| Age | 36 (5/10/88) |
|---|---|
| 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!
In 2023, he lined up for the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre but was forced to retire just one day into the race due to damage to the port D1 of his standing rigging, which had detached from the mast of his IMOCA.
His 2024 season began with the CIC Transat, which he finished in 25th place. Later that year, he announced the launch of Tut gut Sailing, with Burgerstein Vitamine becoming the title partner of his project.
In November 2024, he set off on his first Vendée Globe. In January, he lost his large gennaker and went on to complete the round-the-world race in 29th place.
| Name | TUT GUT. SAILING |
|---|---|
| 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 |
The 10th edition of the Vendée Globe will go down as one of the greatest in the race’s history, featuring more boats on the startline than ever before, more finishers than ever before, and an emphatic and record-breaking…
•••When he crossed the finish of the Vendée Globe solo non-stop race around the world this Monday afternoon off Les Sables d’Olonne at 1729 hrs UTC to secure 29th place overall, Swiss German solo racer Oliver Heer fulfilled…
•••Watch live as Oliver Heer, skipper of Tut Gut., arrives in Les Sables d'Olonne, finishing the Vendée Globe in 29th place!
•••
