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Dear readers, dear Ocean Race fans,

You should stop when it's at its best. This was especially true for Team Malizia's fans at the end of a great adventure in the 14th The Ocean Race.

Boris Herrmann, Rosalin Kuiper, Will Harris, Nico Lunven and on-board reporter Antoine Auriol enjoyed the symbolic culmination of their race around the world with their victory swim in the Ligurian Sea this week. They celebrated a final stage win and third place in the Malizia premiere in the Ocean Race. After seven stages and almost 100 days at sea, the pictures showed an intact team splashing around in each other's arms on the bright red foil of the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" - and still holding on.

The good humour of the Malizians was genuine and infectious, but not self-evident at the end of a maritime marathon that, from the first harbour race in Alicante to the last in-port show in Genoa, kept us in suspense for 175 days with dramas, flights of fancy and fascinating characters like an overlong blockbuster.

I still vividly remember the spirit of optimism with which the teams started the race in Alicante in January. At that time, nobody knew what scars would be left on souls and boats at the finish line of this lap around the world in the 50th anniversary year of the Ocean Race.

The Malizians had no idea that they would only be able to escape the knockout blow in the Southern Ocean with a 30-centimetre-long crack in the mast by the skin of their teeth and through heroic repair efforts. Boris was already facing the end before his childhood dream of successfully reaching the summit of Cape Horn and winning the royal stage was realised.

The fact that "Malizia - Seaexplorer" was able to finish the sea marathon with a light wind triumph was like a balm on his nerves, which had been frayed by critics. The spiritual father and co-developer of the German Imoca had repeatedly defended himself against judgements that his "Malizia - Seaexplorer" lacked assertiveness in flat conditions. Boris described the judgements that his boat was heavier and slower than the others as "nonsense". If you didn't know him better, you would have imagined for a moment after his victory in the Italian doldrums that he was secretly celebrating this final satisfaction on board with an ecstatic dance of joy. But he's not the type for that.

The five-time circumnavigator is a man of long breath. This also fits in with the phenomenon that Team Malizia has often been slow to gain momentum in this Ocean Race, but has then made great strides. Although the subjunctive does not apply in sport, it is interesting to know that Team Malizia was very narrowly defeated three times in the final spurts: on stage four, they were 32 minutes behind the victorious Team 11th Hour Racing. On stage five to Aarhus, Team Malizia finished just over five minutes behind the second-placed "Holcim - PRB" to the finish. Finally, on stage six, a gap of just 1 minute and 20 seconds to the Swiss cost them another point. It could easily have ended differently three times. It can therefore be said that Team Malizia, with 32 points in the final classification, played on an equal footing with the US winners from 11th Hour Racing (37 points) and Team Holcim - PRB (34 points).

This can also be seen from the fact that Team Malizia circumnavigated the globe in the fastest cumulative time of 97 days, 12 hours, 32 minutes and 16 seconds. Until 1993/1994, the results in the most famous team race around the world were determined in this way. Admittedly, these are yesterday's rules and this time there is only one other team, Biotherm, whose significantly slower overall time would be comparable based on all seven stages contested. And even Boris says that the points system is important and correct. However, we already compared the overall time of "Malizia - Seaexplorer" with that of 11th Hour Racing's "Mālama" after stage six. Here, too, the German Imoca was already well ahead.

Boris Herrmann's co-skipper Rosie Kuiper, who was the only woman to compete in all legs of this Ocean Race edition and is likely to be one of the hot candidates, one of whom will be honoured with the Hans Horrevoets Rookie Award at the big winner's party in Genoa on Saturday evening, summed it up once again at the end: "We built a boat for the Southern Ocean with which we were able to set a 24-hour world record. And now we have proven that we can also be fast in light winds." Team Malizia has thus given itself the greatest gift in the Ocean Race final with the final tour de force on course for the final harbour of Genoa.

The awarding of the Rookie Prize in memory of Hans Horrevoets brings back memories of the Dutchman. I knew him and had to report on his untimely death in the Ocean Race on 18 May 2006. At the age of 32, the Dutchman was one of the most experienced crew members in the young team on "ABN Amro Two" when he was hit by a huge wave in the Atlantic between New York and Portsmouth, went overboard and could only be rescued dead.

The Ocean Race last claimed the life of British sailor John Fisher on 26 March 2018. Despite a desperate search, his team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag was unable to find him in a deadly battle with a severe storm around 1,400 nautical miles west of Cape Horn. John Fisher remained lost at sea.

When race director Phil Lawrence called the skippers together for a final meeting before the infamous and historically longest Southern Ocean leg of this 14th edition, he said: "We've already lost sailors on the upcoming leg. I want to see you all again in Itajaí!" For me, the best message is that no lives have been lost at sea in the 50th anniversary year of the Ocean Race!

11th Hour Racing's navigator Simon "Sifi" Fisher, who experienced his dramatic Ocean Race premiere 17 years ago on "ABN Amro Two", has now come closer to Bouwe Bekking's record mark with his sixth circumnavigation, having completed the race of his life eight times. See you next time, Sifi!

After the race is before the race! There are already many plans for the 15th The Ocean Race, which will be held in 2026/2027. Read more about it in YACHT and on YACHT Online. A reunion with German players is very likely. And we are excited to see how well Germany can get into the game after the successful fly-by. Boris has a great idea: "We could start in Hamburg and finish ahead of Kiel."

As I said, he is a man of long breath and usually knows how to play his cards well. Boris also knows that Germany was a very important factor for the organisers in this edition in many areas such as fan engagement and share of the overall fleet. You can dream in XL format ...

One of the many wonderful final scenes in Genoa was when Boris Herrmann invited his compatriot Robert Stanjek to sail with him on "Malizia - Seaexplorer" on Thursday. The hand extended by the Hamburg native confirmed in a comradely way what the Berlin co-skipper said after his team Guyot's rollercoaster ride: "This race has an enormously strong social aspect. The solidarity of the others has shown us: No one is left behind here."

With this in mind: Thank you to all the teams - from the cook to the rigger, from the skipper to the boat builder, from the young ocean racers to the old warhorses - together you have made this race an unforgettable chapter in Ocean Race history!

Yours sincerely

Tatjana Pokorny

YACHT sports expert

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Boris Herrmann and his team Malizia have won the last stage. An in-port race in Genoa is still to come and then they will take stock. Here on yacht.de you can find out everything you need to know about the conclusion of The Ocean Race.

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