Alan Roura launches a new campaign for 2025 with Team AMAALA
New effort is the seventh team in The Ocean Race Europe fleet
Alan Roura, the Swiss offshore sailor, has partnered with AMAALA to compete in The Ocean Race Europe 2025.
With less than three months to go before the race start in Kiel, Germany, the team will begin their intensive training when the boat is launched in Lorient, France later this month.
“We have been working for a long time towards launching a campaign and to be on the start line of The Ocean Race Europe," Roura said. "I'm very proud today to be the skipper of Team AMAALA, which allows us to convey shared values of design and innovation, competition, teamwork, and our commitment to ocean health and regeneration.
"This is the start of a new story, an incredible adventure, and we don't have a minute to lose. Our boat is currently undergoing a livery re-design in the colors of AMAALA. We are recruiting our crew, preparing training drills, setting logistics in motion. It’s an exciting phase for us. The first time our race boat emerges from the shed and sees the light of day will be the beginning of a new era.”
After 10 years of solo sailing and three successful Vendée Globe campaigns, the 32-year-old IMOCA skipper is taking a more collective approach. He has set himself the mission of taking part in The Ocean Race round-the-world challenge in 2027 and being the skipper of a capable and highly competitive team. The core crew includes the talented Simon Koster and Elodie Mettraux and with team selection now well under way, the full squad will be finalised and announced in the coming weeks.
"We want to bring together an international team, mixing ocean racing experts with young talent. To achieve this, we have organized two selection sessions, one on Lake Geneva and one in Lorient," Roura said.
"The crewed format is also new to me, it's the shared experience on board that appeals and the challenge of putting together a high-performance team that gets on well. Having worked closely with the AMAALA team over the past months I know that this spirit of respect, collaboration and passion are values we share. There is a great sense of camaraderie between the IMOCA teams throughout the race, and despite the intensity of competition, these are races where we help each other out a lot. In sporting terms, the level promises to be very high, and I see the race to the finish line in Montenegro being the leg that will likely challenge us the most in terms of weather, because anything can happen."
“We believe deeply in this project, which strengthens our brand and offers great international visibility,” said John Pagano, Group CEO of Red Sea Global, the developer behind AMAALA. “We have been a part of The Ocean Race family since 2023 as Red Sea Global, but this is now AMAALA’s time to fly its flag and connect an international community with the yachting lifestyle that will be an important part of the destination.”
Alongside AMAALA, the watchmaker Hublot, who have been supporting Alan Roura since 2022 in line with a ‘push your limits’ philosophy, is continuing the adventure as the Team's official sponsor and timekeeper.