In November 2020, Boris Herrmann will be the first German sailor in three decades of Vendée Globe history to take part in the toughest sailing test for man and material. But that's not all: what YACHT online has already reported, the Hamburg native has now also sealed with the official entry for The Ocean Race: The 38-year-old and his team have been accepted as participants for the most famous team race around the world. The ocean marathon, known as the Whitbread Round the World Race and continued as the Volvo Ocean Race, will start its 14th edition in two years' time and is regarded as the most important regatta summit for sea sailing teams. Herrmanns is forming a young, German-international mixed crew for the challenge, which will sail around the world on the 18-metre Imoca under the German flag.
"The Volvo Ocean Race has become a legend and is one of the 'big four' in sailing alongside the Vendée, the America's Cup and the Olympic Games. Now it is called The Ocean Race and is therefore also potentially attractive for our German automotive partner BMW," says Herrmann, who has played a key role on the Executive Committee of the Imoca class for two years in ensuring that the modern Open 60 boats will also compete in the Ocean Race in the future. He continues: "This is a unique opportunity for us and the entire sport of sailing in Germany."
"Fantastic to have Hermann and his team with us"
"It's fantastic to welcome Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia as they take the first steps towards participating in the 2021/22 edition of The Ocean Race. As a registered team, they will have access to our supportive resources from the race organiser as they prepare," said Richard Mason, Head of Organisation for The Ocean Race. Germany has a short but impressive history in this race with the overall winner illbruck Challenge 2001/02. "Boris is well placed to continue this success story with his full ocean racing programme leading up to the start of The Ocean Race. His team is also a strong ambassador for marine conservation and sustainability, which will also be the focus of The Ocean Race of the future," says Mason.
No German team has taken part in the world regatta since the Leverkusen illbruck Challenge won 20 years ago. Now there may be two, as Offshore Team Germany (OTG), which will christen its boat in Kiel on 21 June, is also sailing on course for The Ocean Race. The next route will again include longer Southern Ocean legs and then return to Europe via several ports of call - making it more attractive for fans and sponsors alike. The race will start in Alicante/Spain in autumn 2021 and finish in Europe in summer 2022. The exact route with the ports of call will be announced shortly.
With foils and a single mast, "Malizia" fulfils the requirements
"With the 'Malizia', our team has a highly optimised boat as a prerequisite for successful participation," says the skipper. Not every IMOCA Open60 boat is authorised to take part in the Ocean Race. For example, they must be equipped with foils (side foils instead of centreboards) of the latest Imoca generation and sail with a standard mast prescribed by the class. "The 'Malizia' is currently the only German yacht to fulfil these criteria," says Boris Herrmann. The 18.26 metre long and 5.50 metre wide racing yacht was built in 2015 as one of the first Open 60s for the French Gitana team using the latest technology with foils. Two years later, Stuttgart property entrepreneur Gerhard Senft, a friend of Boris Herrmann, acquired the boat for the Malizia team. Since then, the yacht has been registered in the Hamburg shipping register and sails under the German flag.
Yacht Club de Monaco secures Vendée Globe
In his four-year preparation for the Vendée Globe, also known as the Mount Everest of the seas, Herrmann is receiving significant support from the Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM). His sailing friend Pierre Casiraghi, eldest son of Princess Caroline of Monaco, is YCM Vice President and team founder. The German and his Monegasque co-skipper contested their first race of the year together at the 67th Giraglia Rolex Race from Saint-Tropez in France around the Giraglia Rock in northern Corsica to Monaco. It took them just 20 hours and a good 40 minutes to cover the 241 nautical miles. Herrmann and Casiraghi will also compete together in the legendary Rolex Fastnet Race on 3 August in England.
"The partnership with Monaco is exceptional and provides financial security for the first German participation in the Vendée," says Boris Herrmann, thanking both the club and the Principality as a whole. Team Malizia currently has eight international experts working full-time, supported by several freelance professional consultants. The budget is small compared to other top campaigns, but has already taken it to second place in the Imoca world rankings.
Business partners for the future
Regardless of the support from the YCM, Team Malizia is looking for a strong partner from the industry who wants to continue with them beyond the summer of 2021. The Ocean Race is the next milestone after the Vendée. The world race with numerous stage stops offers globally operating companies unique hospitality opportunities and broad visibility for their brands in the most important markets. Since its foundation four years ago, Boris Herrmann, who was the first German skipper to win a race around the world in 2008/09 (Portimão Global Ocean Race with Felix Oehme) and is the fastest German circumnavigator with 47 days, has established his team as a sporting force and positioned it among the world leaders.
In ten ocean races with the Open 60, none of which had to be abandoned, the skipper always finished in the top six, either alone or with a crew. To date, Team Malizia has sailed around the world twice and has thus gained more experience than any of its competitors. Herrmann: "We want to have the most reliable ship at the start next year. That is the basis for solid success." Although the focus is currently on preparing for the single-handed Olympics, Team Malizia also occasionally races as a crew. In 2018, Boris Herrmann won the Atlantic Anniversary Race with a crew of five from northern Germany as the fastest boat to the finish line off Cuxhaven and proved in the first race with this crew strength on an Imoca Open60 yacht that the class is ideally suited for this.
49er FX sailor Susann Beucke on board
Recently, 49er FX sailor Susann Beucke from Strande came on board for the first time for three short races and emphasised her ambitions in ocean sailing. "My first time on the 'Malizia' was overwhelming. The team spirit is fantastic and I learnt a lot about the high-tech boat. It won't be so easy to go back to the skiff," enthused Susann Beucke. After her Olympic campaign for Tokyo 2020, she wants to switch to ocean sailing. "Susann has what it takes to be with us in the Ocean Race," said Herrmann, "in my opinion, she is currently the most qualified German candidate."
Sailing for climate and marine protection
"But just sailing fast is not enough," emphasises Boris Herrmann time and again, "we professionals have to do more and stand behind a mission." His is climate and marine protection. The Malizia Ocean Challenge campaign addresses climate change both scientifically and educationally. In cooperation with leading global institutions, including the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg and the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, the carbon dioxide and salt content of the world's oceans is measured on all routes in order to analyse its significance for global warming. For this purpose, the "Malizia" has incorporated its own ocean laboratory, a highly developed measuring system with a special sensor, into the on-board technology. At the same time, a school programme is running in several countries, including Germany, to raise awareness of environmental and marine protection issues among children aged between eight and 14 at an early age. So far, 4,500 boys and girls have taken part in the seminars. Teachers and pupils can register via the website myoceanchallenge.org to apply for free participation in the programme.
In January, the project was honoured with the Ocean Tribute Award by Prince Albert II of Monaco and the Hamburg Ocean Foundation at the boot trade fair in Düsseldorf. The next major public appearance will be at the Climate Week in Hamburg at the end of September. On 27 September, Birte Lorenzen, responsible for the educational part of Team Malizia, together with Peter Landschützer from the Max Planck Institute and Boris Herrmann, will lead a major event for 400 Hamburg schoolchildren on the subject of climate change and the oceans. Boris Herrmann not only promotes the topic of sustainability with his own Malizia Ocean Challenge, but is also the representative of the Imoca class on the topic. He is coordinating the agreement with The Ocean Race, for which all yachts are to be equipped with an ocean laboratory of the same design as the "Malizia" has had on board since last summer.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
