Swiss-German Skipper Oliver Heer crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe solo non-stop race around the world on February 17, 2025, 99 days and five hours after his start in November 2024. Heer secured 29th place in his first Vendée Globe attempt, completing a campaign years in the making and fulfilling a childhood dream. His Farr designed 2007 generation, Tut Gut, was equipped with Quantum Sails, designed with the IMOCA class' Green Sails rule in mind.
Heer's journey back to Les Sables d'Olonne was not without its challenges. Mechanically, He suffered a damaged mainsail and a keel ram hydraulic issue. Nature provided its own trials, hitting Heer with high winds, dead calms and large swells in his journey beyond Good Hope, through the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and his second Atlantic crossing. He even had a close encounter with an iceberg as he passed near Point Nemo.
In this first attempt, Heer's main goal was a clean finish with both he and his Farr 2007 in good condition. After his finish, Heer spoke with the Vendée Globe News team. He told VG, "99 days is a long time… but I am here, in good shape, as is my boat. My goal was to finish the race cleanly, to complete this round the world race without a hitch. Every time I took a risk, I reminded myself of this priority."
Heer's qualifying races to the Vendée Globe tested both him and Tut Gut, causing set backs and close calls to the continuation of his ultimate goal to set off from Les Sables d'Olonne in November. A collision with another IMOCA hours after the start of the 2022 Route du Rhum led to a stop into Lorient to make a significant composite repair. He restarted five days later and still went on to finish within the time limit to step up the qualification ladder.
Additionally, in early 2024, on the Transat CIC race from Lorient to New York he was knocked flat and suffered a full electronics failure that required him to hand steer for many hours each day to ensure he finished the race which was an essential stepping stone to Vendée Globe qualification. When asked about these set backs, Heer said, "It really wasn't easy to get to the Vendée Globe, but it had two positive consequences. Firstly, it forced us to improve the reliability of the boat. Secondly, it proved how determined we were to be at the start. In hindsight, I wouldn't change anything."
In preparation for his Vendée Globe race, Heer worked closely with Quantum Sails to design, test and build headsails and mainsails for his Farr 2007 with IMOCA Class Green Sail Rules in mind. Across the world, Quantum is proud to have contributed more than 190 hours since February 2024 to manufacturing Heer's sails, in adherence to the RISE initiative.
Quantum Sails has been deeply involved in IMOCA's initiative toward greener processes from the original Green Sails rule to the evolution of RISE. We're proud to contribute to this groundbreaking project and are excited about the sustainable innovations it will bring to the IMOCA class and beyond.
It seems Heer isn't done with the Vendée Globe just yet. When asked by the VG News team what's next, Heer said, "had an extremely positive experience in this Vendée Globe. I thought that finishing the race would mark the end of a long project, and in the end, I feel like it's the start of something even bigger. I'd be very happy to be at the start in 2028!".