Interview with Holly Cova: "I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved as Team Malizia"

Dear Holly, you've been sailing all your life. How has your personal sailing journey prepared you for your current role as Team Director?

That's right, I've always sailed a lot, including in the South Pacific - but never in regattas. Nevertheless, my sailing experience has helped me to understand what people go through at sea. I know the feeling of crossing an ocean and can appreciate it accordingly. Also, there has always been this passion for the sea and my connection to the ocean. Of course, this fits in very well with Malizia's mission, which is not just about racing, but also about protecting the oceans.

Can you describe what exactly makes you passionate about the ocean?

There's this huge expanse of water that covers most of our planet - and there's so much we don't know about it! I like to look at it from two sides, which I find very fascinating: You can be on the surface, for example when you're sailing and swimming, and meanwhile you have everything very much in view. But then there is also so much that we not see. What lies under your boat when you're sailing? Such thoughts play with my imagination and capture my fantasy! Apart from that, the sea is simply beautiful - it gives me a feeling of freedom.

Besides the sea, you also have other passions, such as hiking. So you feel drawn to two very contrasting elements: Water and earth. What does hiking give you that sailing can't?

I love being out in nature and discovering things - I can do that on the water as well as on land. However, I don't have my own boat, which is probably quite a limiting factor (laughs). Hiking is more accessible and you're usually not so cut off. Whereas with sailing, if you really want to explore, you tend to be further away and travelling for longer periods of time. So I enjoy the flexibility of hiking. But it doesn't matter whether it's hiking or sailing: I really enjoy finding out what I'm physically capable of doing.

So you like to push yourself to your limits?

Definitely! I've done some pretty long hikes and sailing trips in tough conditions. I totally enjoy these types of activities because I can test myself in different situations and see how my body reacts and what I can mentally get through. I'm not someone who sits in a gym - I want to see new things while doing an activity.

Let's talk about your work: What are your main tasks as Team Director?

My job is to oversee everything - before, during and after a race. For example, I make sure that we are technically ready for the race and that there are no problems in any area. The tasks are super varied. But of course I have a really strong team that takes care of their respective areas such as technology, communication, finance and so on. I would say I hold the strings together and make sure that everyone in the team pulls in the same direction.

What does it mean for you to lead an offshore team?

I am incredibly proud. We have developed from one of the smallest offshore teams with no budget and an older boat into one of the biggest teams with a good chance of winning or finishing on the podium. We are also a very strong team with twelve nations represented and a mix of men and women - that makes me very happy! Oh, and we're also a really fun team! For me personally, it's really important that people work hard but still have fun. Team Malizia has the mentality: work hard, play hard, be friends, look out for each other and have fun working together.

As a woman, have you ever been underestimated on your journey as a Team Director, and are there any stereotypes or expectations that you regularly encounter?

Definitely - all the time at the beginning. Most people either thought I was just doing a bit of social media for Boris or they assumed I must be his wife. I guess people see a young woman with blonde hair and immediately assume that those are the only two options. It's a bit different now because I've been doing the job as Team Director for a while.

Is there anything you do differently as a manager? Perhaps precisely because you are a woman?

I think so. Women have different soft skills than men. We can be more diplomatic. For example, I don't think I have a big ego - I don't hold on to anything if something goes wrong or someone is difficult to deal with. I don't take things like that badly and I don't have to mess with anyone. Just sponge over it. I can probably also be a bit more empathetic than a man - for example, when women in the team have children or are thinking about having children. In such cases, it's really helpful to have a woman who is a mother herself in a position like mine.

The sailing world is still dominated by men. What do you think needs to change - and how?

It is important that even more women are represented in leadership positions and that it is made visible what female sailors can achieve. But it's not enough for just us women to campaign for this. We need more male allies in sailing. Men like Boris, who don't care whether you are a man or a woman. All that matters to him is whether you do a good job. We need more men who adopt this attitude.

Talking about things that need to change: Do you think the next big goal could be an all-women's team or even a special offshore cup format for female sailors - and would you be interested in leading such a team?

