Where does the name MaxSea come from?

MacSea testingBrice Pryszo was born in Bayonne, a city in the south west of France, on March 12th, 1952. From an early age he discovered the joys of sailing in the Basque Country.

Driven by this passion, he participated in the creation of a new naval architecture specialization during his time spent studying at  École des Beaux-Arts (School or Fine Arts) in Paris (1972)

Upon completion of his studies, back in his native Basque country, he began his professional career by designing his first boat. The advent of the Personal Computer in 1984 made Brice aware of the huge technological future potential. He decided to embark on a new professional adventure involving the area of Maritime Navigation and Information.  He subsequently set up the company “Informatique et Mer” (literally “Computers and Sea”) on January 3, 1985.

Macintosh Lisa used for developmentThe company’s first investment was the purchase of the third Macintosh 128k ever sold in France, in the spring of 1984 (in addition to the Macintosh Lisa used for development). These revolutionary machines allowed the company to develop the software prototype MACSEA to be tested aboard “Crédit Agricole” in 1985. It was subsequently tested by Philippe Poupon and Eric Tabarly. The MACSEA software gradually became a reference in the sector of high-level competitive sailing.

Following this early success, the company began to focus on the commercial fishing industry by working with the fishermen of Port Hendaye (including Mr. Blanchot). The challenge of putting a computer on a fishing vessel in 1986 was huge! “Computers and Sea” succeeded to do so and of course, continued to grow by equipping more and more vessels abroad (especially in Northern Europe).

Third Macintosh 128k ever sold in FranceBetween 1996 and 1999, MACSEA abandoned the Mac platform, deciding to develop for the dominant Microsoft Windows platform instead. The company then became known as MaxSea.

“Computers and Sea” again changed its name to “MaxSea International” in 2001 as it began to expand globally and to have a name that was more “exportable”.

In 2013, MaxSea returned to its first love, Apple, by launching their first iPad application for MaxSea.

The MaxSea TimeZero App is available now!And so, the adventure continues…