Elodie Mettraux, Simon Koster and Alan Roura are the figureheads of the Swiss Offshore Team, due to be launched in 2025. A truly Swiss national offshore sailing team, with the mission to train young sailors and take part in the biggest races on the IMOCA calendar, whether single-handed, double-handed or crewed. Their goals: to shine in The Ocean Race in 2027 and the Vendée Globe in 2028. Today sees the launch of a project that aims to unite Swiss sailors, decision-makers and institutions.
After all, Swiss sailors are the talk of the pontoons all over the world, so they couldn't miss the opportunity. Playing together to conquer the seas, oceans and fascinating lands of the Deep South. That's the idea behind the Swiss Offshore Team, which today unveils a project that has been long and thoughtfully considered. One team, two boats, young people, women and men. Ambitions to achieve results and pass on know-how made in Switzerland, which has been proving its worth for over 40 years, since the first adventures of Swiss ocean racing pioneer Pierre Fehlmann.
It's in this prestigious wake that a trio of Swiss sailors have decided to pool their energy, enthusiasm and experience in the most demanding races on the international calendar. With the Vendée Globe, the Route du Rhum and the new crewed events on the circuit inspired by The Ocean Race set for the 2025 to 2029 seasons, Switzerland and its national team - the Swiss Offshore Team - will enter a whole new dimension. It's a project that the captains of this “Nati de la voile” - Alan Roura, Elodie Mettraux and Simon Koster - have been working on for several months. Three strong personalities, three inspiring life paths, three different but complementary approaches to the profession of sailor, are behind this idea of pooling skills to make Switzerland shine.
"I'm currently in the final stages of preparing my third Vendée Globe with my team,” explains Alan Roura. But I'm lucky enough to already be thinking about what comes after. And this aftermath will be in the plural. With Simon and Elodie, things fell into place almost naturally. We've got a boat, we've got a base in Brittany, we've got a team that works really well, and we've got a shared desire to get involved in crewed races after this third Vendée Globe campaign.”
At the age of 31, Alan Roura is aiming to complete his third non-stop, unassisted, solo round-the-world race. Proud representative of his country for the past ten years, the Genevan imagined nothing other than a true Swiss identity for this project, which is both unifying and highly ambitious. Swiss sailing is in a golden age,” he says. There's a real dynamism in all areas, and a wealth of talent just waiting to express itself on different types of craft. We want to be part of this positive dynamic with our project.” A vision shared by Simon Koster, who points out that the timing is perfect for embarking on this new challenge. The Ocean Race organizers' decision to focus on the IMOCA class was a major factor in the decision,” says the most Breton of the Zurich-based sailors, who has been a member of Hublot Sailing for the past two seasons. There will be three Swiss sailors in the next Vendée Globe (editor's note: Alan Roura, Oliver Heer and Justine Mettraux). It seems almost logical that at least one of these boats will be lining up for the next crewed races.
Alan Roura's current Hublot will be the first stage of the rocket. In 2025, the team will be formed after the Vendée Globe, which finishes at the end of the winter. The next few months will also be decisive in ensuring that the project attracts the enthusiasm and support of partners willing to make a long-term commitment by jumping on board the Swiss Offshore Team. Once again, we want to give priority to Swiss companies, so as to maintain an identity synonymous with know-how and reliability,” explains Alan Roura. We sincerely hope that this collective project will attract as many partners as possible.
For the sporting side of the project, a call for applications to join the Swiss Offshore Team will be launched in the coming months. The three co-skippers are all keen to attract a wide range of profiles. Whether they come from an Olympic, offshore or America's Cup background, or are simply freshwater sailors, all those who dream big will be able to try their luck to join a team that puts diversity at the heart of its program, which promises to be very copious.
It all starts in 2025 with participation in The Ocean race. In addition to sporting development, this post-Vendée year should also see the announcement of the construction or purchase of an IMOCA boat even more modern and high-performance than Alan Roura's current monohull. Eventually, the idea could be to have two boats on the team,” explains Alan Roura. This will enable us to keep sailing when one of them is under construction. The idea is also to be able to offer Switzerland two opportunities to assert itself in the international fleet of major crewed ocean races. The current boat would be sailed by a crew of young talents developed within the Team. The second boat would be dedicated to the team's professional sailors.
This ambitious program will be the talk of the town once the necessary funds have been raised. Important meetings with potential partners are scheduled over the coming weeks. And all options are still open. The appeal is being made in unison by the three figureheads of the Swiss Offshore Team, who can't imagine the project remaining on the quayside.
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Launch of the Swiss Offshore TeamFirst selection phasesThe Ocean Race Europe with Alan Roura's current boat (Hublot) Double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre
Purchase or launch of construction of latest-generation IMOCA yachtSecond selection phase The Ocean Race Atlantic, a new mixed-crew event. Record attemptsRoute du Rhum
The Ocean Race Transat Jacques Vabre
Vendée Globe
Alan Roura (31). The “wild child” of Swiss sailing, a figure of French-speaking sailing with several Route du Rhum, Vendée Globe, Bol d'Or...
“The Ocean Race is a race that has left its mark on Swiss sailing. When I was staying with my parents in Versoix, I spent a lot of time in the offshore microcosm with my sailing mentor, Gilbert Rumo, known as Gibus. I was fed by the incredible stories of the Whitbreads he had done with Pierre Fehlmann. Up until then, my career had been more geared towards solo sailing, but the idea of launching a team project had been in the back of my mind for some time. I'd been asked several times: “When will there be a Swiss team? Well, here we go! Elodie and Simon and I complement each other very well. Simon is all about performance. Elodie is the crew's experience. And I bring my sense of seamanship and my passion. We have everything we need to achieve great things together.
Elodie Mettraux 40 years old, pure product of the CER (Centre d'Entraînement à la Régate de Genève), a major figure in women's sailing and crewed races. Three participations in The Ocean Race
“It's great to be involved in a Swiss project. With a Swiss boat, Swiss sailors, Swiss sponsors and doing our own thing! The Ocean Race is a race I know well, as I've competed in it several times. It's a very demanding and difficult event, but it's a fabulous race. We've seen over the last few editions that it's important to be able to count on an extended team to allow rotations over the legs.”
Simon Koster, 36. The “daring man from Zurich” is a well-known figure on the German sailing scene. Participations in the Route du Rhum, Mini Transat, Transat Jacques Vabre, Bol d'Or...
“I first became interested in crewed racing when I was living in the Zurich area. I was more interested in Germany, and the sailing magazines I was reading at the time were all about the Volvo Ocean Race, as it was then called. There was a German team taking part. I even dared to write to one of the team members, who replied and invited me to come and see the team during a stopover in La Rochelle. I'm really proud to be able to launch a collective project for Switzerland, which will undoubtedly inspire a whole new generation of sailors. With my former team-mate Valentin Gautier (editor's note: currently CER's administrator in Geneva), I'd been thinking for some time about the idea of passing on my knowledge by creating a real sailing school for young Swiss sailors. With Alan and Elodie, it's now almost a reality.
Photo © Vincent Curutchet