Life in last: “Toughest race of my life”

The 60-foot IMOCA is the premier offshore class, but competing at that level is a serious undertaking. While the 2024 Transat CIC from Lorient to New York has showcased the fastest boats and most prepared teams, 35-year-old Swiss competitor Oliver Heer offers a different story.

Currently in last place, he has had some challenges on the 2007 Farr-design Bateau.  While the leading boats have crossed the finish line, Heer faces several more days at sea as he continues to fight through a series of setbacks and unforgiving weather conditions.

For 33 IMOCA solo skippers, the race began in pleasant conditions on April 28 in Lorient, France, but quickly turned fierce. Heer battled strong winds, heavy seas, and equipment failures, including an autopilot malfunction that knocked his boat down causing significant damage as well as minor injury.

During this knock-down, Heer lost all power, forcing him to rely on paper charts and traditional navigation techniques, using old weather data. He lost all onboard communications systems and the signal on the satellite phone has been patchy making communication with his shore team frustrating and difficult.

Additionally, he was unable to use his autopilot, or crucially, his water-maker and was down to his final 1 litre.

After working relentlessly for 24 hours, he managed to rig a temporary bypass solution to provide power to the boat using his onboard solar panels during the day when there is sunlight. But Heer is forced to hand steer the boat both day and night which is exhausting and prevents him from sleeping.

During the knockdown, Heer also suffered sail damage whilst battling to regain control in over 40 knots of breeze at night. He is currently repairing his broken mainsail battens to help regain sailing speed towards the finish.

“So far, this has been the toughest race of my life,” said Heer. “I know I’ll be at sea for a few more days and the weather forecast alternates between zero and 50 knots which isn’t helpful, but I’m determined to finish.”

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