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An educational project born in the suburbs of Brussels
In 2017, construction got underway in Anderlecht, in the Brussels region, of the La Licorne . The initiative was taken by the ASBL L'Atelier Marin a non-profit organization headed by Nicolas Joschko, whose mission is to pass on naval carpentry skills to young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods and those on social integration schemes. For fifteen months, some 160 adults and 300 children took it in turns to build this wooden replica of a 17th-century ceremonial ship.
The model chosen is not insignificant: it's inspired by a historical model commissioned by Colbert for the court of Louis XIV in 1664. The original version, some fifteen meters long, was used to convince the Sun King to reinforce the French fleet. It's the same silhouette that we find, reinterpreted, in The Secret of the Unicorn one of the most maritime albums of Tintin's adventures.
Launch in 2019
After 4,800 hours of work, La Licorne is launched on the Brussels canal. The boat is then moved to the Brussels Royal Yacht Club for rigging. The rigging alone, including masts, shrouds and sails, will require almost 2,000 hours of additional work.
Made entirely of wood, with a budget of 70,000 euros, the yacht's architecture is faithful to the light demonstration ships of the 17th century: long, narrow hull, shallow draft, and a sail plan adapted to sheltered waters.
From fiction to reconstruction: an arrival in Gravelines
In July 2025 La Licorne reaches the port of Gravelines, just a stone's throw from Dunkirk. Here, she docks alongside the Espace Tourville, which is home to the Jean-Bart a replica of a 17th-century 84-gun vessel, under construction since 2002. This juxtaposition of two projects with strong heritage ambitions marks a turning point: one modest in scale and community-oriented, the other monumental and historic.
"See La Licorne next to the Jean-Bart it's the meeting of two epics, two dreams of wood and sail," sums up one of the yard's managers. After a refit, La Licorne is about to set sail again, and is set to take part in historic sailings, re-enactments and educational events focusing on life aboard ship in the Grand Siècle.
A new life for a transmission boat
In addition to its nod to French-language comics, La Licorne is above all a tool for cultural and social mediation. The project aims to introduce young people unfamiliar with the maritime world to navigation. It is also part of a wider initiative to promote naval heritage, linked to the river and coastal history of northern France.
