Alan and Simon crossed the finish line of the Transat Jacques Vabre on Tuesday November 21 at 3:15 p.m. (local time) in Fort-de-France (8:15 p.m. Swiss time). Alan and Simon finished in 19th position after 14 days, 10 hours 45 minutes and 26 seconds of racing. They will have covered 4,993 miles at an average speed of 14.40 knots between Le Havre and Fort-de-France. A new transatlantic race completed for the IMOCA Hublot, proof of reliability which is now certain, and a new experience rich in lessons for Alan, one year before his third participation in the Vendée Globe.

Finally, Alan and Simon set off yesterday morning for the Transat Jacques Vabre, bound for Martinique! After leaving Le Havre's Bassin Paul Vatine early this morning, the IMOCA Hublot headed for the starting line, before setting off at 9:30 a.m. in conditions that allowed the fleet to put on a show.

Click on the link below to watch the start video.

Video

With an invigorating but maneuverable start in around 25 knots of wind, and a first front waiting for them as they leave the English Channel, the start of the race promises a seamless jump into the action, heading west. It's only afterwards that tactics should spice up the game, with the rounding of Brittany first, and the DST of Ouessant to be left to port or starboard, and two clear-cut options between northern and southern routes, with the island of Santa Maria in the Azores to be left to starboard.

Click on the link below to follow the race live.

Due to "conditions too rough to pass Cape Finisterre safely", the race management of the Transat Jacques Vabre has decided to send out an overview for the IMOCA fleet. The start has therefore been postponed to a later date for the 40 boats entered in the category.

Click on the link below to watch the video of the postponed start for the IMOCA boats.

Video

The start of the 50th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race was given this Saturday, July 22, from Cowes on the Isle of Wight in England.

“Departures with this boat, with has a closed cockpit, are never easy. Moreover, with 29 Imocas, 35 knots of headwind and in a corridor a mile wide, it doesn't make things any easier! But it's going to be fine and once out of the solent, I know that everything will be good” declared Alan a few hours before taking the start of his second race of the season aboard his Imoca.

Alan Roura and Simon Koster crossed the finish line in Brest on Friday 12th May at 10h12'22''. The Swiss duo thus finished 8th in their first double-handed race, after 4 days, 20 hours, 12 minutes and 22 seconds at sea. 

The two Hublot skippers sailed the 1,385 miles of the course at a speed of 11.9 knots on the great circle route (theoretical direct route). In reality, they covered 1,614 miles at an average speed of 13.9 knots (on the water). They arrived in Brest 13 hours 57 minutes and 20 seconds after the winners Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière.

Back from almost five weeks of training in Portugal ten days ago, Alan Roura, Simon Koster and the Hublot Sailing Team are back at the start.

With five days to go before the competition resumes, the Swiss duo is preparing to head for Brest, the starting town for the fourth Guyader Bermuda 1000 Race, the launch race of the 2023 season, which will be run as a double-handed event for the first time.

The fourth and final episode of our video series "Les entretiens privilégiés avec Alan Roura" is dedicated to sustainable development which is at the heart of Alan's project.

Hublot is an Imoca boat that is self-sufficient in renewable energy, with a deck entirely covered in solar panels, capable of sailing around the world without using diesel.