| Age | 35 (5/10/88) |
|---|---|
| Top performance | |
| Joined Imoca on | 2021 |
| Team | OLIVER HEER OCEAN RACING |
| Base | Gosport (United Kingdom) |
Originally from Zurich (Switzerland), Olivier has been passionate about ocean racing, and more specifically the Vendée Globe, since he was very young. He has dedicated his entire career to competitive sailing, both as a skipper and as a key supporter of ocean racing campaigns.
In 2018, Oliver, then 30, joined Alex Thomson's HUGO BOSS team as a boat captain. Having started as a junior crew member with Alex Thomson Racing, he progressed to become responsible for the British skipper's innovative machine. They sailed over 40,000 miles together until Alex encouraged him to start his own project.
In 2022, the Swiss sailor acquired the former IMOCA PURE - Best Western on which Romain Attanasio had finished his Vendée Globe the previous year, with the aim of participating in the next round the world race. Today, armed with the Farr IMOCA design born under the name of Gitana 80, Heer has just completed the first key stage in her qualification for the solo round the world race by finishing 32nd in the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe.
The race did not go as planned, due to a collision with one of his competitors a few minutes after the start, but Heer is taking many positives from it as he intensifies his search for funding (read more here)
After a winter dedicated to repairing and consolidating his 60-foot boat, Oliver will take part in the Rolex Fastnet Race for the fourth time, second in the IMOCA class!
| Name | OLIVER HEER OCEAN RACING |
|---|---|
| Sail number | SUI 49 |
| Architect | Farr Yacht Design |
| Construction | 2007, Nouvelle-Zélande |
| Former names | Gitana Eighty, 1876, W Hotels, Renault Z.E., Synerciel, GAES Centros Auditivos, Newrest-Matmut, Newrest-Brioches Pasquier, Family Mary-Etamine du Lys, Pure-Family Mary, Pure - Best Western |
| Length | 18,28 m |
| Beam | 5,80 m |
| Draught | 4,50 m |
| Weight | 9 tonnes |
| Mast height | 29 m |
| Mast type | Classical mast |
| Foils | No |
| Sail area max. | |
| Upwind | 270 m2 |
| Downwind | 560 m2 |
Do you know Oliver Heer? This Swiss sailor, with a broad smile, boasts significant experience in offshore racing as the former boat captain of Alex Thomson. Since then, he has become the skipper of his own IMOCA and is r…
•••On April 28th, 33 IMOCA skippers, 13 Class40 skippers, including some of the brightest and most talented, and 2 in the Vintage category, will set sail from Lorient. Their destination: New York City, navigating through a …
•••After a spectacular 2023 season, that saw more miles sailed by more sailors in more races than ever before in the IMOCA Class, 2024 now lies ahead – a year that will dominated by two solo transatlantic sprints and then t…
•••
