Dear readers,

I don't know what came out of your lead casting on New Year's Eve, but with a lot of imagination I was able to recognise a sailing boat. My takeaway from this is that in the new year I will try to get out on the water even more often than I already do - that really is a good resolution.

The new year has only just begun and after the "super sailing year 2024" with the Olympics, America's Cup and the start of the Vendée Globe, the bar is set high for 2025. Even if the year that has just begun will probably not quite be able to keep pace, further highlights await us with the Ocean Race Europe and the new SailGP season.

The offshore highlight of 2025, the Ocean Race Europe, will even start in Germany's "Sailing City", Kiel. Hopefully the German fans can once again create a very special atmosphere at the fly-by, as they did in June 2023. From Kiel, the race will sail via Portsmouth in England, the Spanish coastal city of Cartagena and Genoa in Italy to the Bay of Kotor. This is located on the Dalmatian-Montenegrin Adriatic coast and is the destination for the race, for which eight teams have already confirmed their participation. Among the eight teams that have already registered is another German team alongside "Team Mailizia" led by Boris Herrmann. Who will it be? We can't wait to find out! His former co-sailor, Rosalin Kuiper, will also be battling Boris Herrmann on the starting line. She had already signed on with the Swiss team Holcim PRB in September 2023 and supported Herrmann's former navigator Nico Lunven in his participation in the ongoing Vendée Globe. At the start of the Ocean Race Europe on 10 August, the likeable Dutchwoman will take over the helm and responsibility on board the Imoca "Holcim - PRB". It remains to be seen who will end up at the top of the podium after the four stages.

Less than a week after the start of the Ocean Race Europe, the sailing world will once again be looking to Germany. The "Formula 1 of sailing", the SailGP, will be staging an event in Germany for the first time. The "home game" for Erik Heil's "Team Germany" will take place in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen. At the 9th of 14 stops, the focus will be particularly on the German team around the 49er Olympic medallist from Rio and Tokyo. The anticipation ahead of the match day on Rügen is likely to be particularly high among both the team members and the fans of the German team.

So there you have it, the two "big" highlights of the 2025 sailing year. But you can also look forward to many small and big moments on the water away from the big stage. Maybe we can be a part of it with the YACHT one or two times, let us be part of it!

Finally, here are my three hot takes ("optimistic predictions") for 2025:

• Boris Herrmann and his team on the "Mailiza Seaexplorer" win the Ocean Race Europe
• The German team led by skipper Erik Heil succeeds in winning their home event in Sassnitz
• Kiel Week reports an absolute record number of participants

I wish you all now and no matter where your cruises take you, always a hand's breadth of water under your keel and only the best for 2025.

Nils Leiterholt

YACHT volunteer

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The week in pictures

Recommended reading from the editorial team

Vendée Globe

The race in the live tracker

The live tracker of the Vendée Globe 2024/25: This tracking shows the race of the tenth edition of the round-the-world regatta - with Boris Herrmann!

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