Frédéric Switala: a warrior for “Pure Ocean”

©Frédéric Switala

A “craftsman sailor” on a boat with the soul of a warrior by the name of “Man of War” with the mission of being an ambassador for the “Pure Ocean” foundation, which supports innovative scientific projects for the safeguarding of ocean biodiversity. These are the cornerstones of the project by Frédéric Switala, a French skipper in his fifties, a sailor by passion and profession.

“I discovered sailing in the North Sea with an uncle who worked at the Wauquiez shipyard. He had built his own boat at the shipyard, parallel to his job. His goal was to set sail for Polynesia. My first steps in sailing were on a keel boat. At the same time, I listened to the radio programmes of Antoine (Editor’s note: Pierre Antoine Muraccioli), a singer and navigator who recounted his travels around the world. He made me dream.”

When he was a child, his family moved to Marseille. Frédéric and his father could go sailing more often. His first family cruise was to Corsica, which was his first taste of offshore sailing. In the early 1990s, he bought his first cruiser boat. In 2010, Switala achieved his first sailing-related dream: a solo crossing of the Atlantic, setting off from Port Camargue, stopping in the Canary Islands, and arriving in Martinique. “The journey was not exactly as described in the books. You’d think you’d have constant trade winds and a long glide downwind. Instead, I spent the first ten days beating into the wind and the rest in variable conditions, as the trades were not well established. At times, I wondered what I was doing there. But then I started feeling in harmony with nature and the boat, and the rhythm of my life changed. The crossing from the Canary Islands to Martinique took 27 days in total. I enjoyed it and could have continued sailing solo for many more days.”

On this occasion, he experienced one of the most beautiful moments of his life at sea: “I encountered an 8- to 9-metre whale that started playing around the boat, and I felt the temptation to stop the boat and dive in the water for a swim with that amazing creature.”

From passion to profession, sailing became a career for Frédéric. He worked for Bénéteau, selling offshore cruising boats, and had the opportunity to make various crossings with customers. In 2020, he became the manager of the Meta Yachts Services shipyard at Port Navy Service, in Port Saint Louis du Rhône. In a twist of fate, this is the same shipyard that built the “Om”, a 14-metre steel schooner, for Antoine, his childhood idol, with which the singer-navigator completed a circumnavigation in 1974.

Today, Frédéric is ready to make his second childhood dream come true: completing a solo round-the-world circumnavigation!

The Global Solo Challenge offers Switala the opportunity to make this voyage a reality. “I am an amateur sailor with a lot of passion, and I am not aiming for fame. I am simply determined to finish the race in the best possible position. I have a very structured approach that should help me in this.”

Since launching his project, Frédéric has been working hard to be ready at the starting line. He likes to recall the words of Éric Tabarly, a great navigator who inspired him: “You cannot just say that you will do it, but it is important to do what you say.”

The preparation

Frédéric dedicates two days a week of his time to the technical preparation of the boat. To train, in addition to the 2,000-mile qualification passage, he plans to participate in some races to evaluate the boat’s performance and discover its strengths and weaknesses at sea. Indeed, racing facilitates optimising a boat by checking a series of criteria that cannot be assessed during cruising.

On his agenda are two 100-mile races, one in Marseille and the other in Port Camargue, and a longer one, the “Mini Max,” from Port Camargue to Ajaccio and back, for a total of 500 miles.

As for the study of meteorology, Frédéric is doing his own research and gathering relevant publications. He follows other races around the world, such as the Golden Globe Race, on a route where the weather conditions are similar to those that the Global Solo Challenge competitors will encounter. Switala looks at the boats’ speeds and the routes taken. The competition is very engaging to follow.

Frédéric has experienced sleep management during his previous solo navigations. He exchanges ideas with other sailing friends about relaxation techniques, especially for the brain, to withstand challenging moments and be able to sleep a few hours a day.

Direct but reserved, Frédéric hesitates to talk about himself, saying, “You should ask others.” However, when it comes to his professional life, the entrepreneur-navigator comes through: “In my life, as in my professional projects, I invest a lot of energy to complete a project and reach the goals I have set for myself.”

The boat

Frédéric chose a 1985 vessel, a Frers 48′ aluminium boat with a long history. Built in Australia, it was originally called “Contractor” and measured 44 feet; then, in 2007, in New Zealand, it was lengthened and renamed “Man of War.”

“It was love at first sight. ”Man of War arrived” in Europe with the America’s Cup; it was the boat of one of the team members. I love IOR racing boats. I have sailed a lot on aluminium boats, an excellent construction product that is environmentally friendly and versatile with a high safety profile. It has all the characteristics of a high-performance boat, is versatile at all points of sail without being extreme; and is solid and reliable for sailing around the world.” A boat with the soul of a warrior.

There are not many changes made to his vessel; besides the bulkheads and watertight doors required by the event’s regulations, Frédéric has changed the interior layout to adapt it to offshore sailing and the deck layout to optimise it for solo sailing.

He will sail with a classic sail configuration: solent, staysail, mainsail, and gennaker. The boat has been simplified to make it more easily manoeuvrable.

Sports Ambassador

Switala has become a sports ambassador and will carry the values of Pure Ocean on his round-the-world journey, a foundation whose mission is to support innovative projects and organise public events that contribute to raising awareness of fragile marine ecosystems and protecting biodiversity in the oceans.

“When I was a student, I pursued a scientific education. I firmly believe that scientific projects can add great value to our knowledge of and awareness of problems related to the marine ecosystem. I have travelled to Polynesia, and I have seen how important it is to inform people so that they respect the sea and nature.”

Frédéric recalls the sighting of a drifting cardinal buoy during the Atlantic crossing back to Europe in 2012. “I was astonished, and I asked myself, Where am I? The garbage in the sea comes from humans and their activities. Let’s stop suffocating the sea by throwing our waste!”

The team

A communication agency, “Albert, L’Amicale Créative,” accompanies Frédéric in this endeavour and takes care of his social media and website. Switala also relies on the support of other partners such as Meta Yachts Services, Port Navy Service, and Pôle Nautisme Mer et Développement. He continues to search for more sponsors to complete his budget and preparation.

On the boat, in addition to all the gifts from friends and relatives, there is already a good luck charm from a Japanese friend, a white bandana with a red circle. Frédéric will not hesitate to wear it to fight like a true warrior to make his great dream come true.