News
9.27.24
Swiss Offshore Team: Swiss sailors unite to set sail for the open sea
Elodie Mettraux, Simon Koster and Alan Roura are the figureheads of the Swiss Offshore Team, due to be launched in 2025.
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Alan Roura is a precocious sailor. After a childhood spent on the water, on Lake Geneva, and then eleven years of sailing around the world with his family, he took part in his first major race at the age of just 20.
Mini Transat, Route du Rhum, Transat Jacques Vabre... Alan tried his hand at (almost) everything and quickly learned his ocean racing skills. Before tackling the Grail of the discipline: the 2016 Vendée Globe, which he finished in 12th position, becoming the youngest skipper in history to finish the race, at just 23 years old.
Four years later, he was again the youngest skipper to start the ninth edition, which he finished in 17th place. Not spared by technical problems, he nevertheless completed his second consecutive solo round the world race, after 95 days of pain, but rich in lessons for a third participation, already in the making.
At 29 years of age, two-time finisher of the "Everest of the Seas" and holder of the North Atlantic record, the Genevan is now thinking even bigger. With a wealth of experience and a new maturity, the Swiss sailor has acquired the latest IMOCA boat to be born, Hugo Boss, an innovative 60-foot boat with a very closed cockpit. Alan Roura, joined by the watchmaker Hublot and the Bonhôte bank, now aspires to be one of the favourites.
After a mostly double-handed 2023 season, Alan's assessment is rather mixed: despite intense training in Brittany and Portugal, racing results didn't always meet the Swiss duo's expectations. The Transat Jacques Vabre was a highlight, despite the loss of places in the final rankings, and solo on the Retour à La Base, some damage hampered his performance, but he drew important lessons for the following season.
After the Retour à La Base, the last race of the season, Alan Roura announced major changes to the IMOCA, to improve performance next season, the year of the Vendée Globe.
2015: Transat Jacques Vabre - 10th (Class40)
2015: Grand Prix Guyader - 7th
2014: Route du Rhum - Retired (Class40)
2013: Mini Transat - 11th
| Name | HUBLOT |
|---|---|
| Sail number | SUI 7 |
| Architect | VPLP - Pete Hobson |
| Construction | 2019, Carrington Boats, Southampton (GB) |
| Former names | HUGO BOSS |
| Length | 18,28 m |
| Beam | 5,40 m |
| Draught | 4,50 m |
| Weight | 7,6 tonnes |
| Mast height | 29 m |
| Mast type | Wing mast |
| Foils | Yes |
| Sail area max. | |
| Upwind | 330 m2 |
| Downwind | 630 m2 |
Elodie Mettraux, Simon Koster and Alan Roura are the figureheads of the Swiss Offshore Team, due to be launched in 2025.
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