The term "Boatnik" of the film's Les boatniks - Du vent dans les voiles (1970) title was arguably a spoof of the word "Beatnik" which had become a term known in popular culture since the 1950s. The latter can be defined as a person from the 1950s or early 1960s period who was associated with "The Beat Generation". A "Boatnik" therefore can parody this where a seafaring person can be said to belong to "The Boat Generation". The picture was made and released approximate a decade after the 1960 film The Beatniks (1958).
The yachting marina featured throughout the picture was situated at Newport Harbour in Newport Bay in southern California, USA. Balboa and Newport Beach are also featured in the marina's environs in the movie.
Penultimate picture lensed by director of photography William E. Snyder whose final film as cinematographer would be the next 1971 year's La cane aux oeufs d'or (1971) also for Disney.
"The Boatniks", a novelization by Mel Cebulash of the film's screenplay by Arthur Julian, which itself was based on a story by Martin Roth, was published in 1970 as a book tie-in with the movie's theatrical release.