HEER WE GO AGAIN!

Exactly one year after crossing the finish line of our first Vendée Globe and making Swiss sailing history, we are excited to share the details of what comes next for our team.

We have officially launched our 2028 Vendée Globe campaign, but we’re not just doing the same thing a second time. What started as an ambitious adventure has evolved into something far bigger, bolder and more performance focused.

Last time, we proved what we could do with a lean budget and small team.

This time, we’re looking for a competitive performance.

“Crossing the finish line of my first Vendée Globe was never the end of the story – it was only the beginning.  I was very clear that I wanted the second campaign to be bigger, better, stronger and faster.

Over the last year, we have built on our experience; created a new sponsorship model, secured new partners, acquired a foiling boat and established a new team and base. Our aim is to deliver a competitive campaign for the 2028 Vendée Globe.” - Oliver Heer, Skipper

From Adventure to Performance

In February 2025, Ollie became the first Swiss-German sailor to complete the Vendée Globe – the toughest solo, non-stop race around the world. What started as a childhood dream became a gruelling 99-day journey battling the toughest ocean conditions and navigating some of the most remote places on the planet.

We learned a tremendous amount about preparation, teamwork, determination and resourcefulness. We’ve taken all these learnings and over the last 12 months we have built a new campaign, with a competitive foiling IMOCA, a new team base in the UK and a growing team of specialists.

A foiling IMOCA, a new learning curve

To help us achieve our performance ambitions, we have secured a modern foiling IMOCA, designed to fly across the water at significantly faster speeds than our previous daggerboard boat.

The boat has a proven pedigree, finishing 8^th in the 2024 Vendée Globe, skippered by fellow Swiss sailor, Justine Mettraux as part of TeamWork-Team Snef.

Stepping into a foiling IMOCA is a bit like stepping from a high-performance race car into a formula one racing machine. The potential is huge, but it requires a different sailing style to get the most from it.

The boat is currently undergoing a refit in Lorient, France before joining our team at the start of May for a period of handover and training with Justine to help us get the best from our new boat.

(Gauthier Lebec – TeamWork – Team Snef)

First Race – The Ocean Race Atlantic

The first real test of our new campaign comes later this year with The Ocean Race Atlantic — a fully crewed transatlantic race starting in New York in September and finishing in Europe.

It will be our first opportunity to line up in full race mode, with a chance to benchmark ourselves against the highly competitive IMOCA fleet. It’s a key milestone — and one we’re hugely excited about.

Embrace The Challenge

At the heart of everything is our new purpose ‘Embrace The Challenge’. It reflects how we combine performance, mindset and responsibility together to create an impact beyond sailing.

The concept was shaped by Ollie’s experiences whilst solo ocean racing — particularly the moments when setbacks demand clarity, resilience and forward momentum. It champions mental strength and a positive mindset as learnable skills that can help individuals and businesses turn obstacles into opportunities and achieve sustainable success.

Backed by Swiss partners who believe in the journey

None of this would be possible without the belief and support of our partners.

Our bold move to step away from seeking a single title partner and establishing an innovative portfolio sponsorship approach is already gaining traction. Several founding partners have been secured to launch the campaign, while opportunities remain open to new partners wishing to join the journey towards The Ocean Race 2027 and Vendée Globe 2028.

Two of our Vendée Globe 2028 campaign founding partners are Bossard Group and Burgerstein Vitamine.

Bossard Group joins the programme as Technical Partner, with Florian Heuter, General Manager Bossard Germany & VP Products & Engineering commenting

“We will be working closely with Oliver and the team to identify and integrate the best suited fastening elements and access solutions across the boat and associated equipment.”

Tanja Zimmermann CEO of Burgerstein Vitamine adds

“We are delighted to continue our partnership and build upon the success of Tut gut in the previous Vendée Globe.”

Their support allows us to plan properly, invest in the right people and equipment, and take a professional approach to one of the toughest challenges in sport.

We’re grateful to have them on board and we’re looking forward to going on this journey together.

The road to 2028 starts now

With the next Vendée Globe less than 1000 days away we’ve officially moved from start-up to scale-up and shifted gear from adventure-mode to performance-mode.

There’s a lot ahead. Hard work, challenges, breakthroughs and plenty of unknowns. But this is what makes the journey matter.

We’re ready to embrace the challenge and we can’t wait to bring you with us on our journey to the 2028 Vendée Globe startline.

“Thank you for your on-going support, it means the world to me and the team. We always intended that our second campaign would be a progression from our first and we can’t wait to get started! Heer we go!” - Ollie

#HeerWeGo