– Alan Roura creates the “Nati of sailing”
The Swiss Offshore Team was revealed on Friday. A Swiss national team that aims to compete in IMOCA races.
Published today at 11:25 a.m.
Zurich resident Simon Koster (left) accompanies Alan Roura in the Swiss Offshore Team project.
AFP
Subscribe now and enjoy the audio playback feature.
BotTalk
A Swiss trio is setting out to conquer The Ocean Race in 2027 and the Vendée Globe in 2028. Unveiled on Friday, the Swiss Offshore Team is a team made up of Simon Koster, Élodie Mettraux and Alan Roura. She presents herself as a “Nati of sailing”, and the three sailors are delighted to pursue their ambitious objectives.
Alan Roura, who is preparing for his third Vendée Globe, still manages to think about what comes next. “With Simon and Élodie, things fell into place almost naturally,” he explained in a press release issued on Friday. We have a boat, we have a base in Brittany, a team that works very well and we have a common desire to engage in crew races after this third Vendée Globe campaign.”
A campaign that he is doing alone. “My career has so far been more oriented towards solo work, but the desire and the idea of launching this team project have been on my mind for a while now. Several times, I had been asked: “When will there be a Swiss team?”. Well there we go,” explains the Genevan again. “It’s still very pleasant to embark on a Swiss project. With a Swiss boat, Swiss sailors, Swiss sponsors and doing our own thing!”, rejoices Geneva resident Élodie Mettraux.
Launch in 2025
The team will truly see the light of day in 2025. It must first convince partners and sponsors of its merits, and of its ability to unite the Swiss sailing world. The project aims to train young people, and will launch a call for applications in the coming months. The goal? Find all kinds of profiles to take the sport to its highest level.
At this point you will find additional external content. If you accept that cookies are placed by external providers and that personal data is thus transmitted to them, you must allow all cookies and display external content directly.
Allow cookiesMore info
“I am extremely proud to be able to launch a collective project for Switzerland which will undoubtedly inspire a whole new generation of sailors,” says Zurich resident Simon Koster. The first step in this project consists of competing in The Ocean Race Europe, which begins on August 10 in Germany.
The team then hopes to embark on the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2025 again, before purchasing or building a new boat in preparation for The Ocean Race Atlantic, the Route du Rhum and record attempts in 2026. Other races will still come before the major objective of the Swiss Offshore Team: The Vendée Globe 2028.
Rebecca Garcia is a journalist in the sports section. Holder of a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Neuchâtel, she is particularly interested in alpine skiing and the economics of sport.More info
Did you find an error? Please report it to us.
0 comments
