Swiss Oliver Heer Ocean Racing IMOCA team to compete in the Transat Jaques Vabres
by Oliver Heer Ocean Racing 21 Oct 2023 11:11 BST
29 October 2023
Oliver Heer Ocean Racing - Transat Jaques Vabre © Sharon Hayward
Upcoming Swiss offshore sailing team, Oliver Heer Ocean Racing is set to compete in the 30th edition of the Transat Jaques Vabre (TJV) starting on Sunday 29th October. Once again, skipper Oliver Heer will team up with fellow Swiss offshore sailor Nils Palmieri.
Departing from Le Havre, France and heading across the Atlantic to Martinique, the 10,000km race is a two-to-three-week test for the skipper duos and their boats. It is the longest race so far in the 2023 IMOCA race circuit, and the last of the double-handed races in the build-up to the Vendee Globe 2024, the 'Everest' of offshore racing.
For Oliver Heer, taking part in the Transat Jaques Vabre represents a huge milestone in his quest to become the first ever Swiss German to compete in the Vendee Globe. "This will be my first time competing in the TJV. I was here in 2019 with Alex Thomson as part of team Hugo Boss and it is incredible to now be here with a team of my own. It actually makes me feel quite emotional how far we have come." Oliver Heer - Skipper
The Swiss duo sailed together just a few weeks ago in the Défi Azimut sailing challenge in Lorient. Despite facing strong winds, stormy seas, and a few technical setbacks, the pair finished 21st, claiming the third-fastest non-foiling IMOCA.
Ollie adds "I am delighted to sail again with Nils Palmieri. We complement each other's skill set extremely well. As this is the last opportunity for me to sail with a co-skipper in the IMOCA series before the Vendee Globe, it is crucial to partner with a co-skipper who can help me optimise the experience."
Nils Palmieri, who previously completed the Transat Jaques Vabre in 2015 within the Class 40 fleet, comments: "I am very happy to be a part of Ollie's project and delighted that I can share my knowledge and racing experience to help him to achieve his goals. For me, it is also a fantastic opportunity to gain more experience racing within the IMOCA Class, as I want to progress more into ocean racing, and IMOCA is the class for that."
The 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre race will finish in Martinique, where there is a tight turnaround before the next race, Retour à La Base, which will see Ollie race single-handedly back across the Atlantic to Europe.
This schedule is on Ollie's mind as he considers his race strategy. "I am very competitive and always have been. After two consecutive third-fastest results within the daggerboard IMOCA's, naturally, I want to beat this result and will push the boat. But at the same time, I need to balance my ambition with the need to look after the boat, to ensure I have the best chance of a good result in both races."
For the Transat Jaques Vabre, Ollie is collaborating with IMOCA and Ifremer, the French scientific research institution and will carry and launch a weather buoy to be deployed at a pre-determined location to provide another layer of data to support scientific progression. Sustainability is at the heart of Ollie's campaign. Onboard he carries sophisticated water sampling equipment provided by the Swiss Polar Institute which will be used to capture information on various metrics such as salinity, CO2 and water temperature from remote locations along the race route. This data is fed into a global database for use by leading scientists and climatologists working to understand climate change.
Ollie and Nils will join the 38-strong fleet of IMOCAs at the start line on the Transat Jacques Vabre on Sunday 29th October, bringing Ollie one step closer to his Vendee Globe dream.