| 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!
2023: Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération - 21st
2023: Rolex Fastnet Race - 19th
2022: Défi Azimut - Lorient Agglomération - 21st
2021: Rolex Fastnet Race - 10th
| 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 |
Swiss IMOCA sailor Oliver Heer is proud to announce that he has secured a three-year side sponsorship from luxury yacht yard - Portier Yachts. The sponsorship marks the beginning of an exciting journey for Heer, who is j…
•••Swiss skipper Oliver Heer (Oliver Heer Ocean Racing) crossed the finish line of the 12th Route du Rhum- Destination Guadeloupe at 01:37:55hrs TU this Wednesday morning. He is the final IMOCA skipper to cross the line of …
•••Could it be that the hardest part of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe for the solo skippers on this 3,500-mile transatlantic classic is not the sailing – or the feared first week – but the challenge of the 10-day…
•••
