So many superlatives, so much public interest, such ambitious goals. Boris Herrmann's new Imoca 60 would be exceptional if it were described in terms of numbers and potential: 35,000 hours of development have gone into the new "Malizia - Seaexplorer", 45,000 hours have gone into its construction so far, and it will sail around the world twice in the next two years, travelling up to 500 nautical miles and more.
All of this, however, describes the construction which was launched for the first time in Lorient on the morning of 19 July. The 18.30 metre long boat, whose unusual hull design together with the decor of the sails symbolises the sustainability goals of the United Nations, is a novelty even for the experimental class. Together with VPLP and its team, which has since grown to more than 50 employees, the Hamburg-based professional skipper has developed what is probably the most seaworthy, safest and strongest Open 60 of modern times.
YACHT has already reported on the project in detail twice this year (issues 2 and 15/2022). But it is only now that the courage and consistency required to launch this fascinatingly different ocean-going yacht can be fully appreciated. Boris Herrmann went his own way with the shape of the hull, the design of the completely enclosed cockpit, the shape and variability of the foils and the sail plan. We spoke to the 41-year-old on the evening of the first launch, after he had had a short rest and fortified himself with a bag of freeze-dried food - as if he were sailing the Vendée.
Have you ever had a moment all to yourself in a boat?
Yes, early this morning. I was woken up by a gust of wind that swept a glass off the kitchen table at around 4.30am. Then I drove here because I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. I was a bit worried because it was gusting at 35 knots. "Malizia" was lying high up on the quay. But she was very calm. Thanks to the keel bomb, the centre of gravity is very low, even at 40 knots.
What is it like when you are on board: are you already sailing mentally?
I've spent a lot of time on "Malizia" in my thoughts over the last year. Sometimes when I went to sleep, I imagined what I would see from the bunk, how everything would feel. During development, we worked a lot with 3D glasses, which allow you to visualise everything virtually. This makes me feel as if I've been travelling on the ship for a year.
Have you realised that "Malizia" is now afloat, that she will soon be sailing?
I'm not entirely sure. I already had strong emotions during the launch, but especially afterwards, when docking. It reminded me a lot of the last campaign. Back then, travelling to the dock was a bit easier because everything was already working. We stood here with a few people and drank champagne. I actually wanted to revive that moment. But this time we're a much bigger team.
"Malizia" is something like our grail, our core. Everything gravitates around the ship. We really missed that.
And how did that work with more than 50 employees instead of just a handful?
Super! They're all in a really good mood. I think that's great after this hard time, in which we practically worked for four weeks without a break. Getting the boat ready to launch has released a lot of energy and given us an adrenaline rush. You're a bit superstitious when you're launching a boat like this. A ship can be born well or cause constant problems. I think it's off to a good start.
What does this moment mean to you?
"Malizia" is something like our grail, our core. Everything gravitates around the ship. As long as it only existed in the computer, it was a bit like working in many companies, where you actually do something virtual. The ship is something else. You can go on it, go inside, sleep for a night or have a beer with your friends. It's simply visible. We really missed that.
The "Malizia- Seaexplorer" in detail:
How do you rate "Malizia - Seaexplorer" compared to the currently strongest imocas, "Apivia" and "LinkedOut"?
They are undoubtedly very fast, especially in flat seas and 20 to 25 knots of wind from the side, such as the Transat Jacques Vabre on the Atlantic. But in the Southern Ocean, the boats of the last generation are much slower than expected, sometimes even slower than Imocas without foils like Jean Le Cam's. Something must be wrong. Something must be wrong. I hope that our boat will prove itself there.
You have a shorter waterline due to the extreme spoon bow. How do you compensate for this in displacement mode?
Not at all! We told ourselves: we're slower in light winds and flat seas. But there are almost never flat seas. At twelve knots, a wave develops on the ocean, and below that, with six or eight knots of wind, we tried not to lose more than one knot of speed to the fastest competitors in the calculations.
We never managed to average over 18 knots with the old boat in rough seas. With the new "Malizia" we hope to reach 22 knots.
Where do you make up for it?
We never managed to average over 18 knots with the old boat in rough seas. With the new "Malizia" we're hoping for 22 knots, so of course we'll make up a lot of ground. And we have optimised even more. We have much larger foils, more advanced sails and we will have an even more powerful autopilot. But of course we still have to see how this works in practice.
Will the Route du Rhum in November be the first full-load test, or are you holding back so as not to take any risks for the Ocean Race in January 2023?
The Route du Rhum counts towards qualifying for the Vendée Globe. I think it will give us and me confidence if we finish there safely and solidly. We don't have to win it. And I think that would also be difficult against the totally sophisticated boats, which are now super mature and were already at the start of the last Vendée. Ultimately, we only have a few weeks of sailing time until then for testing and development. We won't be able to be fully competitive yet: But of course we always try to do our best. Our first big goal is the Ocean Race, and before that you don't take too many risks.
If you call "Malizia" brave, what is the new "Charal" - crazy?
The V-rudders are extreme, the foils are also very different, the hull is the narrowest ever built. I think it's just great to see this development. The Imoca is a design class, like the Moths or the 18-footers, where people are really realising completely new ideas. You can't be sure in advance whether it's brilliant or crazy. What's actually interesting about the Vendée Globe, with its difficult conditions in the Southern Ocean, is that the Charal team stuck with such a straight hull with a flat underwater hull, despite the round nose. For me, this ship makes sense if you imagine that it always sails with a lot of leeway. However, my experience is that it is very difficult to sail like this permanently in gusty and difficult conditions.
