Each Vendée Globe is unique. Each race presents a new challenge.
NYON, Switzerland, Feb. 4, 2025 /CNW/ -- A trip around the world, a new page in history, and the constant desire to go ever further. Alan Roura and Hublot share this obsession: pushing the limits, striving for excellence, writing the future, again and again. Giving everything you have, to the very end. Pushing hard right to the last mile, Alan Roura fought relentlessly, battling the elements to get his IMOCA Hublot to the finish line.
LES SABLES D’OLONNE, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 03, 2025 : Hublot skipper Alan Roura (SUI) is photographed after taking 18th place in the Vendee Globe, on February 03, 2025 in Les Sables d'Olonne, France - (Photo by Vincent Curutchet / Alea)
LES SABLES D’OLONNE, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 03, 2025 : Hublot skipper Alan Roura (SUI) is photographed after taking 18th place in the Vendee Globe, on February 03, 2025 in Les Sables d'Olonne, France - (Photo by Anne Beauge / Alea)
LES SABLES D’OLONNE, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 03, 2025 : Hublot skipper Alan Roura (SUI) is photographed after taking 18th place in the Vendee Globe, on February 03, 2025 in Les Sables d'Olonne, France - (Photo by Anne Beauge / Alea)
LES SABLES D’OLONNE, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 03, 2025 : Hublot skipper Alan Roura (SUI) is photographed after taking 18th place in the Vendee Globe, on February 03, 2025 in Les Sables d'Olonne, France - (Photo by Anne Beauge / Alea)
BIG BANG UNICO SAILING TEAM
BIG BANG UNICO SAILING TEAM
A feat that perfectly illustrates what it means to perform at the extreme: managing every detail, pushing your limits, reinventing yourself from one moment to the next. This 2024-2025 edition has proved this once again: extreme conditions, technical challenges, snap changes to the weather… everything can shift at a moment's notice. Despite years of experience, you have to start from scratch, rethink and reinvent everything. In watchmaking, as at sea, overcoming challenges can never be taken for granted!
The Swiss flag is flying in the channel of Les Sables d'Olonne once again! This Monday, 3rd February 2025 at 12h57'48'', Alan Roura crossed the finish line of the 2024-2025 Vendée Globe in 18th position, completing his third solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the world. At the helm of the IMOCA Hublot, he has improved on his previous race time by almost 10 days, covering 28,553 miles in 84 days 55 minutes and 48 seconds, at an average speed of 14 knots.
HUBLOT'S DNA: ALWAYS IN SEARCH OF THE EXTREME
Hublot celebrates not just the victories, but the road travelled. Like the sailor, each Hublot watch is born of a challenge, a desire to question everything, a quest for perfection that never stops. The finish line is what we remember, but this line could never be crossed without all the work that goes before: research, development, preparation, experience, learning, will and passion. These similarities unite the Swiss brand and the Swiss sailor.
LE VENDÉE AND ALAN
Setting out from Les Sables-d'Olonne on 10th November last year, the skipper overcame abrupt changes in the weather, energy problems, sail and rudder damage, enduring some particularly extreme weather conditions in the South Seas, and pushing his limits day after day. Thanks to meticulous management of his boat and his unfailing tenacity, he was able to successfully complete this extraordinary challenge, once again cementing his place among the elite of ocean sailors. At 31 years old, the Swiss sailor has now completed his third Vendée Globe; his first circumnavigation was achieved 8 years ago, at the age of just 23. A new challenge that paves the way for many more to come.
"I'm immensely proud to have completed my third consecutive Vendée Globe. During every edition, and despite the experience I've accumulated, I know that everything can change in a moment. Each race is an opportunity to push my limits and continue to learn. Nothing can be taken for granted. You have to constantly adapt, accept the unexpected and fight, day after day. Thank you to my team, my partners, and to Hublot, who understands the challenge represented by the perpetual quest for success, and all those who have supported me on land and at sea. Without them, this adventure would not be possible."
– ALAN ROURA SAILOR & AMBASSADOR
"Congratulations on your third Vendée Globe, Alan! Devoting yourself to a race like the Vendée Globe is like designing the next iconic watch: you need motivation, perseverance and courage. Each edition, like each new watch creation, is a challenge where nothing can be taken for granted. We share in Alan's passion, a passion which overcomes every challenge and drives us to give our very best, again and again."
– JULIEN TORNARE HUBLOT CEO
HUBLOT
Hublot is a Swiss watch manufacturer founded in 1980 and based in Nyon. For its first ever timepiece, this fundamentally disruptive company combined gold with a rubber strap in a case with a design inspired by a ship's porthole (hublot in French). Thus, the Art of Fusion was born, blending tradition, innovation, craftsmanship, worlds and talents. It became the brand's aesthetic and technical signature.
This identity was strengthened in 2005 with the Big Bang, which attested to an unrivalled know-how in terms of complications, manufacture movements and state-of-the-art materials. Carbon, titanium, ceramic and sapphire have been developed on this model to technical extremes.
This ground-breaking, high-quality approach to watchmaking is summed up in its philosophy "Be First, Unique and Different." It gradually led to other collections with innovative designs: Classic Fusion, Shaped Collection (Spirit of Big Bang, Square Bang) and Manufacture Pieces. These draw on high levels of craftsmanship, both in terms of the materials so dear to Hublot (such as Magic Gold, brightly-coloured ceramics and sapphires) and its manufacture movements (Unico chronograph, Meca-10 and large complications such as the Tourbillon, the Cathedral Minute Repeater and the specific Manufacture Pieces movements).
Hublot's world extends to powerful partnerships including football. "Hublot Loves Football" has become the slogan at the world's biggest sporting events (such as the FIFA World Cup™, Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA EURO™) and through its ambassadors. This love of football continues in art, design, music, sport, fine dining and sailing. Lastly, Hublot's implication in joint environmental projects with SORAI and Polar Pod reflects its concern for the issues of the day.
Over 140 boutiques around the world share Hublot's fervour and values, alongside the Hublot.com e-commerce site.
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