Both an all-women's team and an all-women's cup definitely sound interesting. However, I look at the whole thing from two different perspectives. There's no question that an all-female team can do amazing things - Team SCA showed that in the Volvo Ocean Race, for example. But one of the things I like about sailing is that women and men compete with and against each other. I would definitely love and support a women-only competition, but I don't think we should necessarily separate the sexes. It's really cool when they compete side by side. The Swiss skipper Justine Mettraux, for example, completed an incredible race at the Vendée Globe 2024, was the first woman to finish and left several men behind. So it's not as if women can't keep up with men.

In your opinion, what are the biggest structural hurdles that women still face in offshore sailing?

So many things are not designed for women - you only have to look at an IMOCA. Most of the winch platforms on board are far too high. I'm 1.80 metres tall, which would be fine, but the majority of women are smaller. Another example is clothing. Most sailing clothing is not designed for women in terms of fit and cut - how can that be? And there are still so many other hurdles for women: They often can't collect enough points to take part in a race because they have a child. Or many teams only want men on board on principle. But there are women in the industry - including Rosie and our new team member Cole Brauer - who are paving the way and breaking down those barriers bit by bit.

Speaking of Cole Brauer: what are the physical demands of ocean sailing - and does gender or physique really make a difference? Because when I think of someone like Cole, who was the first American woman to sail non-stop around the world on her own - and at 1.55 metres tall - then there can't be much to the cliché, can there?

I think with Cole it was more about her determination than her height. A race like the Vendée Globe is really long and hard. Cole broke her ribs in her race and still kept going - it's crazy how much mental strength you need to get through it all with broken ribs. We often forget that women have immense strength when it comes to pain and endurance.

Cole has also already before The team showed great determination before the race and prepared accordingly on land.

That's right! Cole has spent a lot of time modifying her boat and changing her systems and the way she does things to enable her to compete at the same level as her peers. If you compare other sailors with each other, you also quickly see differences in physique: Thomas Ryan and Boris Herrmann are completely different physically. Both are very strong, of course, but Boris is rather tall, Thomas rather petite. If you're clever, you no longer rely on standardised boats these days. You can design and customise your boat however you want - and if you do it well, you can be successful at a high level with any gender and any build.

In my personal life, I keep realising that there are some topics that affect women that are still considered a big taboo. The best example is menstruation. In many sports, it is often ignored - even though it has an impact on concentration, physical performance and well-being, especially in top-level competitions. What insights do you have into how female offshore sailors manage their periods during long regattas?

This is a really difficult topic, after all, you live on a boat without a proper toilet. Many female sailors therefore control their periods by taking hormones. Rosie, for example, was very open about going to the toilet. This was because she felt very comfortable in the team - they had even built her a toilet seat for the bucket. So there are things you can do. It just needs to become more of an open topic. We all know that periods don't affect all women in the same way. Some suffer in agony for days on end, others barely notice it - but all must be able to talk about it without it being uncomfortable. It's much better to openly ask the women on board "Hey, have you thought about this? How do you want to handle this?" rather than letting them deal with the problem themselves in silence.

Is there anything you wish for - as a woman, mother, leader and sailor?

A world in which women are not judged for being a woman or considered "too much". If you're too friendly as a woman, you're flirty, whereas a man is charming. A woman can be strong without being aggressive. I would also like women to stop feeling that they have to prove themselves so much more than men. It would be great if we could achieve 50:50 in all areas and little girls could proudly dream of becoming the next Rosie or the next Cole - that should be a completely normal dream, not an almost impossible one! With things like the Magenta Project and Malizia, we're getting a little closer to that.

Last question: We've already talked about some of the changes that need to be made in sailing. But is there anything that never can be lost?

The ocean itself. That's why it's so important that we work hard to protect the oceans. When we allow things like deep-sea mining or trawling, when we look at how climate change is progressing and what is happening to the water, it worries me a lot. The ocean is this beautiful playing field for sailors - we must never lose that.

Interview: Kiel-Marketing.

This article is part of the Kiel-Storydeck.