Between cheerful and thoughtful, full of good memories and determined at the same time: this is how Boris Herrmann presents himself in a new short video portrait published by his team Malizia. A key message after a long run-up: "I've had time to recover after the Vendée Globe and I feel like sailing again. I've already done that. I'm really looking forward to the season."
Without Admiral's Cup start in the Ocean Race Europe
Boris Herrmann's plans for the season no longer include participating in the Admiral's Cup, which was originally in his sights. "I'm needed for the preparations for the Ocean Race Europe. In the end, that was too tight," said the six-time circumnavigator this week. Herrmann originally wanted to join the team on Peter Harrison's Carkeek 40 "Jolt 6" for the Yacht Club de Monaco. However, the Admiral's Cup is still being contested by three Malizians with founder Pierre Casiraghi as co-skipper, Will Harris and Cole Brauer.
This means that the next most important regatta date for Boris Herrmann is 10 August. That's when the Ocean Race Europe starts in Kiel. Team Malizia will compete in the farewell gala with "Malizia - Seaexplorer". The boat co-developed by Boris Herrmann will then be handed over to its new skipper Francesca Clapcich for her 2028 Vendée Globe campaign.
In the Ocean Race Europe, Team Malizia will compete against six other challengers: Team Paprec Arkéa (France), Team Holcim-PRB (Switzerland), Allagrande Mapei Racing (Italy), Team Biotherm (France), Canada Ocean Racing - Be water positive (Canada) and Team Amaala (Switzerland/Saudi Arabia).
The Vendée Globe podium finish remains
In his latest clip, Boris Herrmann talks about a "very productive" spring in which he worked a lot with partners, sponsors and also on the new construction project. When asked about the biggest challenge, Herrmann doesn't hesitate for long, saying: "In pure terms, the Vendée Globe is the most difficult challenge to master. I've finished it twice, but didn't make it onto the podium. So I really haven't achieved my goal yet. It's so hard. It's such a tough race!" A third participation remains Boris Herrmann's goal for 2028.
The same applies to the Ocean Race around the world in two years' time. "We really want to perform this time, to achieve a great result. We want to get better at what we do," said Boris Herrmann with a view to the next round-the-world race for teams in 2027. In his thoughts, Boris Herrmann also zoomed out of the individual races and said: "From a more general perspective, the difficulty lies in making it to the starting line and launching a campaign."
Team Malizia's founder said: "It took me 20 years to find my way and get closer to the sport. Now we are here and can really try to win races." Herrman says that he is often asked for advice by other sailors, including younger ones. His conviction: "If you really want something, if you really fight for it and give it your all, there is usually a way. You can't promise that, but there's a good chance of it happening."
The highlight of the year: the Ocean Race Europe
Boris Herrmann is in no doubt about the most important highlight of the year from his point of view: "It's the Ocean Race Europe, which starts in Kiel on 10 August. Kiel is one of my sailing hometowns. I probably spent most of my youth and university years in Kiel. It's such an important place for me."
Kiel is the best place in Germany for racing and sailing." Boris Herrmann
In this context, the sailing pro refers to Kiel Week in the Sailing City area and also the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research and said: "I'm really looking forward to the Ocean Race Europe start on the 10th in Kiel!" This is helped by the fact that the Malizians have put together a "fantastic team for the coming years". The idea behind it? "We wanted to bring together the best possible team to win the Ocean Race. That is clearly our ambition," says Boris Herrmann, looking ahead to the most important team circumnavigation of the world in 2027.
"We came third in the last Ocean Race. We are building a new boat. We have all these great partners together who are supporting us and giving us everything we need. We are here to do our best. So we looked around for the best possible team," says Boris Herrmann, explaining the team structure. Both the crew rotation in the Ocean Race Europe and the combination of different projects help with further development, "so that we can learn from each other's projects".
The Ocean Race Europe opens a new chapter
This also refers to the three-way collaboration with Thomas Ruyant and Loïs Berrhaar on the new Imoca building. Overall, "quite complex planning up to the year 2029" is on most people's diaries. The overall planning has grown in a kind of "reverse gear" - from the Ocean Race around the world in two years - back to the Ocean Race Europe, which is about to start. According to Herrmann, this is somewhat different for Team Malizia than for other teams.
"I think the others are perhaps doing the Ocean Race Europe more as an appendix to the Ocean Race World. They have their campaign and their boat, so they're adding it to their programme this year because it's a very attractive race. For us it's the other way round: for us it's the first race of a new campaign that runs until 2030. This race is really the test platform where we bring our team together to see how we work together. To then know our line-up very well and see how we continue to train and develop."
Close-up! Boris Herrmann talks about his journey, the current season, the development of Team Malizia and planning until 2030. He even has an initial plan for the Ocean Race around the world in two years' time, but also explains that his co-skipper Will Harris will make the decisions as Team Malizia's sports director.
