Oliver HEER

IMOCA Globe Series24th
Points78 pts
Age36 (5/10/88)
Top performance
Joined Imoca on2021
TeamOLIVER HEER OCEAN RACING
BaseGosport (United Kingdom)

Profile

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!

Sailing Highlights

2024 : New York Vendée - Les Sables d'Olonne - 24th
2024 : The Transat CIC - 25th
2023 : Transat Jacques Vabre - Abandon
2023 : Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération - 21th
2023 : Rolex Fastnet Race - 19th
2022 : Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe - 32th
2022 : Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération - 21th
2021 : Rolex Fastnet Race - 10th

Boat

Name TUT GUT. SAILING
Sail numberSUI 49
ArchitectFarr Yacht Design
Construction2007, Nouvelle-Zélande
Former namesGitana 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
Length18,28 m
Beam5,80 m
Draught4,50 m
Weight9 tonnes
Mast height29 m
Mast typeClassical mast
FoilsNo
Sail area max.
Upwind270 m2
Downwind560 m2
© Jean-Louis Carli