Icarai was initially born from the passion of Nicolas Vivier for the sea, navigation and boats, in their extraordinary diversity.
After a voyage on a small Wharram cat (told here) he worked for a few year as an engineer in agronomics... before he decided on an exciting job with the creation of Icarai in january 2003.
The first vocation of Icarai was to help those who wanted to build a boat to succeed in doing so. Now this results in :
Formerly, each port, each activity related to the sea led to the development of particular types of boats. We wish to help each sailor to find his ideal boat... and we are convinced that it is not inevitably white, mass produced and presented on glazed paper! This is why we propose a broad and varied range of boats, modern and rooted in the maritime heritage. As we are quite conscious that, for various reasons, many people cannot undertake the construction of their boat we are developing, as a new activity, the building of finished boats, either in our shipyard, or in partnership.
It is a rather peripheral activity for Icarai but we are keen on promoting this equipment. We think indeed that they bring a real "bonus" in term of safety and comfort. Thus, we import a whole range of sea anchors and para-anchors adapted to all sizes of boats. We invite you, if you have not already done so, to discover their use and their interest on this site.
We are lucky enough to carry on with passion a job which addresses other boat enthusiasts. We wish to do it in a spirit of conviviality and co-operation. This is why we are always happy to meet you virtually by email, on the telephone, or in "real life". This is also why we try to encourage meetings, the sharing of experience. This also results in the use of free software in our work and for this site.