It has been around three years and three months since Team Malizia set sail in the Ocean Race round the world a fabulous 24-hour record set: at 641.13 nautical miles, they covered a distance of, which has not been surpassed to this day. The feat was achieved back then by Boris Herrmann, Rosalin Kuiper, Will Harris and Yann Eliès on “Malizia – Seaexplorer” (now: “11th Hour Racing”) in ideal conditions during leg five from Newport in the USA across the Atlantic to Aarhus in Denmark.
Ocean Race Atlantic: From New York to Lorient in under a week?
Since then, all the Imoca crews have struggled to beat Malizia’s record. With the debut of the Ocean Race Atlantic, there is now another chance to perhaps break the record after all. Boris Herrmann and his crew are set to the new “Malizia 4” in action. The the Koch design, which was launched on 6 July Like the equally new Japanese Verdier design, the “DMG Mori Global One”, it is expected to perform well. The same goes for the other IMOCA speedsters in the fleet.
It was therefore fitting that, the day before the start of the Ocean Race Atlantic, the organisers and teams announced a fast transatlantic race. “Embrace the Challenge” skipper Oliver Heer said: “If we look at the weather forecasts, it looks like it’ll be a very fast race. Not too many manoeuvres. It’s all about speed. And keeping the boat in good condition. And then, hopefully, we’ll be in Lorient in under seven days.”
Originally, the aim had been to complete the race in around eight or nine days. However, the crews now expect to make significantly faster progress across the North Atlantic. This is partly because they are sailing with the wind from west to east. This was pointed out by “United by the Ocean” skipper Paul Meilhat. The fact that Boris Herrmann nevertheless dampened hopes of a record slightly is down to other reasons, as he explained on Monday.
The 24-hour record? It’s a tough one to beat!
Commenting on the chances of breaking the 24-hour record in the Ocean Race Atlantic, Boris Herrmann said: “A lot of things have to fall into place. Above all, the swell mustn’t be too strong. I’m a bit sceptical about that for the coming days, because we’ll actually have more wind now than we did back then. Back then, we had the perfect wind angle and not too much wind. And we also had a turn over 24 hours, so that we were even able to follow the curvature of the Earth perfectly. Those are very rare conditions.”
The implication for Herrmann: “The likelihood of achieving something like that again is slim. And that’s also the reason why this record still hasn’t been broken.” Nevertheless, Boris Herrmann, Cole Brauer, Justine Mettraux and Julien Villion are looking forward to the race with great anticipation. Click here to check your favourites.
"Crossing the North Atlantic in the new boat makes it even more exciting for us than it already is when racing against this field." Boris Herrmann
At the same time, the six-time round-the-world sailor pointed out that he and his team the “Malizia 4”, which was christened on 18 July “don’t know it very well yet”. Herrmann said: “The boat is only two months old. We’ve only just sailed it for a few days this summer off Lorient. I wasn’t there for the delivery (Ed.: from Lorient to New York), but during the delivery they didn’t encounter any particularly challenging conditions, though they did face a few technical issues. They had to slow the boat down. So we really don’t know. It’s going to be a big question mark.”
A first for a regatta: Herrmann versus Harris
What will it be like for the skipper from Hamburg to compete against his long-standing co-skipper, Will Harris, who is switching teams for this race and will be sailing for “11th Hour Racing” alongside Francesca Clapcich? Boris Herrmann is looking forward to it, saying: “I’ve never sailed against Will in my life.”
Herrmann explained in more detail: “We’ve always sailed together for the past seven years. He’s competed in races and legs on the boat without me. With Frankie, he secured an incredible second place in the last transatlantic race on ‘11th Hour Racing’. He’s skippered several Ocean Race legs and is one of the best sailors of our time out there. It’s great to have him on board, as he’ll ensure this boat is a force to be reckoned with out there. It’s a tried-and-tested boat – now as ‘11th Hour’ with a team that knows the boat inside out.”
Whilst the 24-hour record holder, “11th Hour Racing”, will set the bar high, However, on paper, “DMG Mori Global One” is considered one of the joint favourites in the battle for victory. Their skipper, Kojiro Shiraishi, said in New York the day before the race began: “I am very, very happy to be taking part in the Ocean Race Atlantic. We have a brand-new boat. We started the project about two years ago and have put all our energy into it. Now the time has come to see how it sails.”
Straddling the line between learning processes and a fighting spirit
Like Boris Herrmann, Kojiro Shiraishi knows that his team is breaking new ground with this new boat. The Japanese sailor said: “There are lots of things we don’t yet know about our new boat. This race is a real challenge for us to test both the boat and ourselves. We’ll do our very best. For me, sailing with Sam and Nico (Ed.: Samantha Davies and Nico Lunven), who are really experienced skippers, is very interesting. I’m really enjoying it! For Arisa, it’s a huge opportunity to learn a lot from them.”
Meanwhile, Francesca Clapcich plans to really put her foot down as part of her learning process in the run-up to the 2028/2029 Vendée Globe. When asked when she intends to push the boat and when she plans to ease off for safety reasons, the Italian-American said: “I mean, it’s a race! We’ll be pushing the boat from start to finish. Of course, we’d love to break the record. When the conditions are good, it’s just brilliant to push the boat hard, because we’re very happy with its reliability. We can keep it going the whole time.”
"I don’t know that many gears… Just one: full steam ahead!" Francesca Clapcich
Conrad Colman had to announce a last-minute crew change for his team because his compatriot Aaron Hume-Merry dislocated his shoulder at sea. Elie Pirnay, from the shore crew, is stepping in for the New Zealander on the “MSIG Europe”. Conrad Colman, who also sails the IMOCs solo in the Vendée Globe, took the Belgian’s inclusion in his previously all-New Zealand crew in his stride with a sense of humour: “We’ve taught him as much Kiwi slang as we possibly could. He’s pretty laid-back and a good stand-in for a Kiwi.”
The schedule for the kick-off and the start of the Ocean Race Atlantic
Meanwhile, the times for the opening race and the start of the Ocean Race Atlantic have now been finalised in more detail. The fleet will set sail from Brooklyn Bridge Marina on 1 September (Tuesday) from 11.00 am local time, before the official pre-start ceremony takes place in New York Harbour at 12.00 pm (6.00 pm German time), which live here on NDR Sportclub and via theoceanrace.com and on YouTube
The actual start of the race to Lorient, covering some 3,200 nautical miles, will take place on 2 September (Wednesday) at 6.00 am local time (12.00 pm German time) at a virtual start line 145 miles off the coast. This is intended to reduce the risk of encounters with marine mammals, which are frequently found in the waters off the coast.
In Team Malizia’s tenth anniversary year, Boris Herrmann talks about the Ocean Race Atlantic:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter