Charles-Marie

The Charles-Marie began its life as a trawler in 1968 at the Servain shipyard in Granville, the dream of Jean-Pierre Thélot. The ship’s name ‘Charles’ was taken from his father’s dory and ‘Marie’ was that of his wife. With a beautiful sailboat hull and a rounded Norwegian style stern for easy handling of side trawls and trolling lines, it is a robust and safe vessel. Pierre Berteau, an apprentice sailor at the age of 14 and then Jean-Pierre Thélot's successor, had Charles-Marie II built in polyester in 1998 and wondered about the future of the Charles-Marie I. The association Le Ponton decided to give the ship a second life. It was transformed into a charter sailboat at the Legueltel shipyard in Blainville thanks to the comprehensive expertise of the shipwright and the spirit of the members of the association.

Nicknamed "the Viking", Christian Mabire has been involved since the beginning of the project in 1998. Much like the ship, a solid and engaging man,  he is now the ship's Master (a term used in the context of old riggings to designate the captain) and his career as a sailor is inextricably linked to the history of Charles-Marie.

For several years now, the Charles-Marie has been welcoming young people aged 12 to 17 on board for holiday stays during which the teenagers experience group life onboard and learn to put in practice Victor Hugo's maxim that ‘the sea is a place of rigour and freedom, without rigour freedom is nothing’. Some of them have become professional sailors and all of them have learned something that can help them in their life on land.