Team AMAALA: Alan Roura, building a legacy

With 8 days to go until the big start, we continue our presentation of the crews competing in The Ocean Race Europe 2025. In this third installment, we spend time with Alan Roura.

The Swiss skipper, who has competed three times in the Vendée Globe, has made no secret of his desire to take part in the Ocean Race. The Ocean Race Europe is a first for AMAALA and a new objective: to train young Swiss talent in ocean racing. Seven skippers have been selected from around forty, and all of them intend to demonstrate their skills during the seven weeks of competition. The team departed the shores of Britain last Thursday for Kiel.

Alan Roura has grown up a lot. In 2017, the Swiss raced his first Vendée Globe. Eight years later, and he has three times in the most famous solo around-the-world race, the last of which he completed last February.

Since 2021, he has embarked on a major challenge by taking over the former Hugo Boss, a monohull that is particularly difficult to handle, and has convinced a renowned Swiss company, Hublot, to join him. After his last circumnavigation, Alan was eager to start a new cycle and immerse himself in new challenges.

Willingness to create unity in the team

But his prospects after the Vendée Globe became uncertain, like those of many skippers, and Alan set out in search of new sponsors to go with him. Then, the support of AMAALA — an ultra-innovative tourism project that will soon see the light of day on the shores of the Red Sea — changed everything. 

"The Ocean Race has long attracted me. I'm looking forward to discovering new races, new places, to break the routine. Being at the start of The Ocean Race Europe 2025 will be a first step towards the round-the-world race in 2027."

And that enthusiasm shines through with Alan. Although he thoroughly enjoys sailing solo, the idea of being the orchestra conductor of a crew on board excites him: "I look forward to putting together a team where each person can give the best of themselves and make the others grow," he says with a smile.

With Simon Koster, who has been with him for several years, and Conrad Colman, who has embarked on this adventure alongside him, he has formed a collective called the Swiss Offshore Team.

"The goal? To reach out to the large number of Swiss talents and enable them to take a step forward in IMOCA. They launched a call for applications, which was a success: they received more than 40 applications, including ten women.

"The idea is to transmit the idea of the IMOCA to the Swiss team, to pass on what we know, to train talented skippers," says Alan. "We have chosen not only the best, but above all those who will be able to work together for the good of the team. After the selection phase, seven sailors (plus the three substitutes) will take turns to take part in The Ocean Race Europe legs this summer. These sailors have honed their skills in Mini 6.50s (Yann Burkhalter, Félix Oberle, Mathis Bourgnon), Olympic sailing (Lucie de Gennes), MOD70s (Rebecca Gmuer) or even bigger boats (Jessica Berthoud)."

For some, ocean racing is a long lineage, like Jessica (whose father competed in the Whitbread, formerly The Ocean Race) and Mathis Bourgnon, son of Yvan and nephew of Laurent, whose name is familiar to all. Each member of the crew demonstrates in his or her own way the extraordinary pool of talent in Switzerland. Although the main objective is to get their feet wet in the IMOCA class, Alan, Simon and Conrad will give their all during the race. Even if we're a step behind the others in terms of sheer speed, we're not going to stop at anything," says Alan. "It's going to be very tough and we know we're going to have our card to play as well."

Discovering the Team AMAALA

Team AMAALA Crew

Simon Koster
36 years old
"It was unthinkable to imagine this adventure without Simon. We work very well on board, we know each other by heart and I trust him completely. We have known each other since 2012 and I love his enthusiasm. He is a great sailor who has the same mentality and the same spirit of transmission with this project."

Conrad Colman
41 years old, from New Zealand, co-skipper of the Cartagena to Boka Bay leg: "I was really happy to do this regatta with Alan. He is someone I really like and he is the godfather of my son Marley. He is also a very good sailor. He deserves to have his own project, with a high performance boat. On the water, he is a real killer but on board, he is a very nice person to be with."

Crew members:

Jessica Berthoud
23 years old, Swiss
Hers is a nice story, as her father participated in the Whitbread (predecessor of The Ocean Race) a long time ago. With experience in both big boats like Giraglia and smaller ones she is a real talent, is highly motivated and brings a lot to the crew." 

Lucie De Gennes
23 years old, French-Swiss
"She is a great competitor. She started in Olympic sailing with great talent. She is eager to try her luck in ocean racing, where she has everything she needs to perform. Lucie doesn't count her efforts on board, she knows how to sail very well and is keen to progress with our teams."

Rebecca Gmuer
Swiss-New Zealander, age 25
Rebecca has a wealth of experience. She has sailed on many MOD70s and TP52s, so she has a lot of experience with crew. She knows the importance of teamwork, cohesion and strategy. She will be ready to perform.

Guillaume Rol
27 years old, Swiss
"I’ve had few opportunities to sail with him so far. But I know he’s an incredible talent, a ‘foil fanatic’ who can bring a lot to a boat. Besides his expertise with foiling boats, he also has in-depth knowledge of onboard electronics, which is a significant asset during the race."

Mathis Bourgnon
28 years old, Franco-Swiss
"How can you do without a Bourgnon? (laughs) I’ve been following his career for a long time, especially in the Mini 6.50. When the project was born in the canton of Vaud, he was there. I find the way he manages his progress very interesting. He wanted a bigger project, and this seems like a logical next step to me."

Félix Oberle
34 years old, Swiss
"I feel like I see Simon (Koster) in him! He is also a German-speaking Swiss and also a huge talent. He’s good in all positions and has great physical endurance... He’s someone who loves being at the winch handle! (laughs). Like him, he’s just waiting for one thing—to show his skills on bigger boats."

Yann Burkhalter
35 years old, Swiss
"Yann gained experience in the Mini 6.50, especially in 2016 and 2017 (18th in the 2017 Mini-Transat). He’s a very good sailor, with great reflexes and steady progress year after year. We get along very well; he’s simple, efficient, and very pleasant on board."

Reserves:
Iona Jan: 21 years old, Swiss
Joshua Schopfer: 26 years old, Swiss
Aurélien Gard: 28 years old, Swiss