand
  • 1994 : Release of the first Bic Sport surfboard
  • 1997 : Production of the 1 000 000th Bic Sport windsurfer
  • 2000 : BIC Sport wins the World Funboard Championships
  • 2001 : Launch of the first BIC Sport kitesurf board
  • 2002 : Distribution of the Takoon kitesurf brand
  • 2002 : Launch of the first BIC Sport «sit-on-top» kayak, the Bilbao
  • 2005 : Launch of the Yakka, the first semi-rigid foldable kayak
  • 2007 : Techno 293 OD achieves ISAF Recognised Class status and becomes the official board for under 17' competitors
  • 2006 : Launch of the O'pen BIC, the sailing dinghy for children and teenagers
  • 2007 : Launch of the Takoon Nova kites which optimise safety in kitesurfing
  • 2007 : O'pen BIC achieves ISAF Recognised Class status
  • 2008 : Release of the Jungle and of the new E-Comp surfboard range
  • 2009 : Launch of the new BIC 245 dinghy
  • 2010 : Release of the Beach line and of the first polyethylene SUP, the SUP 11'4 ACS
  • 2011 : Launch of 3 new SUP Boards and of the NOMAD kayak
  • 2012 : Launch of 3 new SUP ranges : ACE-TEC, C-TEC and Soft/Air SUP boards