The historic performance of Felix Oberle on Mingulay, the ingenuity of Benoît Alt on Hader 716 and the tenacity of Markus Burkhardt: the three Swiss competitors in the Mini Transat reached the end of their adventure in mid-November. Edition after edition, the Mini continues to be a hit with Swiss sailors and the public alike. Here’s a look back at a successful 2023 vintage with the Swiss participants.
Interview by Pauline Katz
Felix Oberle on Mingulay: sparkling performance
The fifth Swiss ever to finish in the top 5 of this legendary race, Felix has achieved quite a feat! Although Felix started sailing at a very young age, he took part in his first regatta relatively late, when he was a student at EPFL. Felix was a fast learner, and took part in the M2 Speedtour du Léman. The Aargau native has been dreaming of his Mini project since he was a teenager. He tried to make it a reality when he was 25, but due to a lack of partners, he put it off until later. At the age of 30, with his savings, he bought a Maxi 650 which he brought back to Lausanne to fully equip. In October 2021, Felix joined the Lorient Grand Large training center, an expression he knew only by name at the time! The race for miles begins, and the skipper from Aargau is already proving to be a shrewd strategist. “I managed to qualify for the SAS (Sables d’Olonne -Açores – Sables), the queen of the Mini calendar. Once the Mini had started, Felix immediately felt in the game and had a clear strategy: “I wanted to hit the Portuguese trade winds among the first. During this first leg, I was sometimes lucky and sometimes unlucky. Along the coast, we played well with Luca Rosetti by taking the easterly option and we were in the leading trio. But south of Portugal, the western group took over and I finally finished 13th. For the second leg, Felix will once again be out in front, and this time, all the way to the finish. The Mingulay skipper opted for the more southerly route, which was longer, but with more established trade winds. “Once I’d reached my southern point, I sailed downwind for four days at record speeds. When the fleet rejoined at the halfway point, Felix was in the top three. However, Felix had major electrical problems on board and was close to a blackout. “I had to redo the entire electrical system, and with every maneuver I had to move my panels according to the sun. It was exhausting and stressful!” Despite his fatigue, the Aargau native, a member of Club Nautique Morgiens, held on. In the end, his performance was rewarded with a chocolate medal, as a rough start on the last day cost him the podium. Felix doesn’t see the future without sailing: “I loved everything about this project and I loved being offshore. I won’t be doing the Mini series again, and I’d also like to sail on bigger boats.” In fact, Felix will be doing the return transatlantic race on a Class40 in the Jacques-Vabre. As for his Mingulay boat, Joshua Schopfer from Geneva will be taking it over for his Mini 2025 campaign.
Benoît Alt on Hader 716: a first that calls for others
Ranking 15th overall in this year’s edition, Benoît didn’t hesitate long before taking the plunge into proto racing: “Thanks to my apprenticeship in a boatyard, I could transform it as I wished and turn it into a real R&D project.” From the moment he announced his participation, everything went smoothly for the Fribourg native: “I meticulously prepared my schedule to ensure my qualification, without putting myself in the red.” It was at the La Turballe training center, surrounded by a large number of ministries, that the young skipper trained and discovered ocean racing. Like his boat, his ambitions have evolved over the course of his project: “My basic objective was to complete my first transatlantic race. But as my qualification went rather well, I set myself the top third of the ranking. On the first leg, I quickly got into the race and had a lot of fun. My strategy was to go west, hoping for good tilts… A gamble that worked out well. Being slower than the new protos, I had to take real options over them, hoping to make a difference! The second stage was more difficult. I broke the bowsprit in the first few days and couldn’t use my spinnaker for four days. It was frustrating to see the others slip away and the repairs wore me out. After that, I had to work hard to catch up. Benoît finished 17th in Saint-François. The good news is that Benoît is back on track for the Mini 2025 with his proto and main sponsor, Hader Solutions. Once again, he’ll be using his technical skills to add two C foils. We’re already looking forward to following his upcycled adventure.
Markus Burkhardt on Zoe4Life: the dream and the adventure
Markus Burkhardt, 53rd in this year’s series, is a professional skipper who is more of an adventurer than a racer. His first regatta was the Mini adventure! A project he carried out over four years, accumulating over 10,000 miles to qualify. “It was my project in my fifties, with no real regatta experience… I hope I’ve inspired others to take the plunge!” His ambitions? “Pleasure above all! I chose a robust boat, a 2012 Nacira, but not the fastest. In fact, I’ve drawn up my strategy accordingly. At the start in La Palma, I didn’t have to decide between a northerly or southerly option; I opted for the most direct route. I had no other objective than to arrive in Guadeloupe on November 15, the date on which I had arranged to meet my family and friends! In true Swiss style, Markus arrived right on time!
Joshua Schopfer – Horizon Mini Transat 2025
Joshua Schopfer, 24, from Geneva, is launching his Mini 2025 campaign. It’s a project we’ll be following with interest, as the young skipper already has a fine track record to his credit, including two victories in the Syz Translémanique and participation in legendary races such as the Rolex Fastnet. What’s more, he won’t be sailing just any boat, but Felix Oberle’s Maxi.