How important was your time in the Southern Ocean for the development of "Malizia"?
Without the experience with the old "Malizia", I wouldn't have wanted to design an Imoca at all. Then I would have simply asked VPLP and my team to take it on, as I wouldn't have been able to say anything well-founded about it. Now we have to wait and see how the construction proves itself. Maybe I've backed the architects into too much of a corner.
The encapsulated cockpit is different from all other Imocas. Why?
On long ocean voyages you're always in the cabin anyway, unless you're sailing in the tropics. I think you simply lose efficiency if you constantly have to climb out through the companionway to do something. If you think about putting in a reef and then think about what you have to put on and take off again. Here we've done it so that you don't have to go out into the cockpit at all. So I can go straight from the bunk to the winch, which is only a metre away, and put the reef in in three minutes without having to change my clothes.
How much did Alex Thomson's "Hugo Boss", which was similar, inspire you?
I looked at it two years ago and realised that even through the small windows you have a good viewing angle if your eyes are close enough. I liked that.
How much of "Malizia" is maths, how much is intuition?
Some things are very mathematical. For example, the shape of the aft cabin superstructure: the fact that it is so wide at the top and narrower at the bottom is because we wanted to maximise the volume under the boom. That way, the ship is as unstable as possible if it capsizes, and we can save weight in the keel bomb for righting, which in turn makes us faster. It's all very logical, nothing was created out of aesthetic considerations.
You mentioned changes to the sailing plan. What exactly does that mean?
We told North Sails not to worry about the weight. The mainsail has to be at least ten kilograms heavier (laughs). This also applies to the J2 (the working jib, ed.). Above all, both have to hold! Otherwise, we don't have a sail on the bow at the moment, but on the bowsprit
Why is that? At the last Vendée, you still attached great importance to having an attachment point at the front.
That's right. My concern was that the bowsprit might break off. I also wanted to have a sail in the Southern Ocean that could replace the J2. This idea also proved successful. But the sail we used on the bow often turned out to be a bit too small and the next one a bit too big. Now we have found a sail that is used aft on the bowsprit and is roughly in the middle in terms of size. It actually fulfils the same task, works on the wind and on a beam reach; in strong winds it is our "tractor sail". We still have a jib on the bow in case we change our mind. "Charal" doesn't have that; they can't set a sail directly on the bow.
Your crew has grown considerably recently. You are one of the top teams. What is it like to conduct such a large orchestra?
I'm not doing this alone. We have incredibly strong management in Holly Cova, Louis Viat and Jesse Rowse. They are all incredible. When the launch date was set, Louis hired boatbuilders faster than we could count. So not only have we built a boat, we have a team that can achieve anything.
Is further development starting now?
I hope that most of it works and that we can validate the ship in the Ocean Race. Because I don't want to start retrofitting V-rudders like on the Charal in 2024, for example. We'll test everything first. We have so much space, I think there will often be ten of us sailing. Someone will be constantly monitoring key figures, calibrating load sensors and writing the software for them. We'll be going out a lot at night so that the shore crew can work during the day.
The christening will take place on 6 September in Hamburg's Hafencity. Will "Malizia" and you be one by then?
You grow together bit by bit, it takes time. I'm sure I'll know them a bit by then. But I'm also just looking forward to being able to show them to all the fans at home.
Everything about the big " Malizia " -christening in Hamburg and the supporting programme can be found here >>
"Malizia - Seaexplorer" explains
The boat covered the first few metres on its own keel under engine power. As the water depth at the crane site was insufficient at low tide, the crew had to move to the berth in La Base harbour. From there, Boris Herrmann and his team will set off on test runs in future, during which the load on the hull, rigging and attachments will be gradually increased. More than 300 load and fibreglass sensors will record all the forces acting on the boat. To prevent breakage, the team sets target and maximum values as well as alarms to help the sailors push the limits of performance later on.
1: Flush deck
The foredeck remains unbuilt - good for aerodynamics and ergonomics. The bow number is a nod to the principality under whose flag the boat sails. Francesco Grimaldi conquered the Rock of Monaco in 1297.
2: Foils
The wings are very long and allow different foil modes depending on their position. Due to the V-shape of their elbow, they have a kind of self-regulating lift effect.
3: Cockpit and cabin superstructure
Although "Malizia" has several permanently installed cameras, the superstructure with its many windows is extremely transparent. This means that the crew always has a view forwards, to the side and into the sails.
4: Rudder system
Both rudders are very long and narrow. They can be folded up by 90 degrees and, if necessary, by almost 180 degrees. The latter is intended to simplify replacement if a blade has been damaged by flotsam.
5: Rig and sail plan
The mast and deck spreaders, like the keel, are one-design components. The development is therefore limited to the sails, which took a lot of time. The main and working jib as well as codes and spars come from North.
6: Hull shape
Dimensions and weights are confidential. However, "Malizia" is said to be one of the widest of the newly designed Imocas. This ensures dimensional stability. This is another reason why the smallest possible ballast bomb is sufficient.
7: Sustainability
The hull is made of carbon fibre. However, the hatch cover and other parts were laminated from flax fibre sandwich at Greenboats in Bremen. Solar cells and hydrogen generators provide power for "Malizia".
8: Costs
Modern Imocas are worth a fortune. Two sets of foils already cost 800,000 euros. The development can easily cost 2 million. Total estimated price: between 5 and more than 6 million euros.
