Text: Walter Rudin
The Aargau-born sailor surprised everyone by taking 4th place in the Mini Transat. For him, this excellent result confirms that he’s on the right track, and he has no intention of stopping there.
Little Felix was frolicking on a sailboat before he could walk. Despite this early initiation, his career took a different path from that of most top-level sailors. He never trained in an Optimist, didn’t earn his stripes in a club or take part in junior regattas. For him, sailing was first and foremost a means of locomotion to explore new horizons. For the first few years, he sailed alone on the lake, before traveling to several European countries and racking up the miles for his offshore license. His sporting challenges lay elsewhere, in athletics, handball, volleyball and skateboarding.
It was during his mechanical engineering studies at EPFL that Felix Oberle took part in his first regattas. He joined the LUC (Lausanne Universités Club Voile) and the Club Nautique Morgien, progressing rapidly, first in Surprise, then in M2. At the age of 25, he wanted to realize his teenage dream and take part in the Mini Transat, but had to postpone his project for lack of sponsors.
Ongoing efforts
It wasn’t until the age of 30 that his savings enabled him to buy a new Scow-Bug Maxi 650, which he brought back to Morges for his first outings in the Baie des Dieux. After fitting out his Mingulay, he will join the Lorient Grand Large training center at the end of 2021 and settle in France. Even today, Felix remains convinced he made the right choice: “Lorient is the Mecca of ocean racing. The town and the training center offer an exceptional infrastructure for carrying out such a project. All the technical stores are within walking distance, we have the best trainers and the boats are on trailer, always ready for the launch. On top of that, I got on very well with my trainer, not to mention the stretch of water, with its currents and wind conditions, offers optimal conditions.” In Lorient, Felix spends most of his time training, sometimes sailing four or five days a week in temperatures as low as 5 degrees!
Getting off the beaten track is often synonymous with sacrifice. Not always easy, he admits: “Since I’ve been in Lorient, I’ve seen my friends and family in Switzerland three or four times a year, and I’ve never had my own apartment. But these sacrifices are forgotten as soon as I’m on the water. At sea, I feel marvellous, I know this is where I belong. Thanks to his savings, a sponsor and the support of a few people, Félix was finally able to carry out his project under the right conditions.
An expected success
His performance in the Mini Transat has confirmed his choices. He seems to have made the right decisions. Thanks to his achievement, he becomes the fifth Swiss to finish the Mini Transat in the top 5. For him, however, 4th place wasn’t such a big surprise: “From the very first leg, I knew I was in. I’d worked hard to get here. Right from the start, my aim was to give it my best shot, and I did everything I could to achieve that, whether it was in terms of navigation, physical condition, mental fitness, weather, sleep management or diet.”
Before the Mini Transat, Felix Oberle was little known in the sailing world. His excellent result, however, elicited enthusiastic reactions from his peers, although the Swiss German-language media did not report much on it. Despite the lack of awareness of ocean racing in Switzerland, he hopes to convince a few local sponsors of the values of ocean sailing. If he wants to continue beyond 2024, he’ll need their support, which is why he plans to devote a lot more time to finding sponsors.
Mini Transat 2025 in sight
Felix Oberle can’t envisage his future without sailing. In January, his Mingulay returned to Europe by cargo ship. It has since been handed over to Joshua Schopfer of Geneva, with a view to his participation in the Mini 2025. Felix has not given up on this race, however, and plans to return in 2025, but this time with a prototype rather than a production boat.
This project took shape in February with the acquisition of the winning boat of the 2021 and 2023 editions. Thanks to this daggerboard proto designed by David Raison, Federico Waksman won last autumn against two foiling boats. To familiarize himself with his new steed, Felix will take part in the Les Sables – Les Açores race, which starts on July 19 from Les Sables-d’Olonne.
For the future, he has a big dream: “One day I want to see an albatross from a sailboat, maybe on a race, maybe on an expedition.” Knowing that these large seabirds live in the southern seas, would he consider sailing around the world?
