Swiss Review 3/2021

Swiss Review / June 2021 / No.3 20 Bernard Stamm in 2007. “I wouldn’t last two days in a boat like that,” re- marks Bernard Schopfer. “As long as everything is going well, it is a yacht like any other. But as soon as there is a problem, you realise how powerful it is,” explains Alan. A spinnaker in the water? Count up to six hours of work to get the 400 squaremetres of canvas back onboard. A gybe using this sail? The manoeuvre will take around an hour. The boat functions as a sound- ing board. “The constant movement means it is impossible to relax your body.” In terms of comfort, “there is a bucket used as a toilet and a bottle that you press for a shower”. For land-lov- ers or pleasure-boaters, the speed of an IMOCA yacht would be terrifying, with highs of 30 knots and above (60 km per hour). “Once you’re used to it, you feel like you’re going really slowly at 20 knots.” Once the racewas over, Roura and his team returned to work immedi- ately. “We are looking for a new spon- sor, Swiss, if possible,” says Aurélia, Alan’s wife, who handles communica- tion. La Fabrique had been sponsored by the eponymous bakery brand, based in the canton of Vaud. The Vendée Globe is a full-time project. a shipyard ended in failure: their sal- aries were not paid. Next they headed in the direction ofMartinique, and an- other shipyard. A phone call took them to Grenada, where millionaire Georges Cohen was building a palace on a private island. Georges Roura headed a team of eight locals, whom he trained in metalwork and tin- smithry, artswhich later flourished in the area. Alan managed a little port. “That job was the worst,” jokes Alan. But the bosses were pleasant and the family had a cottage on stilts. At 15 years old, Alan would take nabobs, in- cluding Serge Dassault, on offshore fishing trips. Later, the crewwas reduced to just Georges and Alan. They took the Lud- mila to the Pacific Ocean. The boat was 40 years old with the autopilot out of order. The two Swiss reached Tahiti after 22 days at sea. “We slept at the helm.” Alan was 17 years old. To- day, he describes his father, who briefly enters the kitchen during our interview (svelte, white hair, weath- er-beaten hands, intense expression, smiling and direct), as an excellent sailor. How does he define an excel- lent sailor? “Someone who is able to go from point A to point B, whatever the weather, and who gets their boat there in good condition without tak- ing pointless risks,” summarises Alan. Later on, the duo would narrowly es- cape an accident at sea caused by damage incurred off the coast of New Caledonia. Some makeshift repairs amidst waves of 10 metres managed to save them. The call of offshore racing The Rouras’ trip on the Ludmila ended in New Caledonia. That was where Alan first experienced offshore racing. “Unlike other Swiss sailors like DominiqueWavre, AlanRoura doesn’t come from a background in regattas, but from the sea,” notes Genevan Ber- nard Schopfer, sailor and expert in sailing history. Gifted with prime technical and practical experience of the sea, Roura notches up all the clas- sics: Mini-Fastnet, Mini Transat, Transat Jacques-Vabre. At the end of this journey, the young man comes across the VendéeGlobe, known as the Everest of the seas. He completes the race twice, both times as the youngest sailor. The 2016–17 edition, in which Ro- ura finished 12th, was an adventure falling into the category of discovery and pleasure. In 2021 he finished 17th, after the vessel was damaged twice and after sailing half of the race with a keel stuck in the axis. A zero-comfort vessel La Fabrique, the second of its name, is an IMOCAyacht built by Switzerland’s Solo sailor Alan Roura on La Fabrique. The vibrations of a constantly moving boat make it impossible for Roura to relax completely. Photo: Keystone