The Neapolitan shipwright André Ruoppolo, who emigrated to Marseille at the end of the 19th century, is considered the father of the barquette marseillaise, which he adapted to local needs. Holder of his manufacturing secrets, his nephew, Michel Gay, led the construction of barquettes at its peak until the early 1980s by manufacturing some 1,200 in his workshops of Vallon des Auffes. Since then, other manufacturers (Battifero, Noguéra, Naddéi, Mouren, Chabert) have perpetuated the traditional manufacture and maintenance of these barquettes as well as the Borg (photo) and Trapani workshops still present in Marseille and Cassis.