History of BlackRiver Charters

The Centre de Pêche was founded in 1972 by the de Ravel brothers, Alain, Roland, and Pierre. The brothers invested in the construction of the hotel ‘le Centre de Pêche’ before turning their attention to establishing a fishing center.

With the help villagers and friends, ‘les Flippers’ became the first charter business in western Mauritius.  The first boats was named ‘FLIPPER I’ in 1972, followed by ‘FLIPPER II’  till ‘FLIPPER’ VI by 1978.

Situated at Black River, the de Ravel brothers developed their fishing center into a famous destination. Managed at the time by Roland Tyack, the center was internationally renowned and welcomed fishermen from around the world, including celebrities such as the French singer and actor, Carlos.

In 1987, the fishing center had achieved a world record with the catch of a Wahoo weighing in at 125lbs. The stories of the center’s wooden boats voyaged around the globe, passing through Europe, South Africa, and Australia.

In 1987, the de Ravel brothers sold their hotel and the Flippers to Loïs Levieux.  With the help of Jacques Lagane, Levieux sold some of the wooden boats and replaced them with boats made from a then-revolutionary material – fiberglass. ‘LE FLIPPER’ VII, VIII, and IX joined the fleet.

In 1996, Hervé de Baize and two associates bought the center’s business, as well as two boats – FLIPPER VII and FLIPPER VIII, with Loïs Levieux.

In 2011, to upgrade the fleet with newer boats, Hervé de Baize bought ‘Tribord’, renaming it the new ‘Capt. Spirit’ following the sale of its predecessor.

In 2011, the company had three fishing boats: the famous ‘Les Copains d’à Bord’, the eternal ‘Flipper 7’, and the ‘Capt. Spirit’, plus the speedboat ‘L’Amanda’.

In 2012, Hervé de Baize was presented with the major opportunity to buy a catamaran, the ‘O’Plezir’. The Ocean Voyager 58-class boat is a marvel of the seas, and fulfils Hervé’s wish to respond to customer demand by further diversifying his maritime activities. The purchase of the ‘O’Plézir’ was completed in late 2012. A new company was established to manage the catamaran, with its complicated logistics, with Nicolas de Baize as manager, and Dominique de Baize as the company’s fishing manager.

In response to increasing diversification of maritime activities in the last few years and a reduced demand for fishing, at this point Hervé de Baize decided to reduce his fleet, saying a sad farewell to ‘Les Copains d’à Bord’. One of Herve’s favourite boats, he had caught his first marlin on board.

To improve the company’s visibility in terms of visual communication, Nicolas suggested creating BlackRiver Charters, grouping together Hervé’s boating companies. In mid 2015, BlackRiver Charters was born.

In 2017, Jérémie de Baize, Hervé’s first grandson, and sharing the family’s love of the sea, joined the group as the skipper of the speedboat ‘L’Amanda’.

Due to a real estate development project, the De Baize family were eventually forced to leave the famous Fishing Center. They obtained permission to operate at Le Morne Anglers Club, another internationally-renowned fishing club.

Today, BlackRiver Charters combines La Carangue Ltée and HdB & Cx Ltd, with a fleet of one catamaran – the ‘O’plézir’, two speedboats – ‘L’Amanda’ and ‘L’Anaé’ and with a partnership for Big Game Fishing with Magic Hooker and Tora Tora.

A true family business, created by one man’s passion for the sea.