The crazy year of FELIX OBERLE

Offshore racing

Mini, IMOCA, solo, crew… Felix Oberle finds it hard to say no when he’s asked to jump on a boat. The most French-speaking of the German-speaking Swiss is everywhere. Swiss Sailor of the Year 2024, Alan Roura’s crew member on The Ocean Race Europe, he will be at the start of the Mini Transat La Boulangère on September 21. Podium goal.

Felix Oberle, I hear you’re not on a boat this Wednesday, August 20?

(Laughs) Sounds almost unbelievable, doesn’t it? I’m taking a ten-day break after the first leg of The Ocean Race Europe. Since June, I’ve hardly had a day to myself. But I’m not complaining at all, because I’m lucky enough to be doing what I enjoy most. So it’s pretty great.

And where does this welcome break take place?

I’m from Aarau, with my family. It’s where I was born and raised. It’s also where I took to the water for the first time on a boat. I was a few months old and it was on the family boat on Lake Hallwil. Some photos show me in a maxi-cosi, hanging on the deck. That’s probably when I first got to grips with the sensations of sailing. I touched and held a helm before I could even stand on my own two legs. My parents always used sailing as a means of exploration. And vacations were usually spent on the water.

It’s a bit like how, when you’re born in Aarau, you end up taking to the open sea?

I don’t have a classic background in the sense that, although I’ve always sailed as a yachtsman-adventurer, I only discovered racing when I arrived in French-speaking Switzerland for my higher studies at the EPFL (editor’s note: he has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering). It was in Lausanne that I discovered what a Laser was, for example. I competed in my first regattas with the university teams and took part in various university championships with races at sea. But before that, I was already passionate about ocean racing. I used to follow the big races and lose myself in books about sailors.

And did something click?

At 16, after passing my sea licence, I went on my first sea cruise with the Cruising Club Suisse in Lorient. Even back then, I’d seen the Mini boats, of which there are many at La Base. I didn’t know what these tiny sled-like monohulls were. I remember going on the Internet to find out more and discovering that you could cross the Atlantic on one. Then, when I was 20, I rented a sailboat and sailed around the British Isles, partly single-handed and partly short-handed. An unforgettable experience, it was then that my dream took shape.

How does it become reality?

Once I’d finished my studies, I decided to take the plunge and try to do things right. I was following the Swiss who were in Lorient at the time, and I went to see them to find out. Simon Koster, Patrick Girod, and some other skippers I knew, all clearly told me that Lorient was the place to be. Not least with Lorient Grand Large coach Tanguy Leglatin, who has always had a good relationship with Swiss sailors.

First Mini campaign goes very well…

My aim is to see where I stand in a class like the Mini, by giving myself the means to prepare and train well. I’d already raced and traveled quite a bit before. But I wanted to know if I could transpose all this experience and acquired skills into ocean racing, which is a very different field in essence. Series racing is ideal because the boat isn’t an obstacle to performance, and you can compare yourself with competitors using the same equipment. I finished 4th out of 59 on my first solo transatlantic race. A result that reinforced my desire to continue.

So this time, it’s a prototype?

It was the logical step after 2023. The protos are the same size, but there’s an added complexity and they go a bit faster. I think I’ve put all the chances on my side to have a good race. There’s one boat, Benoît Marie’s Nicomatic, which is a bit out of class with its foils and load-bearing rudders. If it flies, it’s unbeatable. But a transatlantic race is a long one, and a lot can happen. So my aim is to get in the fight for a place on the podium, and I’d say there are six or seven boats that can claim such a result.

You were named Swiss Sailor of the Year 2024 for your overall results on the Mini circuit. Does this give you a great deal of confidence?

I was surprised and honored to be nominated. It’s a great reward for all the work I’ve done. And it certainly gives me confidence and motivation for the future. Because I clearly want to continue in the world of ocean racing.

Your horizons have already broadened, since you discovered the IMOCA boats this summer?

Yes, there was the British Isles tour with the Hungarian Szabi. But above all, there was Alan Roura’s collective project, Team Amaala, for which I was lucky enough to be selected. In just two months, they have put together an incredible, highly professional project. I had the privilege of competing in the first leg of The Ocean Race Europe from Kiel to Portsmouth. It will remain one of the most beautiful memories of my life. The crowds on the quayside in Germany. The reaching start in 25 knots. The atmosphere on board, with Alan, Simon, Lucie and Coline, the onboard reporter, was just magical. It was all very intense, and I really needed this ten-day break from sailing to get back on track with my Mini project.